A Buddhist monk didn’t just stay praying in the front row.
It was November 2022, and hundreds of protesters marched through the streets of Bangkok demanding an end to the APEC summit, which they viewed as a showcase for repressive governments. Riot police blocked their way with barricades several kilometers from the convention center, and that’s where chaos erupted: baton blows, rubber bullets, and a police vehicle that the protesters themselves tried to overturn.
Amid that sea of shields and smoke, a monk in his traditional orange robe decided that peaceful resistance had a limit and threw a kick into the air straight at the police line. The photo went around the world, not because of the violence, but because of how unusual it was to see someone dressed for meditation become the most talked-about image of the entire protest.