Thai youth face ‘severe repercussions’ for taking part in mass demonstrations: Amnesty

By Amnesty International

Thai authorities have arrested, prosecuted, surveilled and intimidated child protesters taking part in mass demonstrations, Amnesty International said today.

The group’s new report We are Reclaiming Our Future, which is based on interviews with 30 youth protesters and activists across the country, calls for charges to be dropped and an end to all harassment discouraging children from joining protests.

Compared to previous waves of protest in Thailand, the large-scale demonstrations between 2020 and 2022 were overwhelmingly carried out by secondary school students under 18 demanding educational, political, economic, and social reforms to what they viewed as a paternalistic and rigidly conservative establishment. LGBTQ+ and Indigenous children, and youth from ethnic minority groups also played major roles.

To date, nearly 300 under-18s…