The rally, organised by the Phuket People’s Party - Phuket Liberation Group (Khana Ratsadon), saw hundreds of cars and motorcycles gather around 3pm then proceed onto Phuket City Hall where a letter stating their demands was delivered to Phuket Governor Narong Woonciew.
Around 150 protesters initially congregated at Saphan Hin Park in Wichit where they were met by another group requesting the group cease their protests, displaying signs with slogans such as “Save Phuket” and “Phuket Wants Peace”.
The two groups clashed, resulting in police intervention from the Department of Provincial Administration, with around 150 officers both in uniform and undercover stepping in. The officials reminded protesters that the gathering was illegal in that it contravened the conditions of the existing emergency decree on serious communicable diseases and asked the groups to separate.
According to police sources, the protesters from Khana Ratsadon refused to comply unless their letter outlining their demands was delivered to Governor Narong.
They then took to their vehicles and headed towards Phuket City Hall, honking horns as they went and waving banners stating their demands.
On arrival, their letter was received by Vice Governor Vikrom Jakthee who confirmed he would deliver it to Governor Narong.
The protesters explained the three main objectives of the letter to the V/G Vikrom:
1. Immediate and unconditional resignation of Prayut Chan-o-cha
2. Budget cuts for the monarchy and the army with funds reallocated to combat COVID-19
3. Replace the Sinovac vaccine with better quality mRNA vaccine.
One of the representatives of the protest group added that the government had initiated the Phuket Sandox project to stimulate the economy yet any income received thus far has not been distributed fairly or evenly and instead only finds its way back to the same group of “capitalists”.
Once the letter had been delivered, the group dispersed and headed home. Police reported a number of small skirmishes en route with other groups although nothing serious of note was confirmed.
Later in the evening, Khana Ratsadon posted a copy of a letter they had distributed to all foreign consulates in Phuket on their Facebook page explaining their actions.
“We are aware of the importance of international relations,” the letter said.
“We would like to send this letter to you and the citizens under your care, including tourists who are deciding to come to Phuket in accordance with Phuket sandbox measures, to know that our activities are not intended to cause chaos and cause your citizens to lack confidence in making a decision to travel in Phuket or affect the lifestyle in Phuket.
“We just want to send a distress signal and request of the people of Phuket to send it to the Thai government with 3 demands from the people as follows:
1. Immediate and unconditional resignation of Prayut Chan-o-cha
2. Budget cuts for the monarchy and the army to combat COVID-19
3. Stop purchasing Sinovac vaccines and bring in mRNA vaccines. People will strongly remain defiant.
“We will continue to expand and progress. Because of knowing that if we ignore politics, we will end up with an abusive government that will lead us to failure and disaster,” the letter concluded.