The Sandwich Party Revolution

There have been 12 coups in recent history in Thailand. But the latest — three weeks ago — was the first in the social media age. The military rulers now in charge are monitoring social media closely — meaning those who oppose the new regime have had to get inventive.

Sandwiches are not a particularly Thai food, but they’ve become very important in Thailand in the past few days. With political gatherings of more than five people banned, “sandwich parties” — organised via social media — have taken off. The first of these took place at Kasetsart University in Bangkok on 6 June.

State-run newspapers have warned people against eating sandwiches, and a senior police chief said they’re keeping a close eye on the sandwich-eaters. Eating sandwiches is not illegal per se, he said, but if sandwich-eating is being used as a front — when the real intention is to criticise the coup — then that would be.

More about this at the BBC.