Thailand students choose to boycott graduation in support of monarchy reform campaign

In Thailand, pro-democracy student protesters have found yet another way to stand up to the king and demand reform to the monarchy. The student protesters boycotted their graduation for the second day in a row on Saturday, October 31.

While a small group of royalists welcomed the Thai king and queen during the university graduation event, many students lined up for photos from cut-outs of prominent critics of the monarchy in addition to some deciding to boycott the graduation ceremony altogether.

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Peaceful support for reform campaign

As per reports, the graduation ceremony which was attended by the Thai royals was taking place at the Thammasat University amid significant police presence on the campus as well as in the vicinity of the campus. Authorities feared that the students attending the ceremony would try to embarrass the royals.

Many students who were aware of the Thai monarch's presence at the graduation ceremony chose to support the reform campaign by opting out of the ceremony. Natarada Charoensuthipan, a 23-year-old student who choose to skip the graduation ceremony, claimed that the students can not be forced to attend the event and therefore many choose it as a way to peacefully show their disapproval of King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

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Thailand has been gripped by student-led pro-democracy demonstrations for months now. The protesters believe that the Thai monarchy has too much power and therefore one of their major demands has been to bring about changes to the country's constitution.

In Thailand, the monarchy is considered sacrosanct and therefore calls to reform them are unprecedented. In addition, the protesters are also demanding the resignation of the incumbent Thai Prime Minister as well as strengthening of the constitution to make it more democratic.

(With AP inputs, Image AP)

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