Caption: Sukhon Phuttan, a 60 year old cleaner, was beaten at the Thai-Japanese Bangkok Youth Centre near to a pro-monarchy protest on 30 August for wearing a red shirt. 
Source: Sombat Thongyoi

Sukhon Phuttan, a 60 year old cleaner, was beaten at the Thai-Japanese Bangkok Youth Centre near to a pro-monarchy protest on 30 August for wearing a red shirt.  Sukhon said he wore a red shirt to work overtime because it was Sunday. A witness has claimed he was assaulted by the protesters’ guards, but the pro-monarchy group Thai Pakdee denied any involvement.

Sukhon has filed a report with Din Daeng Police Station. According to the police blotter, he was attacked by an unknown man with an unknown weapon. A medical examination by the Veterans General Hospital simply says he was physically assaulted. Sukhon said that a group of people came to talk to him before they hit him on the head. He had said to them he was simply there to work without any political affiliation. After the assault, Sukhon said he was still dizzy and also had high blood pressure.

Sukhon told Prachatai that he has been working there for 37 years. On Sunday (30 August), he was there simply to sweep away water on the floor in front of the building. He wanted to make sure it was easier for anyone to walk by, including the pro-monarchy protesters. Sukhon said he wore a shirt according to the weekday’s symbolic colours –red for Sunday, yellow for Monday, etc. Sometimes he also wore an official uniform.

Sukhon said he was not afraid, but he hoped it would not happen again. “We are all Thais,” Sukhon told Matichon. “They come and hit me for what I do not understand. We are all Thais.  It is not necessary to choose a colour. It’s better to live together as friends because we are all sons of the King. It’s better off that we should live in peace and happiness. Why argue with each other? We are all Thais.”

In the evening of the same day, Sombat Thongyoi posted on Facebook a picture of the scene where Sukhon was beaten. He claimed Sukhon was arguing with a middle-aged pro-monarchy woman protester. Sukhon was trying to say he was simply there to work, but the protesters’ guards immediately came to assault him.

Thai Pakdee, a pro-monarchy group which held an assembly nearby, has denied any involvement. Dr. Warong Dechgitvigrom, a former politician and the leader of Thai Pakdee, said that the organizing team did not use protest guards, but got help from the military and police to keep watch over the situation.

Patiyut Thongprachong, Deputy Secretary of Thai Pakdee, referred to a rumour claiming that Sukhon was tipsy. He said he has talked to the police, but he did not know who committed the assault because no officers saw the event. They were 30 metres away from the scene which was outside the protest site. Patiyut said that the claim was a distortion by people who think differently from his group.   

According to the Bangkok Post, the Thai Pakdee pro-monarchy protest on Sunday had more than 1,200 participants. Protesters held placards with messages including “Save the Nation” and “Topple the institution – over my dead body.” The pro-monarchy protest was in response to the recent anti-government protests led by students and citizens who are calling for constitutional amendment, freedom of expression and monarchy reform. 

On Monday (31 August), the pro-monarchy protesters gathered again at the Embassy of Japan in Thailand to called for the acting Prime Minister of Japan to take action against Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a Thai professor in exile whom the protesters claim is using Japan as a base to undermine the Thai monarchy. He is also the founder of Royalist Marketplace - Talad Luang, a Facebook group which has now registered more than 1,000,000 monarchy reformists.