A night of protest in Bangkok: What has been sprayed has been said
Politika - Politics: A Social Sciences Perspective

 

To protect himself, the author of this article wished to remain anonymous. Politika decided to respect this wish.

Thailand, Bangkok, Royal Police Headquarters, 18 November 2020

In Thailand, in August 2020, protests that began in universities against the authoritarianism of the military government and of the education system took a historic turn in criticizing the all-powerful monarchy. Except for anonymous source analysis in foreign media and satirical Facebook groups, discussion of the Chakri monarchy's past, present and future is made nearly impossible by one of the world's toughest lèse-majesté laws. Since he was coronated in 2019 upon the death of his father Bhumibol Adulyadej, King Rama X1has carried out a massive centralization of financial, military and urban resources while spending most of his time outside the country, mainly in a castle in Bavaria with his close circle. Some citizens grew increasingly wary of the monarchy's perceived interference in civil affairs.

Tackling the biggest taboo in the country, Panusaya ‘Rung’ Sithijirawattanakul, student leader from the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, and Anon Nampa, human rights lawyer, called on stage for a public debate on the privileges and prerogatives of the royal institution in July 2020. Their speeches were expressed in respectful, rational and legal language: “To speak in this way is not to call for the overthrow of the monarchy, but it is to dream that the monarchy could exist in Thai society with a legitimacy in accordance with the democratic system of government with the monarch as head of state” explained Anon.

Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul read ten reforms' proposals, including an end to the prosecution of crimes of lese majeste, an end to propaganda campaigns, control of the palace's assets and reduction of its expenses, and the opening of investigations into the deaths of critics of the monarchy. The text also demands that repeated coups by factions of the army no longer be sanctioned by the royal institution. "These demands are a good faith proposal to ensure that the monarchy can continue to be valued by the people in a democracy. For it to be safe in today's world, it must not hold power related to politics and be a burden to the people and must be able to be controlled, audited and criticized", concluded the statement2.

Author of several publications on Thai politics3 and Associate Professor of Public Law at the University of Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Eugénie Mérieau defines the margins of "Thainess" as such:

"The khwanpenthai, a powerful ideological cement, defines the contours of national identity through the motto: nation, religion, monarchy. But with the democratization of knowledge made possible by the rise of technology and the increase in the general level of education, the traditional founding myths, maintained until then by considerable propaganda efforts, are cracking”.

This generation can’t stand it anymore 

For six months, weekly protests were organized by Bangkok high schoolers, students, and working class youth to keep the pressure on the government with repeated key demands: the dissolution of Parliament and the Senate with the resignation of the Prime Minister, General Prayut Chan-o-cha, the amendment of the Constitution promulgated by the military junta in 2017, leading the path for the organization of free elections, the end of persecution against opponents, and reforms of the monarchy “in good faith”. None of those requests were considered neither by the government nor by the palace and the arrest of protest leaders on multiple charges went unabated. Faced by official unwillingness to compromise and an exponential rise of brutal repression, actions and words from the pro-democracy camp became more radical too, with the possibility of a peaceful negotiation process and constitutional resolution shrinking every day.

During an interview with the author of this article, a professor at Chiang Mai University emphasized that a cultural revolution is the most urgent:

"This country has been turned into a temple under the pressure of hyper-royalist and nationalist circles and no one can operate freely. The real goal of constitutional reform must be targeted at the king, because if his power is finally reduced, the soldiers will have to go back to their barracks and work for the people... This generation can't stand anything anymore and is capable of breaking the glass ceiling under which we live. But our elites are out of control, irrational, unable to dialogue and negotiate and I expect a response only based on force, as was the case for all pro-democracy uprisings in the past."

On the evening of November 18th, 2020, a crowd angered by the police violence, unleashed the day before during a demonstration in front of the Parliament, surrounded the national police headquarters where thousands of officers were entrenched in the large compound on Ratchadamoen Avenue. After hours of tension, groups of young demonstrators started to spray every inch of public space: pillars, walls, royal portraits, with messages of unprecedented rawness. In a society where freedom of expression has always been limited by the traditional constraints linked to deep respect to the Buddhist religion and the royal family, as well as a political system rigged against representatives of the working class and defenders of progressive policies, one of the only means of expression left for the people are anonymous graffities. Culprits in the eyes of the people were named in offensive and explicit messages, from the Prime Minister to the head of the royal police, to the king. 

The most radical messages being censored  

The next day, an armada of police officers and volunteers cleaned up and covered all messages with white paint. The only traces remaining from the official erasure campaign in the collective memory are the amateur photos taken by the hundreds of people who were still in the street that night, some of which were posted on social media. Thai-language media censored those messages in their coverage for obvious fear of being legally responsible for their very controversial content and most English-language media were very careful from the beginning of protests in their editing process. A foreign freelancer photographer for a renowned international photo agency told the author of this article:

“I focus my lens on the protesters holding boards with messages in English because I don’t read Thai and don’t have time to have them translated before sending them over, to make sure none of it breaches defamation law. I am also careful of never sending images with messages about the king as not to jeopardize my annual media visa process”.

As a result, the most radical messages in Thai or in English language are never published in the mainstream media and only live in the streets or on social media for a short time until they are forcibly disappeared. On international news channels like the BBC, the message "The program will resume shortly" began to appear during reports on the protests, and posting selfies or geo-localizing to the scene of the protests on one's personal social media has become illegal, punishable by two years in prison and a fine of 1,075 euros. From June to November 2021, Facebook and Instagram have turned off their English-Thai as well as French-Thai automatic translation following an error on a post celebrating the anniversary of Queen Suthida, fourth wife of King Vajiralongkorn. Short of copy-pasting every message in a translating platform, it became impossible for non-Thai readers to understand the posts and memes about Thailand politics shared by their friends online.

For decades, scholarly work and the nation’s collective memory is heavily affected by historians’ self-censorship with respect to the monarchy, and its contested historical role in shaping the Buddhist Kingdom’s modern history – producing bias, omissions and critical distortions. The aim of the photo essay that accompanies this article is to throw a rare light on the courage of the pro-democracy movement to verbalize previously unverbalizable statements in Thailand, as a way to understand the generational divide when it comes to popular deference to the royal institution, as well as the cracks in a society labeled for its politeness and restraint. The Kingdom of Siam, which was long considered as a quiet tourist paradise from the outside world, is crippled by intrigue and state secrets about which all discussion is prohibited, which is feeding all fantasies and frustrations. 

Around sixty pictures have been taken by the author of this article on the night of October 18th, 2020 in the area of the Royal Police Headquarters in Bangkok. A third has been selected, and all messages visible in the images translated and contextualized for a readership who is not intimately familiar with the country’s political history, from hidden scandals to popular culture references. The next day, all messages were covered with white paint and only pictures taken that night by the public remain as evidence.

The old order digging its own grave 

Thongchai Winichakul, professor of history at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, is a survivor of the 1976 Thammasat university massacre of students by army and paramilitary forces, about which he published the book “Moments of Silence”.4 Known for his pioneering work on Thai nationalism, he wrote in October 20205 that taboos can no longer hold in the face of the advent of mass media: "The struggle that burns in the hearts and minds of this young generation is beyond the control of the state. By clinging to the past and to domination, the monarch and the military have failed to engage in peaceful calls for reform, setting the kingdom on a turbulent downward slope. By ignoring the need for necessary change, the old order risks digging its own grave".

From July 2021, a movement of young working class protesters unafraid of clashes with the police reignited the uprising flame in the streets of Bangkok, mainly in the neighborhood of Din Daeng, and was subject to a level of violent repression unseen since the Red Shirts takedown in 2010. In November 2021, the Constitutional Court ruled that calls by protest leaders Panusaya "Rung" Sithijirawattanakul, Arnon Nampa and Panupong "Mike" Jadnok to reform the monarchy amount to an attempt to overthrow the political system and that their speeches were unconstitutional. “They call for attacks in public. They use obscene phrasing. They violate the rights and freedoms of other people, too. They are not far from the overthrow of rule by democracy with the King as Head of State”6. It lays the three protest leaders cited by the court open to charges of treason, which carries the death penalty.

In an article for Dissent magazine, Tyrell Haberkorn, professor specialized in state violence and dissenting cultures in Thailand, was categorical: "Thailand's history of coups and violence backed by the institution of the monarchy, which has driven people into the streets, means that they are still not safe today. This will not change as long as the monarchy is at the center of political life"7.

Quartier général de la police nationale

Office of the National Police

On the first paper from the right: “Stop 'smack' the people's institute” 

The word describing the sound of a kiss in Thai is very similar to the word “insult” and the 'people’s institute' refer to the royal institution. It’s a play on words with the sentence “Stop insulting the people’s institute”, which is regularly used by the pro-royalist camp towards the pro-democracy protestors. 

  

On the second paper: “The king belongs to the people, not to a single group” 

The "single group" is a reference to the People's Alliance for Democracy or "yellow shirts", the core supporters of the establishment and the royal institution. The coalition has been formed against former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in 2005 and is made of ultra-royalist middle-class and working-class Bangkok residents and anti-Thaksin Southerners, supported by some factions of the Thai Army, some leaders of the Democrat Party, and the members of the state-enterprise labor unions.

Graffiti: “Dick”

 

 

 

« Pat et Oud ont peur du canard en caoutchouc ! »

“Pat and Oud are scared of the rubber duck!”

Pat is the nickname of Chakthip Chaijinda, the Chief of the National police who retired shortly before this protest and Oud is the nickname of Phukphong Phongpetra, Chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau. In the summer of 2020, Bangkok demonstrators began using giant beach rubber ducks as shields against water cannons and tear gas. The yellow duck soon became a protest symbol in Thailand.

 

 

 

Sa majesté la Reine

On top: “Her majesty the Queen ! Ordered to kill the people”

On the pavement: “Dead”

The message is an explicit reference to the rumor claiming that Queen Sirikit, the wife of late King Rama IX and mother of Rama X, ordered the crackdown on a Red Shirts camp in downtown Bangkok on April 10th and May 13th–19th 2010. Originally synonymous with the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD), a group formed to protest the 2006 coup d'Etat against Prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and military government, the movement was further supported by left-wing and/or liberal activists, academics and a large number of rural and working-class supporters.

The massacre left close to a hundred people dead in the street and more than 2000 injured and was the culmination of months of protests that called for the Democrat Party-led government of Abhisit Vejjajiva to dissolve parliament and hold elections. At the same period, she also attended the funerals of a yellow shirt protester, though the royal family repeatedly claimed to be impartial and above politics.

 

 

 

Revolution

“Revolution"  

“Red shirts people must not have died for nothing”

Since 2010, no serious investigation to identify and charge government officials responsible for the shootings has been conducted, but witnesses and families of the victims have been targeted by authorities for intimidation and prosecution.

 

 

 

la monarchie c'est que du trash

On the foreground pillar:

“All Monarchy is Trash”

 

In small letters : “If the father would look up at us, it would be with a sad heart”   

The message implies that King IX is looking up at the people, meaning he is in hell according to the Buddhist cosmology, and that he would be sad as the new generation don't held him in high reverence anymore, contrary to the older generation for whom he was a revered fatherly figure throughout most of their lives. 

 

“1976 : Massacre at Thammasat”

Circled in red, the drawing of a person throwing a chair at another person is a reference to the lynching of a man who was battered and hung from a tree in front of a mob during the October 6th massacre. Associated Press photographer Neal Ulevich shot this Pulitzer Prize-winning photo as a man swung a folding chair over his head, preparing to smash it into the corpse. No one - the victim, the attacker or any of the dozens of spectators — has been identified since this haunting episode in the Thai collective memory. The 6 October 1976 massacre, or 'the 6 October event' as it is refered to in the country, was a violent crackdown by Thai police and lynching by right-wing paramilitaries and bystanders against students and workers protesters who had occupied Bangkok's Thammasat University. Prior to the massacre, thousands of leftists had been holding ongoing demonstrations against the return of former dictator Thanom Kittikachorn to Thailand since mid-September.

 

"DMC"

 A likely abbreviation for the expression “Dead Monarchy” 

 

On the pillar behind, below the Anarchy sign :

“We love them all the same”

On November 2nd 2020, during a walk through thousands of prostrating royalists chanting “Long live the king,”, King Vajiralongkorn gave his first and only known face-to-face comments to a reporter. He was outside the Grand Palace when a Channel 4 and CNN news team asked him about the ongoing protests and calls for royal reform. After initially saying “no comment,” the monarch repeated, “We love them all the same”. Asked if there was room to compromise with the protesters, the king replied, “Thailand is the land of compromise.”

Protest leader Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul tweeted in response: “Yes, Land of compromise where protesters are arrested, protests get crackdowns, protesters get beat up, and critics of [the monarchy] get disappeared.”

 

“Rama 10 dead next" Rama X succeeded to his father Rama IX (1927-2016) and was coronated in May 2019.  

 

 

Pour une réforme de la monarchie

In red (between the blue lines): "Reform the Monarchy"

 

In black : “Dick, why did you kill my older sibling”

The reference is unclear and could refer to three different situations: to the protester who got shot some days before this demonstration, to the red shirts killed in Ratchaprasong in 2010 or to the unresolved death of Rama VIII.

 

Brown line: "This party is like the foot and full of IO"

The party refers to Palang Pracharat, the military-backed party who won contested elections in 2019 and is affiliated to Prime minister Prayut Chan-o-Cha. In Thai culture, the feet are seen as dirty and symbolically low. The IO refers to Information Operation, a state-backed network run by the Royal Thai Army to promote pro-government and pro-military positions and accounts on social media and to attack political opposition, particularly the Future Forward Party (FFP) and Move Forward Party, by spreading fake news. On October 8, 2020, Twitter announced the takedown of 926 accounts targeting Thai Twitter users in a domestic information operation.

 

Blue line: "Not accept iLaw"

The legal advocacy organization iLaw collected the 50,000 signatures needed for a constitutional amendment petition to be submitted and debated in Parliament, but the Parliament rejected its draft.  

Blue line (top left bottom corner): "Your father is a murderer" 

A reference to the widespread rumor according to which Rama IX accidentally killed his older brother Rama VIII, who had been found dead at 20 years old  in his bed in the Grand Palace on June 9, 1946, shot through the head. Rama IX succeeded him and became the King of Thailand from 1950 until his passing in 2016.

 

Last black line: "You slave, whatever you do, your position will never be higher than Fufu, stupid"

"Slave" targets the police and army members. "Air Chief Marshal" Fufu (1997–2015) was a Thai dog which was the pet poodle of Rama X, at the time the Crown Prince of Thailand. The dog was a favorite of the prince, often accompanied him on royal engagements, and was elevated to the status of an air force officer.

 

On the floor: "Stop domestic violence in royal family"

A reference to the fate of Rama X previous wives as well as the hospitalization in January 2021 of the king's sister, Princess Sirindhorn, after an altercation with her brother. The assault was allegedly prompted after she confronted him over his plans to make his official consort a second queen, alongside his present wife, Queen Suthida. 

 

 

 

Travailleur Salim

“Riot”

 

“Salim Worker”

Salim is a Thai dessert consisting of multi-colored thin noodles served in coconut milk with crushed ice. In politics, pro-democracy protesters use the word to designate pro-military royalist-conservative who looked down on the role of elected representatives and political parties. Social workers, who operate inside the political system and collaborate closely with Ministries, are increasingly seen as "salim" by the anti-establishment side.

 

"We don't want the Royal Act from 2505"

2505 is the year 1962 in the Buddhist calendar. The Royal Act refers to an order banning members of the Buddhist clergy from any political involvement.

 

 

 

Enfoiré

First sign from the left on the cardboard:

"Dick"

 

Second sign on the cardboard : Three vertical lines refer to the three-finger salute, a protest sign used by pro-democracy activists in Southeast Asia and which was inspired by the movie Hunger Games.

 

Second sign in the middle on a white page: "Free sandalwood flower"

Sandalwood flower is used for cremation ceremonies in Thailand. Putting those flowers equates to putting a curse and a death wish on the authorities.

 

First paper from the right: "Lick the balls / Your position will not improve"

 

Je vous ordonne d'être contemporains

"I order you... to be contemporary"

This is a reference to the sign "I order you... to learn to be self-sufficient" which was put on the gate to the third wife of Rama X, Srirasmi, who married him in 2001 and gave him a son, Prince Dipangkorn. In 2014, she was imposed seclusion in a very basic house and seven of her relatives have been arrested, and accused of misusing their royal status to amass vast wealth and carry out numerous abuses.

The Self-sufficiency philosophy is a reference to the philosophy developed by late king Rama IX from the 1970's onwards which builds on traditional values of self-reliance, moderation and resilience, from a state to a personal level.

The new sentence is a way for the protesters to tell the king to behave in a modern way or the people will go the modern way without a king.

 

 

 

Sur le visage du roi

On The King’s face: "Dick, the King can only survive because of the people"  

Above the word Revolution: “Your father kills the people”   

Blue line: “The King orders forced disappearances”  

Since 1980 in Thailand, the United Nations Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances recorded 82 cases of enforced disappearance, defined as the detention of a person by state officials and a refusal to acknowledge the detention or to reveal the person’s fate or whereabouts. The most high-profile case is the one of prominent Muslim lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, snatched from a street in Bangkok in March 2004, and the most recent one is activist Wanchalerm Satsaksit, kidnapped in Cambodia where he was living in exile. Since 2017, cases of critics of the monarchy disappearing or being killed in neighboring countries where they were hiding have been increasing. Thailand’s penal code does not recognize enforced disappearance as a criminal offense so none of these cases have been resolved, and no one has been prosecuted.

 

 

 

Land of dictator – Pays du dictateur

"Land of Dictator"

A joke using the advertisement for BTS (Bangkok Transportation System) : "Go to Siam", the station where the two main BTS lines cross. Protesters added: "Can I go to Sra Pathum palace?" (one of the royal residence)

 

"Rama 9 kill Rama 8" (see caption in photo 6)

"Bastard get out"

"Can’t think differently / No Freedom of Opinion"

“Get caught unprepared”

A Thai saying meaning one encounters something unexpected, which is a reference in this context to the violent repression people met when they came out to protest.

 

"Slave"

"I want to be arrested"

"Fuck capitalist"

"Long live the duck" (see photo 2)

On the pavement: "King (IO) crazy about pussy "

"O Dick"

 

IO or O are informal ways to refer to King X and come from two main references: 

- Olasatila (The King of Rama) was the traditional way to refer to the son of the king when the king was still alive. 

- Sia O = Mafia Boss. King Vajiralongkorn is sometimes referred in private as Sia-O, the word “Sia” being a nickname for Chinese-Thai gangsters and the “O” was a veiled reference to the prince’s royal name.

 

 

 

Roi, Humain (« Khon » en thaï) // N’est pas un Dieu

King, Human (‘Khon’ in Thai) // Not a God

 

 

 

Nous avons le roi quand il s'oppose à la violence

“We love the king who is against violence”

“Stop being a burden for the country”

“Be human before being king”

“Prayut, when you get out, the country will be better”

“Eat up the tax” 

"O Dick"

"Human Rights"

 

 

 

Dictateur serviteur/ esclave

"Dictator servant/slave"

"Go to die"

"Our head is cold because of the water dropping"

A reference to one sentence in the royal anthem, Sansoen Phra Barami ('Glorify his prestige'): "Our head is cool because of the royal kindness", meaning 'we are secure and peaceful thanks to your royal rule'. The parody could refer to the incessant rain which fell on the protests during the monsoon season or to the water cannons which were widely used from the month of October 2020 to disperse the crowd.

 

"Love Koi"

Popularly known as Koi, Sineenat Wongvajirapakdi , 35, graduated from the Army Nursing College in 2008. She also served in the king’s royal bodyguard unit, reaching the rank of Major General, and has been his mistress for some years. In August 2019,  Ms Wongvajirapakdi was elevated to the position of the “royal consort” just three months after the king’s marriage to his fourth wife, Queen Suthida. She was stripped of her title and military ranks just months after she was accused of “disloyalty” and of seeking to undermine the position of the monarch’s wife. She was released from detention in September 2020 after spending ten months at a correctional facility. She has been declared “untainted.” and is now back in the royal circle.

 

Prayut, es-tu vraiment thaïlandais ?

"Prayut, are you Thai?

This is a part of the wrecked economy. We have too much trash on both land and water or ocean. The recycling factories from foreign capitals lack the standards to take responsibility for the environment. The release of toxic products into land and water affects Thais. We use water for consumption, agriculture and fishery. I am Thai. I love the nation. But I don’t like dictator Tu (Prayut)"

 

 

 

Parfaitement dociles, merci

Black line on the wall in the background: "So docile, thank you" (refer to police and army)

 

Yellow line: "The king of the pussy"

King Vajiralongkorn has spent much of his time reportedly living a luxurious lifestyle in the mountains of southern Germany and Austria along with a 'harem' of women, numerous private vehicles and controls a billion dollar empire.

 

"Rim Sa", meaning "near the pool" is a reference to the infamous "birthday video"

A video leaked in 2007 shows the third wife of the king, Srirasmi Suwadee, appearing topless in a G-string, at a private pool party for the then Prince’s beloved poodle, Foo Foo.

 

White line: "One demand team"

Originally the pro-democracy camp had ten reform demands, then it was shortened to three (resignation of the Prime minister, a new Constitution and reform of the monarchy) and nowadays a group is advocating for only one demand: a revolution followed by  the establishment of the Republic of Thailand.

 

 

 

c’est quoi le problème de ton fils ?

"Lek (Rama IX’s nickname), what’s the hell wrong with your son?"

"Only fuck the pussy"

"Dipangkorn (name of Rama X son), what the hell is wrong with your dad?"

 The Sticker of Prayuth as a lucky cat is from the artist Headache Stencil, a pseudonymous Thai street artist known for his satirical paintings depicting military officials and political issues since the last coup d'Etat in 2014

 

"If you’re not turned on to politics, politics will turn on to you"

 

 

 

Tueur toi

"Ki(ng)ller"

"Thanks for your royal kindness"

"Justice not fair"

"Never smile"

A reference to the book The King Never Smiles, an unauthorized biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej by Paul M. Handley. The book was banned in Thailand before publication, and the Thai authorities have blocked local access to websites advertising the book, analyzing the state propaganda machine which crafted the image of a serious king close to his people's concerns .

 

"Fuck 112 / 110 / 116"

Under section 112 of Thailand's penal code, the "lèse-majesté law", anyone convicted of defaming, insulting or threatening the king, queen, heir or regent faces between three and fifteen years in prison on each count. The law is routinely interpreted to include criticism of any aspect of the monarchy -- including content posted or shared on social media. In 2017, a man was sentenced to 35 years in jail for a series of Facebook posts and comments about the royal family.

Under section 110, whoever commits an act of violence against the Queen or Her liberty, the Heir-apparent or His liberty, or the Regent or his/her liberty, shall be punished with imprisonment for life or imprisonment of sixteen to twenty years. Two pro-democracy activists, Ekkachai Hongkangwan and "Francis" Bunkueanun Paothon could face life in prison for alleged intention to harm HM the Queen’s liberty during a rally in Bangkok on October 14th, which happened to coincide with the same time and same route as a royal motorcade.

Under section 116, the sedition law, whoever makes an appearance to the public by words, writings or any other means which is not an act within the purpose of the Constitution or for expressing an honest opinion or criticism in order:

-To bring about a change in the Laws of the Country or the Government by the use of force or violence;

-To raise unrest and disaffection amongst the people in a manner likely to cause disturbance in the country; or

-To cause the people to transgress the laws of the Country, shall be punished with imprisonment not exceeding seven years.

 

 

 

« Wanchalearm »

Red one: "Wanchalearm"

After the 2014 coup, Wanchalearm Satsaksit, a commentator critical of the government and the royal institution, fled into exile in Cambodia. In early June, the 30-year-old was abducted by unknown assailants outside his building in Phnom Penh. He is the latest victim in a series of enforced disappearances abroad that have never been solved. All actions demanding the truth have been suppressed and graffiti commemorating his memory in the streets of Bangkok destroyed.

 

Purple line: "Fighting like this until the next life, you will never win. Sotus mob? Boring intellectual / wisdom mob"

A reference to protesters advocating for peaceful demonstrations and against looting and violence. Sotus is a reference to the "Seniority, Order, Tradition, Unity, Spirit" system, a traditional system of ritualized hazing in Thai universities aiming to reinforce and instill the importance of hierarchy into young adults via activities and punishments. The parallel shows the growing frustration among the working-class disenfranchised youth with the repeated calls for non-violence from students leaders at the frontline of protests. 

 

"Hey CP, looting is coming soon"

A reference to the Charoen Pokphand Group, an agro-industrial and food conglomerate headquartered in Thailand. It is the world's largest producer of feed and shrimp, and is also a global top three producer of poultry and pork. The CP group owns 7/11 and Tesco supermarkets, is involved in real estate as well as the True telecom company. The family behind the empire is part of the "big five" who donated millions to the military-backed Palang Pracharat party ahead of the 2019 general elections.

 

 

 

Fuck le gouvernement

Black line : "Fuck government"/ "Fuck CP" / "Fuck Bordering forest"

The last message is a reference to accusations of land misuse by Five Provinces Bordering Forest Preservation Foundation from Rangsiman Rome, an MP with the now-disbanded Future Forward Party. The foundation was established in 2006 to support royal directives to preserve forest and wildlife along a 1.2-million-rai tract on the Cambodian border.

In February 2020, Rangsiman has pointed out in front of the Parliament that current Interior Minister Anupong Paochinda, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan and another foundation director, Noppadon Intapanya, as well Sonthi Boonyaratglin, all held generals’ ranks during the most recent coups. Rangsiman alleges that the foundation has received financing from both foreign and domestic corporations along with lucrative posts in the private sector for Thai government officials.

 

Light blue: "Are you angry enough?"

 

Blue line: "Colonized by China"

 

Red line: "Bad king"

 

repeints en blanc

The Day After When All Walls Have Been White-Painted.

 

Unfold notes and references
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1

His full names are Phrabat Somdet Phra Paramendra Ramadhibodi Srisinra Maha Vajiralongkorn Mahisara Bhumibol Rajavarangkura Kitisirisumburna Adulyadej Sayamindradhipeshra Rajavarodom Borommanat Pobitra Phra Vajira Klao Chao Yu Hua and his regnal name in Thai is พระบาทสมเด็จพระปรเมนทรรามาธิบดีศรีสินทรมหาวชิราลงกรณ มหิศรภูมิพลราชวรางกูร กิติสิริสมบูรณอดุลยเดช สยามินทราธิเบศรราชวโรดม บรมนาถบพิตร พระวชิรเกล้าเจ้าอยู่หัว

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4

Thongchai Winichakul, Moments of Silence: The Unforgetting of the October 6, 1976, Massacre in Bangkok, Honolulu, University of Hawai’i Press, 2020.

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7

Online interview, October 2020.