Protesters use the Hunger Games salute during a protest last weekend in Bangkok.
Photo: Sakchai Lalit/AP
Fans of the popular book and film franchise The Hunger Games will recognize the hand signal instantly: the middle three fingers of the hand, raised to the sky. A gesture of resistance against the repressive government in the fictional world of Panem, it has now become a very real symbol of protest in Thailand at demonstrations against the junta that took power after the May 22 coup d’etat.
Crowds making the gesture have been pulled off the streets, according to reports, and a lone protestor was dragged into a taxi and arrested after making the hand signal.
“If it is an obvious form of resistance, then we have to control it so it doesn’t cause any disorder in the country,” military spokesperson Colonel Weerachon Sukhondhapatipak told the Associated Press. Although he said individuals would not be arrested for making the hand signal, “if it is a political gathering of five people or more, then we will have to take some action.”
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