Activist group up in arms over change in ‘peg’ that heralded democracy in 1932
A pro-democracy action group has cried foul over the mysterious removal of a historic peg that marked the start of democracy in Thailand by a revolution in 1932, demanding it be returned to its place at the Royal Plaza.
The People’s Party “Memorial Peg” (Mhud Khana Ratsadon), which was made of brass, has been replaced with a new one with different wording that says nothing about the 1932 revolution. The revolution changed the country’s ruling system from absolute monarchy to constitutional monarchy.
Srisuwan Janya, secretary-general of the Association for the Protection of the Constitution, on Friday issued a statement demanding that the new peg be removed and the original one reinstated immediately.
A Facebook page called Mhud Khana Ratsadorn alerted the public on Friday that the historical peg had been removed and replaced with a new one.
So far, no government agency has come forward to take responsibility for the action. Government agencies, including the Fine Arts Department, said they knew nothing about the change.
The wording of the original peg said: “Here, on June 24, 1932 at dawn, the Khana Rassadorn started a constitution for the progress of the country”.
But the new peg states: “May Siam country have sustainability and the people be happy to be the force of the land. The respect and love in the three gems and their own state, their family, and their loyalty towards their King will bring about progress of their state.”
Srisuwan said in the statement that a group of persons or an agency was trying to change the country’s history with the new peg.
He said the historical peg was once removed during the dictatorial regime of Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat who staged a coup in 1957, but it was later reinstated on the order of Parliament secretary-general Prasert Pattahamsukhon.
In the statement, Srisuwan said the change of the historical peg violated the law and Article 57 (1) of the new Constitution.
He said the government, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration, the Interior Ministry and the Culture Ministry must take all steps to reinstate the historical peg.
Srisuwan warned that if no action were taken, the association would invoke Article 51 of the new charter to sue government agencies concerned.