The State, Public Policies, and the Protests Against Prayut Government

Abstract

This research aims to study protests against Prayut Government, particularly when protest activities were intense-between 2020 and 2021. Hypotheses are the following. First, the government applied various public laws to the protests as the state’s response. It is argued that this is simply policy implementation, as viewed by the government. Also, the state was able to maintain the status quo, comprising the existing laws and the integrity of the government, despite the protesters’ demand for amendments of laws. The research applies such theories as the discretionary power in policy implementation and the checks and balances of power to the analysis. As research methodology, the study made use of empirical facts from plentiful news reports on incidents of the protest, as well as details of public laws as applied in response to the protest. Interviews of a police officer overseeing the protest activities are also incorporated in the analysis. This article analyzes the nature of regulation policy being applied to the protest activities through state’s implementation of public laws such as the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation, B.E. 2548 (2005). The balances of power within the application of public laws are discussed empirically and theoretically. While the protesters demanded major changes in certain laws, especially the 2017 Consititution of Thailand, the government managed to forgo such demand. Hence, the status quo in terms of existing laws was well guarded. The protests did not have substantive impact on the status of the Prayut Government, although preliminary court decisions within the application of public laws affect both the government and protesters positively and negatively.