Activists threaten to escalate protests

Leaders of the student-led movement have vowed to step up their anti-government protests after members of the parliament yesterday delayed a vote on constitutional amendment motions.
Protest leaders were disappointed by the decision of the law-makers not to immediately adopt the motions seeking constitutional amendments during the joint session of the House of Representatives and the Senate yesterday.
The law-makers instead chose to delay a vote on the motions and instead voted to set up a committee to study them – adding another one-month delay. The anti-government protesters see the decision as a political betrayal and have threatened to step up their protests.
Anond Nampa, a protest leader, said the current constitution is a legacy of military dictatorship and needs to be replaced with a more democratic constitution. He said the priority is to get rid of the senate which is seen as a power base of the Prayut government.
He said the protesters want to see a total revision of the current constitution including the sections that deal with the monarchy.
Anond, who is facing a series of charges stemming from his role in anti-government rallies over the past several weeks, threatened to intensify the campaign to pressure politicians to amend the constitution.
The protesters have scheduled another major rally for October 14h.