BANGKOK — Police officers forcefully broke up a peaceful demonstration of student activists who were marking the first anniversary of the 2014 military coup d’etat on Friday night, leaving one student hospitalized.

The anti-coup protest was held in front of Bangkok Art and Culture Center, in the heart of downtown Bangkok, at around 6 pm yesterday. More than 30 students joined the gathering, and over 200 police officers were dispatched to contain the protesters.

The students stood with their arms locked for about half an hour before police started arresting some members of the group around 6:20 pm, leading to skirmishes between the police and students.

Determined to hold their ground, the remaining students sat down and shouted at the police to “release our friends.” Police then forcefully dragged away the remaining activists.

By 8.30 pm, all of the protesters, 27 men and 6 women, had been arrested and taken to Pathumwan Police Station for interrogation.

One student reportedly passed out because of police abuse and was sent to Hua Chiew Hospital. Prachatai news site identified him as Songtham Kaewpanpruek, a member of the Thai Student Center for Democracy (TSCD).

Several dozen people gathered in front of Pathumwan Police Station last night to demand the students’ release.

At around 6:10 am today, all 33 students were released from police custody after signing an MOU promising not to engage in any further protests against the junta.

Voice TV quoted a police officer at Pathumwan Police Station as saying that police merely “invited” the students for a discussion.

Protests of any kind are currently banned by the ruling military junta, known as the National Council for Peace and Order.

Seven student activists were also arrested in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen yesterday after they unfurled a banner that said, “Oppose the Coup.” They were released at around 9.30 am this morning.

In a statement published last night, Amnesty International called the arrests “a stark reminder of ongoing repression” in junta-ruled Thailand.

“Peaceful protesters must not be arbitrarily arrested or detained just because they raise uncomfortable topics or defy military rule,” Richard Bennett, Asia-Pacific Programme Director at Amnesty International, said in the statement.

He added ,”The authorities must respect and even protect peaceful dissent and lift draconian restrictions on expression and assembly in Thailand – in law and practice.”

Clarification: It has been disputed by other witnesses whether some police officers were using electric batons when they broke up the protest, as the original version of this article reported. 

BANGKOK — Four anti-coup activists were detained by police after filing a lawsuit that accused coup-leader and junta chairman Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha of committing high treason for overthrowing an elected government one year ago.

The activists, who founded the anti-coup group Resistant Citizens, initially planned to walk to the Criminal Court in a public display of dissent, but were intercepted by police and forced into a van.

Siriwit Serithiwat, one of four 'Resistant Citizen' activists arrested after filing a lawsuit against junta chairman Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha on 22 May 2015.

Police brought the activists to the courthouse and allowed them to file the largely-symbolic lawsuit accusing Gen. Prayuth of violating Section 113 of the Thai Criminal Codes, which outlaws any attempt to overthrow the constitution, administration, and monarchy through unlawful means. The charge carries a maximum penalty of death sentence. 

Police then arrested the activists and brought them to Phahonyothin Police Station for interrogation. The group was released later in the evening without charges. 

The lawsuit is very unlikely to go forward, as the junta granted itself legal amnesty in the interim constitution that was enacted shortly after the May 2014 military takeover. Coup d'etats are nearing on a political tradition in Thailand, where the military has launched 13 successful takeovers since democracy was established in 1932.

Coup anniversary protests

Although political activities and protests remain banned by the ruling junta, several small anti-coup demonstrations broke out in Thailand today on the one-year anniversary of the takeover.

Student activists from the Young People for Social-Democracy Movement (YPD) were arrested in Bangkok prior to their planned anti-coup protest, 22 May 2015.

This morning, around a dozen students were arrested by police in Bangkok for reading a statement urging the junta restore civil rights.  In the northeastern province of Khon Kaen, at least seven activists were arrested for unfurling an anti-coup banner.

The largest confrontation took place in front of the Bangkok Art and Culture Center in downtown Bangkok, where at least one hundred police attempted to disperse around 30 student activists who were gathering to peacefully protest the military regime. At least nine protesters were detained by police at the time of publication. 

NOTE TO READERS: This article has been edited to comply with Thailand's lese majeste law, which bans criticizing the monarchy.

BANGKOK — In his strongest criticism of the May 2014 coup yet, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra told a South Korean media agency that last year’s military takeover was plotted by Thailand's traditional elites.

The video clip was posted today on the one-year anniversary of the coup by a pro-Redshirt Facebook page called "Stop Hypocrisy in Thailand."

Speaking in Thai above Korean subtitles, Thaksin alleged that traditional elites helped engineer the anti-government protests that culminated in the coup that overthrew his sister’s government twelve months ago.

 "When they didn't want us to stay anymore, they made Suthep [Thaugsuban, leader of anti-government protests] come out, and then had the military help him,"  Thaksin told Chosun Media, which organized a leadership conference that the former PM attended this week in Seoul.

Thaskin said the military takeover "played out like what I had been through," referring to the military coup that ousted him from power in 2006. The 2006 putsch also followed months of protests against his government. 

In both cases, the military said it was forced to intervene to restore peace and order. 

Although Thaksin has been living in self-imposed exile to avoid a corruption conviction since 2008, he has remained extremely influential in Thai politics. However, he has rarely spoken in public about politics since the May 2014 coup.

Maj.Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, a spokesperson of the Thai military government, called Thaksin's remarks in the video "baseless" and "irresponsible." 

"It's talk about old things. His claims are baseless," Maj.Gen. Sansern said. "The former Prime Minister likes to see himself like the center of the universe and see other people as opponents, without considering the fact that throughout his tenure, there was corruption, abuse of power, and creation of unprecedented divisions in Thailand … He should not use his opportunity to be in foreign countries to talk irresponsibly."

Maj.Gen. Sansern also insisted that the military decided to seize power from the former government to restore peace and order.

"The peace that has taken place in the country throughout the past year is a proof of action of the government and the [junta]," he said. "I believe that the people understand who deserve praises, based on actions, not on words that can be made to look beautiful but is contradictory to the actions." 

Thaksin is an extremely divisive figure in Thai politics. Although he ​has continued to command the ardent support of Thailand’s rural-based Redshirt movement, he is reviled by the country’s mostly-urban conservatives and traditional elite, who accuse him of corruption and disrespect for the monarchy. 

BANGKOK — Police arrested around ten student activists several hours before they planned to protest the May 2014 military coup d'etat on its one-year anniversary.

The activists, who belong to the Young People for Social-Democracy Movement (YPD), were detained by police officers in front of the 14 October Uprising Memorial on Ratchadamnoen Avenue.

Student activists arrived at the 14 October Uprising Memorial to find the entrance barricaded, 22 May 2015.

A statement on the group’s Facebook account said the activists were planning to hold a public forum at the memorial on the state of human rights in post-coup Thailand, followed by a protest at nearby Democracy Monument later in the evening.

However, security officers blocked the entrance to the memorial before the students arrived. Upon seeing police, the activists decided to read a statement in front of the venue, prompting officers to arrest them and bring the group to Chanasongkram Police Station for interrogation. 

The students were interrogated and released without charges at around 2.30 pm. 

The statement, which was also posted on the YPD's Facebook account, denounced the military junta's suppression of freedom over the past twelve months.  

"We cannot build a democratic society if we lack freedom, liberty, rights, justice, and reconciliation," the statement reads. "We believe that peace in society will not be born out of a lack of resistance. Peace in the society will only be born out of equality and justice in terms of power, economics, and politics."

Small anti-coup protests around the country

Although political activities and public challenges to the military remain banned by the junta, activists have planned several public events to mark the first anniversary of the coup today.

Plain-clothed officers arrest Dao Din activists for their anti-coup protest in Khon Kaen, 22 May 2015. [Photo: Dao Din]

This morning, police arrested seven student activists for unfurling an anti-coup banner in front of a Democracy Monument in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen.

The activists belong to Dao Din, a student group that gained national attention after four of its members interrupted Gen. Prayuth during a speech and flashed the forbidden anti-junta "three-finger salute."

In Bangkok, thirty students from Ramkhamhaeng University held a brief rally in front of Parliament to honor the pro-democracy uprising in May 1992, when tens of thousands of demonstrators flooded the streets of Bangkok to demand an elected Prime Minister. 

Students from Ramkhamhaeng University rally in front of Parliament to honor the pro-democracy uprising in May of 1992, 22 May 2015.

Nanthapong Panmat, the leader of today's demonstration, described the charter drafted by the current junta as a departure from the legacy of the 1992 uprising because it opens up a channel for an unelected Prime Minister. 

"The Prime Minister has to be elected by the people," Nanthapong said. Police did not interfere with the demonstators, who dispersed on their own.

A separate anti-coup group called Resistant Citizens is scheduled to appear at the Criminal Court in Bangkok today to file a charge of high treason against junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha for overthrowing a democratic government.

Another group of activists is preparing to hold a vigil in front of the Bangkok Arts and Culture Center in downtown Bangkok at 6 pm today.