Remembering Nuamthong Praiwan: 19Years Since His Sacrifice Resisting the 2006 Coup 🔥

📣 On September 30, 2006, a mere 11 days after the Democratic Reform Council - led by the King as the Head of State - executed a coup and seized power, the world first heard of Mr. Nuamthong Praiwan. 

🚖 At the age of 60, he was a taxi driver and a former employee of the Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) in the Bang Kruai District. On September 30, he drove his taxi into a CNS tank near the Equestrian Statue area, as an act of protest against the military coup and the false narrative sustained by the media.

🗣️After the accident, Nuamthong Praiwan shared that he "acted in the name of righteousness and believed that soldiers couldn't just be taking tanks out on the streets.”

🌌 Fast forward to the night of October 31, 2006, when Mr. Nuamthong Praiwan took his own life by hanging himself from the cable of an elevated bridge on Vibhavadi Rangsit Road, just opposite the Thairath newspaper office on the eastbound side.

✉️ Two suicide notes were found by his side. In one of these letters, he expressed his unwavering resolve to disprove the derogatory statements made by the government spokesperson, Mr. Akara Thepthipan, who callously claimed that "No one with true patriotism would resort to self-sacrifice." Nuamthong further described in his letter the tank incident as an intentional act of martyrdom. 

On the day he decided to end his life, he was dressed in a shirt bearing a symbolic message which mirrored his political actions. ✊

🕯️Every year on October 31, many people gather at the "Nuamthong Praiwan Memorial Column" beneath the overpass in front of Thairath newspaper to pay homage to his sacrifice for the cause and resistance against the coup. 

📅19 years after Nuamthong Praiwan’s death, his name and memory still endure, most significantly among political activists and, above all, his family.

#WeAreManushyan ♾️ Equal Human Beings

✊Manushya Foundation stands in solidarity with Nuamthong Praiwan’s family, political activists, and all citizens who defend and protect democracy. Let us honor Nuamthong Praiwan’s memory and be reminded of those who defy the status quo for true Justice and Democracy!

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