Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul

Panusaya "Rung" Sithijirawattanakul[1] also known as Panasaya Sithijirawattanakul[2][3](Thai: ปนัสยา สิทธิจิรวัฒนกุล; nicknamed Rung or Roong) (born 1998) is a Thai student political activist, pro-democracy activist and university student leader who is also the spokesperson of the Student Union of Thailand. She is well known for her criticism of the Thai monarchy. During the 2020 Thai protests, she has pioneered several rallies and Harry Potter-styled demonstrations calling for major structural reform of the Thai monarchy.[4]

Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul
ปนัสยา สิทธิจิรวัฒนกุล
Rung in September 2020
Born (1998-09-15) 15 September 1998
Nonthaburi, Thailand
NationalityThai
Other namesRung, Roong
Alma materThammasat University
OccupationSocial activist, student political activist, university student
Known forPolitical activism

Biography

Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul was born in 1998 in Nonthaburi as the youngest child in her family and has two sisters. She was born in a middle-class family which runs an auto workshop.[5] She grew up with little political knowledge. Panusaya apparently had a quite introverted personality and grew up as quite a shy person. She was bullied by her friends at primary school. Her parents sent her to a five-month student exchange program in the United States which eventually helped her to express herself with more confidence and to be more proficient in public speaking.[6]

She initially had little interest in politics. Her father strongly encouraged her to research politics following the 2014 Thai coup d'état. She became more interested in politics, having discussions and arguments on the subject with her friends at high school, after revising for her university entrance exams about the history of Thai politics.[7] She is currently pursuing higher studies at the Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology at Thammasat University.

On October 15, 2020, Panusaya was arrested by the Royal Thai Police.[8] On October 27, 2020, she was reported to be detained at the Central Women's Correctional Institution.[9]

Activism

Panusaya entered Thammasat University and became more interested in politics. She began her political activism as a third year undergraduate student.[10] In 2018, she joined a student union political party called Dome Revolution. In February 2020, she was part of the fresh pro-democracy protests against the Constitutional Court's decision to abolish the Future Forward Party, a popular reformist party which had the support of many Thai youth.

In June 2020, she was issued an arrest warrant for violating the COVID-19 safety measures and for breaching the COVID-19 pandemic emergency rule after taking part in a protest conducted by the Student Union of Thailand over the forced disappearance of prominent Thai activist Wanchalerm Satsaksit.[7]

On 10 August 2020, she led demonstrations under the banner Thammasat will not tolerate calling for major monarchical reform and delivered a speech on a 10-point manifesto (the 'Thammasat Manifesto') in front of thousands of students.[11] The speech was deemed controversial and sparked a political backlash in Thailand as authorities warned that the demonstration had seriously defamed the monarchy.[12] Her speech included phrases such as "All humans have red blood. We are no different" and "No one in this world is born with blue blood", an allusion to the Thai monarchy.[6] Following her controversial and widely reported comments, some critics and observers compared her to Agnes Chow of Hong Kong because of risking up to 15 years imprisonment under the provisions of the Thai lèse majesté law.[10]

On 20 September 2020, Panusaya along with fellow activists and protesters installed a people's plaque near Grand Palace in Bangkok. The protesters claimed victory after submitting their monarchical reform demands to the authorities.[3][13]

Awards

She was on the list of the BBC's 100 Women announced on 23 November 2020.[14]

See also

References
  1. "No mastermind behind students' high-risk fight for democracy, says Rung". nationthailand.com. Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. News, Zoro (20 September 2020). "Thousands gather in Bangkok demanding reforms, Zoro News". Zoro News. Archived from the original on 27 November 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  3. Helen Regan. "Thai protesters declare 'victory' in monarchy reform rallies, after delivering their demands to authorities". CNN. Archived from the original on 13 November 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  4. "Mit Harry Potter gegen Militär und König". jungle.world (in German). Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  5. AFP (29 August 2020). "Student leader defies Thailand's royal taboo | New Straits Times". NST Online. Archived from the original on 7 October 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  6. "The student daring to challenge Thailand's monarchy". BBC News. 17 September 2020. Archived from the original on 26 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  7. "Three activists who break Thailand's deepest taboo". The Jakarta Post. Archived from the original on 23 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  8. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 October 2020. Retrieved 29 October 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  9. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 28 November 2020. Retrieved 27 November 2020.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  10. "Thai protest icon is 'prepared' to cross kingdom's forbidden line". Nikkei Asian Review. Archived from the original on 19 September 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  11. "In Thailand, A 21-Year-Old Student Dares To Tackle A Taboo Subject". NPR.org. Archived from the original on 26 November 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  12. "The students risking it all to challenge the monarchy". BBC News. 14 August 2020. Archived from the original on 17 November 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  13. "Thai activists challenge monarchy by laying plaque". BBC News. 20 September 2020. Archived from the original on 20 September 2020. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  14. "BBC 100 Women 2020: Who is on the list this year?". BBC News. 23 November 2020. Archived from the original on 23 November 2020. Retrieved 23 November 2020.
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