Of the monarchy in thailand shattering a taboo surrounding the royal institutions near sacred status. A warning this programme contains images some viewers may find upsetting. Thailand is in the grip of a youthful uprising. Inspired by hong kong, students armed with umbrellas and ideals have been taking on a military backed government and a once untouchable monarchy. What were seeing here is an epic battle between two competing visions for thailand. These youngsters are determined that their demands for reform of everything, including the monarchy, are both heard and acted on. And theyre up against an establishment that is determined to keep thailand stable, conservative and with the monarchy and military at the very top. Over the 20 years ive been reporting from thailand, there have been two constants an army that wont stay out of politics. And a revered monarchy whose actions cannot be questioned. Even today, the laws here limit what we can safely say about the royal family. King vajiralongkorn, who came to the throne four years ago, is on paper a constitutional monarch, like Britains Queen elizabeth. In reality, though, he has far more power. And hes been using it in alarming ways. Some thais fear he wants to take the country back to the absolute monarchy of his forefathers, when the kings word was the law. Palm is a 21 year old student on her way to yet another protest in bangkoks old royal quarter. Weve come to democracy monument, which marks the end of the absolute monarchy 88 years ago. The democracy it promised never took root here. This is an outspoken generation, informed and mobilised through social media, taking the hunger games salute as their own symbol of defiance. They want the kings power to be accountable, and they want the freedom to speak out without the threat of reprisals. Palm reminds the crowd of the incident which helped to ignite these protests back injune, the abduction and presumed murder in cambodia of an exiled young activist called wanchalearm. Wanchalearms sisterjen is here too, trying to keep up the Public Interest in his case. Jen was talking on the phone to her brother when he was dragged off the street and into a black suv. Wanchalearm had fled to cambodia after the coup seven years ago and kept up a barrage of cheeky social media posts parodying thailands military and rulers. He was the ninth exiled activist to disappear in the past four years. The mutilated bodies of two of them were discovered on the banks of the river mekong. All of them were known critics of the monarchy, driving home the dangers of speaking out on this issue. Thailands Rapid Transformation into a modern, urban nation has brought impressive prosperity. But also created one of the worlds most unequal societies. A bolder, more inquiring young generation is no questioning how and why their country has turned out like this. Now. Here, palm is leaving a Letter Writing Campaign directed at the king, demanding that he accept limits on his wealth and power. Change, though, is not welcomed by all. Royalism has many passionate adherents here. Theyre now mobilising to take on the student movement, dressed in royal yellow, holding aloft portraits of the king and his much loved father. King bhumibol, or rama ix, reigned for 70 years and achieved cult like popularity with his modest lifestyle and a strong sense of duty. His son is a very different personality. But in this crowd, respect for the institution endures. They cant accept all the accusations theyve heard against the king. Why dont you support their demand for a monarchy thats just a bit limited, and then you will be giving them what they say they want . Thats not the only obstacle to the students� dreams of reform. Beyond this barricade is thailands parliament. Its packed with military loyalists. Yet its the only place where changes to the political system can happen. And right now, they cant get there. Well, these protesters are now trying to pull away at this concrete barricade to make a way through. And they are spraying. 0h . Water cannons laced with chemicals. So you can really smell the tear gas in it. These protesters want to get through to parliament, because thats where the reforms they � re demanding are supposed to be discussed. They are worried that in a parliament dominated by the military backed party, their reforms are just going to be swept aside. Thats why theyre staying put. And you can see how determined they are. But theyre fighting a formidable establishment which has ruled thailand for most of the past century. How can they overcome such entrenched power . As they feared, the old men of Parliament Many of them unelected senators threw out all but the mildest reforms. While outside, it was chaos. The activists had brought up giant inflatable ducks to shield themselves from the water cannon and to ridicule the police. The ducks made another appearance outside thailands largest bank. The king is the main shareholder. Palm was there too, sporting a new haircut. But in targeting the king so directly, they are taking a serious risk. Not so much from the police, who stayed well back this time, but behind them is the king and the thai army, which is sworn to defend the monarchy above all else. That partnership is even tighter now. This monarch sees himself as a warrior king, and hes folded some of the best military units into his own personal royal guard. Palm hasnt been arrested yet, but many other protesters have. Shes come here tonight to meet one of them whos also a bit of a hero, notjust to her but to many young activists. Hockey is a founder member of the band rap against dictatorship. Tonight, hes reliving his arrest after hed performed at a protest in july. Cheering he makes light of it here, but the charge is sedition. Thats up to seven years in jail. Hockey is one of more than a0 activists charged under this sweeping National Security law. Others are being prosecuted under the notorious lese majeste law, with its secret trials and even tougher sentences. Most have been released on bail, but only to face even more charges. Rap music plays these are the kinds of injustices rap against dictatorship featured in their first withering song, Prathet Ku Mi what my countrys got which captured the rebellious mood of this generation. The song has been viewed more than 90 million times on youtube. Thai history, though, carries ominous warnings for todays students, especially here, one of the countrys top universities. The king has come here to hand out diplomas to graduates, keeping up a long tradition which helps build a bond between the monarchy and younger generations. But in this era of dissent, not everyone is following the official script. This innocuous little ceremony on the sidelines of the may graduation proceedings here is actually a pretty extraordinary act of defiance, something almost unthinkable even a year ago. These young people have been symbolically taking their diplomas from these cardboard cutouts who are of some of the most notorious anti monarchy activists, many of them in exile, instead of taking it from the king a harmless enough gesture, you might think, but the sports field behind them tells a different story. Reporter the assault began just after daybreak. And for an hour, there i was firing, with all sorts of weapons being used. 44 years ago, police and vigilantes attacked this campus with savage force, after students have been accused of mocking the then crown prince todays king. Dozens died. Some were horribly lynched. Its an episode thats imprinted on the minds of todays activists and in their songs. Rap music plays the last absolute monarch in thailand was crowned 95 years ago. He abdicated ten years later, his powers already limited. But some of the trappings of absolute monarchy have been carried over even into this century. Kings are seen as above criticism, so the unvarnished jokes and comments about the current king heard at the protest rallies have infuriated his supporters. The sudden wave of anti royal sentiment over the past year caught royalists off guard. But their morale has been lifted by the kings decision to be more visible in recent months, after spending most of his reign living overseas in germany. The king has responded by abandoning his normally stiff and stern public persona and going on a series of very high profile walkabouts like this one, allowing the thai people to get really close to him for the first time. They reach out to touch the royal couple for good luck. We are but dust under the feet of the king, as the saying goes. This man is there and gets a personal word of thanks from the monarch for his pro palace activism. Hes now leading a campaign to get the draconian lese majeste law used more frequently against the protest leaders. But thats just not true because in britain, you can say pretty much what you want about the queen and you wont go to prison. Its very different from the situation here in thailand. Rap music plays these young thais dont care about being appropriate. Shocking their elders with their gestures and language, thats the point. Theyve already shattered a once unbreakable taboo against even discussing the monarchy. Well, this is pretty extraordinary. This demonstration has come right up to the gates of the royal palace, perhaps the most sacred location for thailands monarchy. Now, by making demands of their king, by insisting he change his ways, these mainly young activists are posing the kind of challenge that this powerful, untouchable institution has never faced before. This is a battle over what it even means to be thai. The king praises his loyalists for upholding what he calls true thainess. The activists say that nothing, not even his hallowed status, is sacred. By the end of last year, the protests subsided as thailand faced a resurgence of covid i9. But the gulf between these two visions for thailand is impossibly wide. And for now, it cant be bridged. Hello. The snow that some of us had to start saturday generally turned back to rain, and then cleared away. And for sunday, theres a lot of dry weather in the forecast for many of us with some spells of sunshine. Some showers around as well, though, especially across parts of scotland and Northern Ireland, a few getting into parts of north west england and north wales as well, perhaps even down into the west midlands. But otherwise, mainly fine with some spells of sunshine for england and wales. Cloud will thicken, i think, later in the day for Northern Ireland and scotland, some slightly more persistent rain getting into western parts of scotland, with some snow over very high ground, say, above 500 metres. Temperatures 6 9 celsius thats about where we should be this time of year. Still some showers of rain and mountain snow continuing across scotland through sunday night. Monday will start dry for many, but rain will spread from the west later in the day. And rain is going to be the big theme of the week ahead some really heavy bursts at times, especially in the west. And that will bring the risk of flooding. This is bbc news. Im Lewis Vaughan jones. Our top stories indias vast vaccine rollout is underway we meet the hospital cleaner whos the first person in the country to be vaccinated. Englands airports will get financial help within days, after the closure of all air corridors. President Yoweri Museveni of uganda says thursdays election was the most fraud free in the countrys history, a claim disputed by the opposition. A team of climbers from nepal conquer one of the last remaining challenges in mountaineering. Hello, your royal highness. Good morning, everybody. Prince william praises Health Service staff and volunteers involved in the uks vaccine programme