Warrants issued for 11 Thai student activists’ arrests

By CS Thana

BANGKOK

Thai police put out arrest warrants Monday for 11 student activists accused of violating the military government’s orders against conducting political assemblies of more than five people.

Police spokesperson Priyaphan Pringmuang told reporters, "we're asking the students to turn themselves in by 1 p.m. tomorrow."

The students had been taken into custody earlier this month, before being released, for trying to organize a protest trip to a government park mired in a corruption scandal.

Alleged corruption at the $20 million military-built park, featuring gigantic bronze-cast statues of Thai kings, has become a focal point for critics of Thailand’s junta, which took power over one year ago citing the need to root out corruption and normalize a tense political situation.

The military government insists that an internal probe into the construction of the Ratchapakdi Park found no instances of corruption.

Since the 2014 coup, the junta has stifled freedom of expression, banning political gatherings and most academic debates related to politics.

The students for whom warrants were issued were among 33 protesters temporarily arrested in early when the train they were riding en route to the park was stopped.