The second edition of a “run against dictatorship” set to take place in Chiang Mai early next month is looking for a new venue after a university refused to let the organizer hold it there.
Organizers of the Run Against Dictatorship, aka WLL, announced Thursday that the next edition would not take place as planned Feb. 2 after venue Chiang Mai University denied use of its campus.
“We just verbally got an answer from a top-ranking person at Chiang Mai University that it would be inconvenience to let us to host a run anywhere that’s linked to the university,” a post on the Run Against Dictatorship page said.
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It added that they understand the university’s reasoning, given that it is under intense “pressure” by the authorities.
A new venue and date for the run will be announced at a later date.
More than 10,000 people showed up for the first event earlier this month in Bangkok, and satellites events were held nationwide, including in Chiang Mai.
Venue rejection isn’t new either. In December, Run Against Dictatorship organizers, led by Chulalongkorn University student Tanawat Wongchai, were twice forbidden from even holding a news conference to announce their plans — first at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand and again at the Royal Rattanakosin Hotel – under pressure from the security forces.
The Jan. 12 run was originally planned for public streets and Thammasat University’s Tha Prachan campus district before ultimately being moved to Suan Rot Fai because the university changed its mind without explanation.
The event drew the largest crowds for a public protest in six years, with police estimating that more than 13,000 runners showed up to call for the government led by Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha to step down.
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