Four arrested for taping “Repeal 112” sign to Sirivannavari shop door

On 11 November, 4 people were arrested for attaching a “Reform does not equal overthrow” sign and a “Repeal 112” sign to the shop door of Sirivannavari Siam Paragon.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the detainees were released around 10 PM, some 4 hours after being arrested. They were fined 2000 baht for violating the Cleanliness Act.  Police also confiscated their signs.

Voice TV reported that 5 plainclothes officers and 2 traffic police surrounded the taxi the group was on and forced the taxi driver to take them to Pathumwan Police Station, where officers threatened to search the group and seize their ID cards and mobile phones, even though they insisted on waiting for a lawyer.

Sirivannavari Siam Paragon is the flagship store for Sirivannavari brand, owned by the King’s youngest daughter, Princess Sirivannari.   In 2020, the Ministry of Commerce received a 13-million baht budget to organise overseas exhibition of the brand’s new products.

Yesterday evening, the activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration’s Facebook page posted pictures  of activists holding various protest messages - “I am not a rebel,” “An absolute monarchy with the illusion of a democracy,” “Reform does not equal overthrow,” and “Repeal 112” - at locations around central Bangkok, such as at Victory Monument, on a BTS Sky Train, and in a public bus. 

The protest came after the 10 November Constitutional Court ruling that speeches made by demonstration leaders Anon Nampa, Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, and Panupong Jadnok, as well as subsequent calls for monarchy reform constitute an attempt to overthrow the “democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State,” in violation of the 2017 Constitution, Section 49.

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