BANGKOK — Thai police are becoming more aggressive in their use of a semi-lockdown meant to snuff out a COVID resurgence as a means to squelch a pro-democracy movement, as they are now arresting minors on lese-majeste charges.
Over the weekend, a small group of protesters broke a short period during which anti-government protesters refrained from staging rallies. A group called Free Guards attracted dozens of people to Victory Monument in central Bangkok. During the demonstration on Saturday, they unfurled a 112-meter blank banner that was meant to protest the kingdom’s strict lese-majeste law.
The law makes it a crime to defame, insult or threaten the royal family.
Use of the draconian law, known locally as Article 112, has been reactivated after having been suspended in 2017 on King Maha Vajiralongkorn’s instructions. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha on Nov. 19 ordered strict…
