The protests can be tongue-in-cheek, but they are earnest, and they are dangerously daring given the severity of punishments for any criticism of the monarchy. They are also both cosmopolitan and exquisitely Thai. The symbols they borrow from the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong in 2015 and last year — umbrellas, black T-shirts, flashlights in the night — have taken on a uniquely radical significance.
