Thai police on Friday (Nov 18) fired rubber bullets to disperse a protest against the Apec summit in Bangkok, a police official in charge of the event’s security taskforce said.

About 350 protesters had gathered and clashed with police, Ashyan Kraithong said, about 10 km from the venue where leaders of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group are meeting.

Videos on social media showed protesters trying to overturn a police car, throwing projectiles and charging at police, while officers in riot gear advanced on them with shields and beat them back with batons.

Youth activist Patsaravalee ‘Mind’ Tanakitvibulpon, who was at the demonstration, said people were protesting against the Apec summit and Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha.

“The police have overreacted. They are using rubber bullets on us and tried to stop us many times,” he told Reuters.

Police arrested 10 protesters.

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“The protesters broke the law, physically assaulted police officers,” Ashyan said, adding that five officers were injured.

Several youth-led demonstrators claim that world leaders are “greenwashing” environmental resolutions made at various Apec meetings, and are demanding strong action against climate change.

Since early this week, there has been a heavy police presence in and around the summit location in Bangkok, as well as at hotels where world leaders are staying, but that has not deterred a handful of activists from hitting the streets.

On Thursday (Nov 17), about 100 protesters gathered around noon at the fringe of security barricades in Asoke, in central Bangkok, dressed in dinosaur suits and banners, to denounce the conference, claiming that only big companies, not citizens, benefit from Thailand’s push for the Bio-Circular-Green (BCG) Economy Model.

The BCG model is being touted by local leaders as an inclusive and sustainable way towards economic growth, and Thailand hopes to secure a commitment document from the 21 Apec member economies during the summit as part of its legacy.

Among the other demands from activists are the renewed youth-led demands for Section 112, Thailand’s lese majeste law, to be abolished, and for political prisoners locked up under this law to be released.

“The government is ignoring our pleas and political rights… These are the people you are going to be in alliance with,” said one protest leader, addressing international delegates who would be in town for the conference.

Pro-democracy activists are also demanding that Prayut, who is chairing Apec, step down as premier. They also want him to dissolve Parliament and call for national elections, which must be held by early 2023.

“We want to stop Apec because there is no participation from the people. It is only the capitalists and government who benefit from the BCG model,” Patsaravalee Tanakitvibulpon, a leader from protest group Ratsadon, told The Straits Times after a rally on Wednesday night.

“We also want international leaders to know that this government does not represent the Thai people,” said the 27-year-old, who is out on bail for royal defamation charges related to a speech she gave in a 2021 protest.

Several other protests have also taken place across Bangkok and in other provinces over the week, and more gatherings are expected till the Apec meet ends on Saturday.

The authorities, including Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt and Foreign Minister Don Pramudwinai, have been trying to persuade demonstrators not to take to the streets during the conference, warning against tarnishing Thailand’s reputation.

This year’s Apec summit will be the first time in four years that member economies are meeting in person.

In 2009, the Asean summit held at Thailand’s seaside town of Pattaya ended in chaos, as protesters broke into the conference area.

Regional leaders were forced to flee, some via helicopters, and the summit was cancelled. REUTERS, THE STRAITS TIMES