‘Vote No’ activist undeterred by police

Anurak’s on-the-ground campaign, which is the first of its kind since the introduction of the new draft charter, first emerged a month ago when he joined three others rallying against the new charter draft under the name “Red’s Path”, which has been active since 2010.

This time wearing orange, the group has distributed “Vote No” stickers at various venues including Ratchaprasong intersection, Democracy Monument, Khao San Road and Victory Monument.

Yesterday they revisited the area around the monument, distributing the stickers and symbolically covering their eyes, ears and mouths to communicate that people are now being blocked from participating in the charter writing process.

After about 15 minutes, they were intercepted by police officers from Phya Thai Police Station, despite the fact that they had previously asked plainclothes authorities for permission. 

The police summoned them and made a record of their activities before releasing them without filing charges.

Anurak’s campaign argues that the draft is not democratic.

“The people’s voices were ignored by the Constitution Drafting Commission [CDC] in the drafting process,” Anurak said. “People had no chance to participate in the drafting. No representatives were involved. 

“The charter will bring about conflicts and political problems in the long term,” the activist said. 

He told The Nation by telephone that he would not stop the campaign. “Four people [gathering in a political activity] is legal,” Anurak insisted.

However, the activist said he was concerned about a new referendum law being enacted, which he said would disrupt his campaign.

The group will monitor when the law will go into effect, said Anurak, adding they would seek to find a loophole to continue the “Vote No” campaign.