Two German language students, one a recent graduate, had no plans to take the stage when they headed to a protest outside the German Embassy in Bangkok last year. But their language skills thrust them into the spotlight as they answered a call for German speakers to help read out a statement.
Now they are among 30 people who saw charges brought Wednesday, which brought the total prosecuted by the government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-ocha for political activities at rallies and online to 394 since June.
The two are due back in the prosecutor’s office on March 25. Thai Enquirer spoke to them about their experience and motivations.
Dear
On the night of 26 October, Ravisara “Dear” Eksgool, 25, was reading out a part of the protestors’ statement calling for the German parliament to investigate King Vajiralongkorn for conducting Thai affairs of state from its territory, in violation of German law.
The German foreign ministry told the Bundestag in January that there was no strong evidence of this happening, according to a report by Japanese news agency Nikkei.
However, the Thai prosecutor still charged 13 protestors from that rally with lese-majeste under Section 112, which carries a possible jail sentence of three to 15 years.
Ravisara was chosen to read the part of the statement that was in German, as she had studied the language at Chulalongkorn University. “I visited the country when I was 15 and I have been studying their language ever since because I was fascinated by it,” she said.
Now a freelance translator and tutor, she said has been following the pro-democracy movement via social media and have been joining their rallies since August.
More widely, she has been following Thai politics since the coup of 2014 and the topic that she is interested in the most is the disparity in the Thai education system. “Every child should have an equal access to education,” she said.
“Kids in rural areas are being left behind and I know because I used to have to travel to Bangkok for special tutoring just to gain an equal footing with the students from the capital and things should not be this way,” she added.
Ravisara said that she supports the pro-democracy movement’s push to rewrite the constitution because the current junta-drafted charter allows for the previous coup-makers to continue to hold on to power until now.
“If this charter continues to be in place, the same group of people will continue to be in power and the country will not be able to progress in any direction,” she said.
She also supports the call to reform Thailand’s traditional institutions so that a system of checks and balances could be applied.
“No one should be facing a jail term for just reading out a statement that is not harmful in any way like what I am facing now, this part should be fixed,” she added.
On the day of the protest, she said she did not know that she would be reading out the statement until she reached the rally at Samyan Intersection.
“Many friends contacted me to say that the protest organizers announced on Twitter that they were looking for people at the mob who can read German, so I responded,” she said.
The protestors first gathered at the intersection before they marched to the embassy, where Ravisara was handed the statement for a quick rehearsal.
She found out she was going to be reading with three other people whom she had not met before.
“I was warned by the organizers that there is a risk but at the time, I did not believe what I read out would lead me to the current situation because it was just a question, it was not insulting or threatening in anyway,” she said.
“I also do not believe that anyone currently charged with the law deserves it as the law is being only being used by the government to scare and silence people that think differently from them,” she added.
Ravisara said her family is concerned about the allegation but they have continued to morally support her along with her friends and other protestors, which makes her feel that she is not alone in this fight.
Apart from the alleged violation of the lese-majeste laws, she is also being charged with sedition which carries a jail sentence of up to seven years. She has pleaded not guilty to both charges.
“I want the government to listen to the protestors based on logic and try to understand what they are really demanding. And if the government still does not understand what the protestors are asking for after that, they should quit,” she said.
“To the protestors, I want everyone to keep on fighting,” she added.
Sutinee
Sutinee Jangpipatnawakit, 20, has also been charged with lese-majeste and sedition for reading out a part of the same statement in front of the German Embassy.
Sutinee said she has been joining pro-democracy rallies since August because she agrees with all of the demands from the protestors, especially equality in educational opportunities.
“The government was clearly refusing to listen to any of the protestors’ demands so I joined the protests because I want to see that same changes that the protestors wanted to see,” she said.
On the day of the protest, Sutinee was at Chulalongkorn University where she studies German. She joined the protest at the nearby intersection, and was among the first to move to the embassy.
Once they arrived, she saw on Twitter that the organizers were looking for people who can read German and she decided to help.
“The statement was clear in what we were asking for and they were basically questions that have been left unanswered by the government,” she said.
She said professors from her university and the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights have been helping her out with the legal process and she appreciated all the support.
As for the charges against her, she said it is clear that the government is refusing to listen to protestors’ demands and they are using the lese-majeste law to silence all dissidents.
“They are charging scores of people because they want to shut us up,” she said.
“But that will not work because more and more people are realizing what this law is actually being used for, which is to silence people who do not agree with the government,” she added. “It makes me feel good to see that.”
Sutinee said the government should resign if they cannot even fix the air-pollution problem, let alone the political, social and economic crisis that the country is now facing because of all the mismanagement by the current government.
To other protestors, she said, “the path may be long but we must keep on fighting”.
She had pleaded not guilty to both sedition and lese-majeste charges.
