The Assembly of the Poor and La Via Campesina marched on Friday (16 October) from Lumpini Park towards Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre, the venue of the Annual Meetings of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank Group, to mark the International Day of Action for Food Sovereignty and against Transnational Corporations.
Protesters occupied the Asoke Intersection for most of the afternoon, as they were met with a police blockade and were unable to continue to the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre. Crowd control officers carrying shields were stationed on Ratchadapisek Road, while the intersection was blocked with metal fences, shipping containers, and detention trucks.
The groups called for food sovereignty and an end to economic policies that increase debt burden. They also denounce the IMF and the World Bank as part of a mechanism that undermine democracy and food sovereignty while working in favour of a neocolonialist structure that oppress the working class.
They made 6 demands to the IMF and the World Bank:
- Debt cancellation for low- and middle-income countries
- Allow public scrutiny of foreign debt incurred by the government
- An end to subsidies for corporations and for the fund to be redirected towards supporting agroecology
- Increase government revenue through corporate tax and wealth tax
- Reform central banks to make them democratic, transparent, and accountable to the public
- Put people and the planet at the centre of economic policymaking so there would be financial and food sovereignty.