Thailand removes plaque critical of monarchy after protest

Bangkok

THAI authorities removed a plaque proclaiming Thailand "belongs to the people, not the monarchy" on Monday, a day after protesters installed it during a rally that drew tens of thousands of people seeking greater democracy.

The Fine Arts Department and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration removed the plaque, and the cultural heritage agency also filed a complaint against the protesters for breaking the law on ancient monuments, according to district police chief Worasak Pisitbannakorn.

Footage shared on social media showed fresh concrete at the spot where the brass plaque was installed during the weekend protest, the largest gathering since the 2014 military coup.

Protesters had installed the plaque at an empty spot in Sanam Luang, a field near the Grand Palace used for royal ceremonies, as a replacement for another one from a nearby plaza that went missing three years ago.

That plaque had marked the 1932 revolution that ended absolute monarchy.

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The protest group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration is pressing for the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-Ocha and his government, a rewriting of the constitution and a 10-point demand to reform the monarchy - including revoking strict laws criminalising insults against top members of the royal family.

Demonstrators over the weekend handed a list of demands to a representative of King Maha Vajiralongkorn's Privy Council.

The mounting protests busting long-held taboos in Thailand present a challenge for Mr Prayut, a former army chief who led a 2014 coup and stayed in charge after a disputed election last year conducted under rules written by his military government.

He has said the government was looking into possible amendment of the charter drafted in the wake of the coup.

"Our nation, religion, and the king are important pillars for everyone in this country," Mr Prayut said on Monday while thanking security officials for ensuring that the weekend protests were peaceful. "If the country is peaceful, we can solve any problems."

The Thammasat group has called a march to the parliament on Thursday and a general strike on Oct 14.

They urged supporters to show solidarity by not standing during the royal anthem and displaying white ribbons, and also called for a boycott of Siam Commercial Bank, in which the king is the biggest shareholder.

The bank's liquidity coverage ratio is more than double the required threshold and poses no concerns although it would need to be monitored closely, said Tharith Panpiemras, senior director of Bank of Thailand's banking supervision and risk assessment department.

"It's a positive that the protest was peaceful and ended without any violence," said Pornthep Jubandhu, the head of investment research at SCB Asset Management, the nation's biggest private money manager with about US$50 billion of assets.

"In the long term, this would be noise to the market with the ongoing protest and no ending. The market will get used to it if there is no violence." BLOOMBERG