Thai Muslims to gather outside Israeli embassy and call for peace
About 700 people are expected to gather outside the Embassy of Israel in Bangkok on Saturday to call for peace and to protest against the ongoing violence in the Middle East.
Pol Colonel Nimit Nuphonthong, the superintendent of Bangkok’s Lumpini Police Station, said on Friday that the organisers of the demonstration had sought permission from the local police.
He said police would increase security for the embassy and maintain peace and order in the surrounding areas during the rally.
“The demonstrators have been notified that they need to comply with the Public Assembly Act. The assembly must be peaceful, orderly, and free from weapons. Also, they must not cause any public disturbance,” the superintendent said.
He also said that police had not found signs of attempts by any third party to cause chaos during the rally.
The Public Assembly Act, in force since 2015, requires that the organisers of any public demonstration notify the head of the police station involved at least 24 hours in advance. Failure to do so is considered a criminal offence punishable with up to three years’ imprisonment.
The demonstration is expected to take place between 10am and noon on Saturday.
The Embassy of Israel is located at Ocean Tower II building on Sukhumvit Soi 19.
Nimit did not disclose details about the protest organisers on Friday. But earlier media reports said that a group of Muslim residents from Thailand’s southern provinces planned to gather at the Israeli Embassy in Bangkok to submit their open letter calling for peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
A Muslim resident of Phatthalung province, Baitad Samansatitkhun, said that the demonstrators would gather outside the building of the Israeli embassy on Saturday and ask for peace so that the war did not aggravate.
Several thousands of people rallied across the Arab and Muslim world on Wednesday to protest the deaths of hundreds of people in a strike on a Gaza hospital that they blamed on Israel, according to media reports.
Israel and Palestinian militants have traded blame for the hospital strike late on Tuesday, with the Israeli army saying later that it had "evidence" to prove Hamas warriors were responsible.
The hospital strike came after the Israeli military began air strikes to retaliate a surprise attack by Hamas militants on the morning of October 7. The renewed conflict has left more than 3,000 people dead in Gaza and at least 1,400 killed in Israel, with several thousands more wounded.
