Thai youth as the main political force 2020 protests

Abstract

In early 2020, the Thai Constitutional Court is dissolving the Future Party, which won third place in the 2019 parliamentary elections and gained great popularity among the country's younger generation. This decision was one of the catalysts for mass protests that swept the whole country. The main opposition force is students and schoolchildren. Within the framework of this article, the role of Thai youth in the political life of the state and, in particular, in the events that last for the second year in a row is considered.
The purpose of this theoretical study is to find the motives for self-organization and participation of Thai youth in demonstrations. To achieve the goal of the study, we used historical-genetic method, in which various stages of the politicization of Thai youth are considered, as well as historical and typological, which made it possible to identify the main causes of the conflict between the young generation and the current government.
The result of this theoretical study was the conclusion that the protest moods that have been unfolding in recent years among representatives of Gen Z in Thailand have become the most massive and active after the “6 October 1976 massacre”. Despite the fact that the authorities, led by General Prayut Chan-O-cha, are trying to suppress the demonstrations, students and students continue to fight for democratic change, the resignation of the government, and also for the reform of the institution of the monarchy.