Prime Minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, in his capacity as head of the National Council for Peace and Order, decided to invoke Section 44 of the interim constitution to resolve the long and ongoing student violence problem that has taken toll on the lives of many innocent people in the past several decades, and at present.
The invocation of the sweeping power under the section was announced in the Royal Gazette released Tuesday night.
Under the order, law enforcement officers are empowered to temporarily detain students engaged in violent clashes for six hours before sending them to police or to their headmasters or parents for action.
For those who incite student violence, or give support to students to violate law, they will face three months in prison and a fine of 30,000 baht, or both.
