As night falls on a bustling junction close to the heart of Bangkok, gangs of young protesters take on police with slingshots, firecrackers and homemade “ping pong” bombs, turning the streets into a battle zone.
The student protest movement that gripped Thailand last year with its taboo-smashing demands for royal reform has largely died down, splintered by infighting and left rudderless by the arrest of several key leaders, but since early August, a hard core of young working-class protesters calling themselves “Thalugaz” have fought near-nightly street battles with riot police armed with tear gas, rubber bullets and chemical-laced water cannon.
They organize through messaging apps and have taught themselves how to make small explosive charges, or “ping pong” bombs, using manuals found online.
“We gather at the intersection and move up the streets, throwing [ping pong] bombs and then they fire rubber bullets back,” 17-year-old protester Fhong said.
Thalugaz, literally “breaking through [tear] gas” in Thai, is a loosely organized group of working-class Thais in their teens and early 20s with no formal structure or strategy.
Their combative approach contrasts sharply with the gentler style of last year’s demonstrations led by university students, who advocated change through speeches and political art performances, and adopted a cutesy rubber duck as their mascot.
The police’s handling of those largely peaceful rallies was criticized by some as heavy-handed, though they insist it was in line with the law and international standards, but the Thalugaz protesters are determined not to go down without a fight.
“My friends and brothers got beaten to a pulp by who? The riot police,” 18-year-old Thom said. “If the riot police get hold of us, they’d kick and beat us, is that the right thing to do?”
At their peak, last year’s protests drew tens of thousands onto the streets of Bangkok calling for the resignation of Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, the former army chief who seized power in a coup in 2014.
They grabbed headlines with their demands for curbs on the power and wealth of Thai King Maha Vajiralongkorn — unprecedented in a nation where the monarchy, long revered, is protected by stringent lese majeste laws.
The movement took a hit early this year when the leaders were arrested, COVID-19 regulations limited gatherings, and splits emerged over tactics, ideology and demands.
Where last year’s protests focused on calls for constitutional change and high-level political reform, the Thalugaz are focused on economic and social demands.
“In a country where the gap between the rich and poor is so wide, [political] actions are different among different classes, even if they share the same anti-government agenda,” political analyst Somjai Phagaphasvivat said.
Many of the young protesters come from working-class families whose lives have been upended by the COVID-19 pandemic, with street traders and small businesses forced to stop work because of strict lockdown measures.
“My aunt used to make 3,000 to 4,000 baht [US$91 to US$121] a day selling goods, but now her income has fallen to 1,000 to 2,000 baht,” Thom said.
He, too, was hit by the pandemic, when he had to shutter his auto repair shop in Surin Province. Now he makes a living delivering ice around the capital.
As well as shouldering the economic burden of the crisis, poorer Thais living in cramped housing or slum dwellings have also suffered higher rates of COVID-19 infection.
As such, it is hardly a coincidence that the main battleground for Thalugaz, Din Daeng, is a neighborhood where low-income housing nestles among upscale new apartment buildings close to the prime minister’s residence.
Despite the unrest, there is some sympathy for the protesters among residents.
“The riot police are aggressive, so the kids retaliate,” restaurant owner Sirirattana Siriwattanavuth, 32, said. “The protesters have obviously had enough, some of them are a bit radical and they want payback.”
Manoon Houngkasem, a 67-year-old food vendor who has lived in Din Daeng for more than 40 years, said most residents are unhappy with the noise and violence.
It is not only protesters who have suffered injuries — police have been hurt, too, including one officer shot in the head with a copper bullet.
With no sign of Prayuth quitting and the Thalugaz determined not to back down, residents of Din Daeng are facing more sleepless nights.
“If he does not resign, we will keep up this protest,” Thom said. “I will not give up.”
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