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Thai students pose with 'dissidents' in graduation protest

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Juarawee Kittisilpa and Chayut Setboonsarng, Reuters

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2020/news/10/31/thai_students.jpg"/><figcaption>Protesters hold a cardboard figure of Somsak Jeamteerasakul, an exiled Thai academic, before a graduation ceremony, which some students have boycotted because it is led by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand, October 31, 2020. Athit Perawongmetha, Reuters</figcaption></figure></div>BANGKOK — Some students at Thailand&#x27;s Thammasat University posed with cardboard cutouts of well-known critics of the monarchy on Saturday in a protest as King Maha Vajiralongkorn was to present degrees amid growing calls for royal reform.Youth and student-led demonstrations that began in July by demanding the ousting of former junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha as prime minister have increasingly called for curbs on the king&#x27;s powers, breaking a longstanding taboo.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/15/20/the-story-behind-thailand-protesters-hunger-games-salute">The story behind Thailand protesters’ ‘Hunger Games’ salute</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/25/20/thai-protesters-plan-action-after-pm-ignores-deadline-to-quit">Thai protesters plan action after PM ignores deadline to quit</a></li></ul>State broadcaster Thai PBS quoted a source as saying only around half of this year&#x27;s 9,600 Thammasat graduates joined rehearsals that are essential for those attending the degree ceremony. Last year, it said, only 10 percent missed the final ceremony.The Palace has made no comment since the protests began. Prayuth warned students on Friday not to disrupt the graduation ceremonies at Thammasat, long seen as a center of radicalism.Student protesters set up life-size cardboard cutouts of historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul and former diplomat Pavin Chachavalpongpun, widely followed critics of the monarchy who live in self-exile.&quot;I chose to take a picture with Somsak because I respect him and I don’t think he deserves whatever happened to him for speaking the truth and bravely criticizing the monarchy openly,&quot; said one 23-year-old student, who gave his name as Marut.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/18/20/timeline-thai-protests-grow-in-defiance-of-ban">TIMELINE: Thai protests grow in defiance of ban</a></li>	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/22/20/thailand-revokes-protest-ban-that-backfired">Thailand revokes protest ban that backfired</a></li></ul>Some students posed with a cardboard cutout of Bernard, a well-known nut seller on the campus for decades. Many students, at the ceremony with their families, ignored the cutouts.The university did not respond to a request for comment.The graduation ceremony with accompanying photos is a rite of passage in Thailand.Many families display gilt-framed pictures of graduates receiving degrees from the monarch, a practice begun last century to strengthen royal bonds with the middle class.This year&#x27;s protests have challenged the prestige of the Palace to the greatest extent since the 1932 revolt that ended absolute monarchy.<figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/DoET3faXzr4?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more in <a href="//www.iwantv.com.ph/">iWantv</a> or <a href="//tfc.tv/">TFC.tv</a></div>A week-long government crackdown in mid-October, with a ban on protests and the arrest of many protest leaders, backfired when it prompted bigger demonstrations.Three of the best known protest leaders were re-arrested overnight after the expiry of the limit for keeping them detained. Pictures of one of them being carried unconscious from a police van fueled protesters&#x27; anger.Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said it believed Panupong &quot;Mike Rayong&quot; Jadnok, 24, had been put in a chokehold by police. Police spokesman Kissana Phatanacharoen told Reuters &quot;he had a reaction and so was sent to the hospital,&quot; describing the arrest procedures as &quot;normal.&quot;<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/overseas/10/18/20/their-voice-is-vital-thai-celebs-break-silence-on-democracy-protests">&#x27;Their voice is vital&#x27;: Thai celebs break silence on democracy protests</a></li></ul>

Some students at Thailand's Thammasat University posed with cardboard cutouts of well-known critics of the monarchy on Saturday in a protest as King Maha Vajiralongkorn was to present degrees amid growing calls for royal reform.

Some students at Thailand's Thammasat University posed with cardboard cutouts of well-known critics of the monarchy on Saturday in a protest as King Maha Vajiralongkorn was to present degrees amid growing calls for royal reform.

Thai students pose with 'dissidents' in graduation protest

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Thai students pose with 'dissidents' in graduation protest

Juarawee Kittisilpa and Chayut Setboonsarng,

Reuters

Published October 31, 2020 06:04 PM PHT

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