High school students throughout Thailand raised three fingers while adorning white ribbons during the daily flag-raising ceremony on Monday to stand in solidarity with the ongoing anti-government protests.
The movement trended on Twitter with the hashtag, #โรงเรียนหน้าเขาไม่เอาเผด็จการ (the next schools will not tolerate dictatorships), garnering over 650,000 tweets since Monday morning.
Photos and video footage of the flash mobs, which were mostly filmed by the students, are also going viral online.
Students from Hatyai Wittayalai to Srikranuanwittayakom School in Khon Kaen stood in defiance against the government despite protests from their teachers.
Some students have also claimed they are being threatened and punished by their teachers and authorities for their activism.
A politician from the former Future Forward Party reported police cars arriving at the campus of Srikranuanwittayakom School in Khon Kaen to confiscate the students’ white ribbons.
Another post on Twitter said students from a school in Nakhon Sawan were getting smacked in the head, ordered to sit down, scolded at and yanked by their hands during the ceremony.
The teachers also allegedly said to the students that they “haven’t done anything for the country, haven’t paid taxes, so if they are unhappy then they should leave.”
Netizens and organizations took to Twitter and other social media accounts to support the students while using the hashtag.
Wiroj Lakkhanaadisorn, under the handle @wirojlak, said on his Twitter that raising three fingers, wearing white ribbons, and showing blank signs are not illegal.
Meanwhile, ภาคีนักเรียนแห่งประเทศไทย or the Associate of Students in Thailand announced that students who have been intimidated or punished for their activism can directly contact the association for support.
Here are some examples
Students around Thailand are adorning white ribbons and raising the three finger salute at the national anthem to show their resistance against dictatorship 🕊 #โรงเรียนหน้าเขาไม่เอาเผด็จการ #upfact #ขีดเส้นตายขับไล่เผด็จการ pic.twitter.com/kZEIkAw1uu
— kichan. ||| (@memokichan) August 17, 2020
Teacher trying to destroy moment of political symbolic expression from students. #WhatHappeningInThailand#WhatHappenslnThailand#เยาวชนปลดแอก #ประชาชนปลดเเอก #โรงเรียนหน้าเขาไม่เอาเผด็จการ pic.twitter.com/ENci3NC9Q1
— BEAT (@SodabeaTx) August 17, 2020
AFTER SHOCK from yesterday.
— Nol P (@Oata_056) August 17, 2020
Dear young friend, I promise that You will never walk alone.
SALUTE SALUTE SALUTE #โรงเรียนหน้าเขาไม่เอาเผด็จการ pic.twitter.com/ssh0pLJAxS