Yanathicha Buapuean, a member of parliament for the Move Forward Party (MFP) from Chanthaburi, flashed the pro-democracy three-finger salute on Thursday after speaking about state repression against student protestors.
“These actions are intended to harass people and create fear so that the students do not create any more civil disobedience campaigns,” she said.
“The announcement from the Officer of the Basic Education Commission did not help anything as schools are still refusing to provide students with space for them to carry out their activities,” she added in reference to the Ministry of Education’s announcement that schools must allow students to express their political views on campus.
The announcement came as a direct response to reports of state officials pressuring school administrations to prevent student actions that promote civil disobedience.
Such actions include showing the three-finger salute during morning assembly, white ribbons, and holding up empty signs in support of the latest pro-democracy movement against Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha’s government.
In Yanathicha’s address to parliament, she talked of a school in Chanthaburi that allowed plainclothed officers to enter the school and take photos of students in order to intimidate and discourage them from conducting their activities.
Officers also called students’ parents to inform them of their activities. Some student organizers were followed by plainclothed officers on August 25 when the prime minister visited the province, she added.
After addressing parliament, Yanathicha then flashed her three-finger salute for democracy while asking for Prime Minister Prayut, the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation to stop harassing people, including opposition MPs.