Since 2014, Thailand has been under the blatant grip of the junta and undergone political turmoils that entail. The problem is, however, not in actuality as recent as the coup; the governing system has long been corrupt and dysfunctional, hence the worsening living condition for the lower class and the widening economic gap, not to mention injustice people experience in their daily lives. Whoever tries and goes against the state, they would be charged with a crime, while some went missing, later found dead, and so far the number of such cases has gone up to around 50.

The grassroots aka ‘Red Shirts’ movement has been in the fight against the ruling class hegemony for over a decade. Only until recently, they were insulted for being uneducated and very much dehumanised, mostly for opposing the capital and demanding the basic rights. From around 2019-20, the movement has been joined force by the younger generation, whose movements began to take shape in 2020. Originating online, the young people eventually took the streets and put forward three demands: Prayuth Chan-o-cha’s resignation, ending intimidation of the people, and the drafting of a new constitution. Since then, the leaders of various youth movements have been charged with dozens of offences and are still going in and out of jail, while the police are exercising more and more violence in cracking down on the protestors, mostly adolescents, injuring them (one of which died after sustaining the injury) in the process. In such cases, the police and the state, unsurprisingly, do not take any accountability.

Photographs were taken in 2020-2021.