On 18 July 2020, the Free Youth group under the leadership of Chulalongkorn University student Tattep Ruangprapaikitseree staged a rally at the Democracy Monument. Before the demonstration, since 17 July 2020, the group has announced its collective demands, which call for the government to dissolve the House of Representatives, end state harassments, and rewrite the Constitution. The timeline of this event is chronologically encapsulated as follows:
At 2:15 pm
Bangkok City Hall officers installed a temporary steel fence to barricade the Monument and brought some plants and flower pots to decorate the Monument’s base.
At 3:00 pm
Protestors started to gather. During this time, at least 50 officers in uniform and plainclothes were present to observe the rally.
At 4:00 pm
Some protest leaders arrived at the rally to prepare necessities, including food and cleaning equipment, to ensure the rally’s compliance with disease prevention measures. Plainclothes officers took photos and shot videos of all their activities. Meanwhile, Bangkok City Hall officers had not finished decorating the Monument’s base, so some uniform police officers were stationed around this area to guard them.
At 4:10 pm
The police officers asked the protestors to remain on the footpath, claiming that their activities violate the law by impeding traffic.
At 4:19 pm
Another group of protest leaders arrived in a pick-up truck. They parked the vehicle in front of the McDonald’s store near the protest venue and rushed to set up the protest stage’s steel structure on the street. The police officers reportedly informed them that they could not park the truck at this spot and took a photo of the license plate. Nonetheless, the protest leaders successfully set up the stage in the middle of the second lane from the left side of the street. They also moved the barricade, installed initially along the footpath, to the middle of the road to block the police officers from the stage.
At 4:40 pm
The police officers introduced themselves, stating that they come from Samranrat Police Station. Then they read out loud the announcement on the prohibition of mass gathering issued under the #EmergencyDecree. As they had failed to bring the Protestors back on the footpath, they decided to use a loudspeaker car to announce legal restrictions for the Protestors while people were delivering speeches on stage.
At 4:50 pm
A group of four short-haired men wearing a yellow t-shirt screen-printed with the text “COMMANDO” reportedly appeared in the protest crowd. When asked whether they were affiliated with the government’s commando unit, they admitted it, said that they were merely observing the protest, and then walked away.
At 5:00 pm
The protestors pushed out the police’s barricade until it touched the Monument’s base. The authorities resisted for a while. However, the protestors eventually succeeded in closing down the street.
At 5:10 pm
The police’s loudspeaker car drove away.
At 5:55 pm
Lawyer Anon Nampa announced on stage that he received information that some police officers were stationed inside Satriwithaya School’s building. He further asked them to come down. Later, another protest leader stated that the police officers were still seen on the third floor of the building.
At 6:03 pm
Police officers in uniform and plainclothes were seen leaving Satriwithaya School.
At 6:07 pm
Some police officers in uniform entered into Satriwithaya School. It remained unclear whether they were the same group that left the premise earlier.
At 6:20 pm
The protest scaled up in size, expanding towards Ratchadamnern Road. The police officers decided to set up traffic blockades at Khok Wua Intersection.
At 6:27 pm
At least 20 officers from the Riot Suppression Unit entered into Satriwithaya School.
At 6:39 pm
More police officers in uniform, together with individuals presumed to be plainclothes police officers, continued to enter into Satriwithaya School.
At 7:20 pm
A plainclothes officer used a noise level meter to measure the noise level in front of Satriwithaya School. When asked if she worked for the Bangkok City Hall, the officer said, “Yes.”
At 8:50 pm
The protest leaders read aloud the three collective demands once again. They said they would give the government two weeks to follow such demands. If not, the protest would be scaled up further. Meanwhile, the police officers continue to take turns observing the protest activities.
At 9:15 pm
Plainclothes police officers tried to arrest two university students in an alley near Suksapan Store. The officers explicitly revealed that they were the police and intended to bring the students to the police station. However, some people witnessing the scene decided to intervene and argued with the officers until the students were released. After the police officers left the scene, an eyewitness recounted that they did not use any force. While the students were not arrested, their paper protest signs were confiscated.
At 9:22 pm
Another turmoil took place as a man was taken from the front of Suksapan Store to a tent near the protest stage. Then journalists rushed in to take photos, temporarily causing disorder in front of the protest stage. According to an eyewitness, the turmoil began because the police officers tried to approach a man who covered a nearby surveillance camera with a black trash bag. Therefore, a group of other protestors helped bring that man away from the scene and try to take them to the tent.
However, according to BBC Thai, President of the Student Union of Thailand Juthatip Sirikan stated that the person who covered a surveillance camera with a black trash bag “may not be one of us” and is more likely to be a “backbiter.” She further added that there was no reason for protestors to cover the camera.
At 9:40 pm
The tension started to cool down. The MC and protestors shouted to tell every person to sit down and continue the protest activities.
At 10:00 pm
One of the protestors’ loudspeaker cars was reportedly confiscated. A group of protestors went to Chana Songkram Police Station to retrieve the vehicle, but they did not find it. Meanwhile, other protestors brought more loudspeakers into the protest venue. Later, the confiscated car was found at Talingchan Police Station.
At 12:02 am
The protest leaders re-read the three collective demands and said that they would give the government two weeks to follow such demands. They also informed the Protestors to help clean up the protest venue and return home, as they decided that they would no longer stay the night there.
At 12:30 am
A group of university student protestors was walking in group to return home. Then another man joined them and led them towards Satriwithaya School, wherein a van with the text “POLICE” was parked. The university students were in shock and ran to the front of the McDonald’s store. One person fainted. The protest leader decided to take them into the store for safety.
Later, the man who took the protestors to the police van revealed that he was a son of a police officer and had dealt with the police that they could take the university students home. Prachatai News also reported the same information, indicating that the man, called Chartchai, claimed that he was an activist and had a friend who was a political activist. The man said he urgently needed three vans at 11:34 pm, so he asked this activist friend to provide them. However, he later found out that his friend’s vans belong to the police. He further affirmed that he did not intend to harm the student protest leaders.
At 12:40 am
The police re-enabled the traffic.
At 12:55 am
The protest leaders provided vehicles to send student protestors to a safe place. The police also drove their cars ahead of them to lead the way. Later, the protest leaders announced that the other protestors might return home.
