Alumni and current officials of the Chulachomklao Royal Military Academy are reacting to an incident in which a group of anti-monarchy activists in a car objected to congestion allegedly caused by the motorcade of a princess.
They announced a gathering at the Academy in Nakhon Nayok province this afternoon, stating that it is “to offer moral support to HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn, our royal Ajarn (teacher).”
The participants will be in full uniform for the event.
The princess, who is a younger sister of HM the King, has worked as a lecturer at the Academy for more over 30 years. She has donated all of her salary to the Academy.
The gathering is in response to an incident, recorded in a video clip, in which Tantawan Tuatulanon, leader of the Taluwang anti-monarchy group, is in a car with other members, talking to a police officer on an expressway.
The officer tries to tell them that they cannot interfere with a royal motorcade.
Without mentioning the “royal motorcade,” the group say it is a waste of time and causes delays and blocks other people’s cars, asking why police had to block the road to facilitate the motorcade.
The exchange of words was recorded by someone in the car and streamed later.
Meanwhile, a group of alumni from Chulalongkorn University, called “Klum Chula Rak Prathep” (Chula alumni in support of Princess Maha Chakri), has invited people to join a rally this Thursday at 4pm to offer their moral support for the Princess, who is an alumni of the university.
It was later revealed that somebody in Tantawan’s car sounded the car’s horn at the Princess’ motorcade, which was traveling on the same expressway, and attempted to follow it.
They were stopped by the officer seen in the video clip.
Traffic camera footage, released on social media, shows that there was no road closure for the royal motorcade.
The incident has angered some people, because the activists showed no respect to the Princess.
On Saturday, Tantawan held a rally at the Siam Square sky train station, at which she explained and apologised for the incident. A royalist group rallied nearby and clashed with her group, resulting in injuries to members of both groups.
The puplic remain divided over the clash, with some condemning the royalist group while others said Tantawan deserved it.
