Groups urge protesters to 'put aside their egos'

About a dozen members of Ramkhamhaeng University’s student union and the Serichon Thailand 58 group met state officials outside Government House. They offered moral support and urged the PM to help settle the conflict.

Supattra Chaipolrit, head of Ramkhamhaeng’s student union, asked every party to “calm down and put aside their egos”.

“At this moment, everyone needs to compromise to find solutions for our country. There has been too much chaos up till now … including the arrest of the 14 students. They should rather seek bail and defend themselves legitimately,” Supattra said.

“As students, we are worried about their well-being, and that’s why we would like to urge them to fight by [legal means]. If everyone follows the rules, conflict will be softened, and there will eventually be consensus to find solutions.”

Supattra added that his fellow students were asking the government to implement reform before holding any election, because they had not yet seen any progress on political development. 

The students’ union also specially requested more tangible educational reform and supported the government’s fight against corruption.

Their letter was handed to Satit Sutthiserm, a representative from the Office of the Permanent Secretary for the Prime Minister. 

Akarakrit Nunchan, head of the Serichon Thailand 58 group, also showed his support to the government’s approach.

“We are simply a group of people following news, and we would like to support the PM to [strictly] follow the 3-step roadmap to build peace in Thailand.” Akarakrit said.

“Many countries have urged Thailand to speed up elections. However, we think that doing so would only allow ‘some parties’ to corrupt the process for their own benefit, and that would obstruct our country’s situation even more. 

“Thailand had been damaged by this kind of corruption for so long.

“That’s why we would like to support the PM to stick to his approach to make Thailand more organised [in its own context]. This is the most important thing to do for now, and above all,” he said.

Serichon Thailand 58’s letter was handed to Suksawat Suwannawong, chief of the complaints centre, opposite Government House. Earlier, the group proposed to the Constitution Drafting Committee it should both revise and retain some policy points on issues such as economy, society, education and corruption.