Senator: Thammasat rally hurt feelings of millions of people
Anti-government demonstrators gather at the Rangsit campus of Thammasat University in Pathum Thani province on Monday. (Photo: Apichit Jinakul)
Comments made by speakers at the anti-government rally at Thammasat University on Monday night hurt the rights and feelings of “tens of millions of people”, according to the head of the senate committee on the protection of the royal institution.
Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha said the university should act responsibly.
Senator Suwaphan Tanyuvardhana said some people had offended the “rights and feelings of tens of millions of Thai people who are loyal to the royal institution and the tradition of peaceful co-existence based on the mercy of the royal institution”.
His committee was worried about the development.
Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, deputy rector of Thammasat University, apologised on Tuesday morning for comments made by people during the rally.
He said the organisers had failed to adhere to the agenda agreed upon when they sought and obtained permission for the demonstration on the university campus.
Asked about the rally and the way it developed, the prime minister said it was inappropriate and the university and relevant instiutions should act in a responsible manner.
Those who committed offences must be punished, or other people would be damaged, he said.
Gen Prayut said he did not mind if protest rallies continued, but any violations of the law would be treated as such.
Army commander-in-chief Gen Apirat Kongsompong, Deputy Prime Minister Wisanu Krea-ngam and Justice Minister Somsak Thepsutin declined to comment on the issue on Tuesday.
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