Thailand’s political police hard at work
Joe Gordon, the Thai-born American citizen charged with lese majeste has “also been charged with committing an offence against national security…”.
That’s according to the Department of Special Investigation chief Tharit Pengdit, quoted in the Bangkok Post. Tharit has not indicated the reasons behind these charges, but it is assumed in the media that it has to do with links to Paul Handley’s well-received bestseller, The King Never Smiles.
If that is true, then political policeman Tharit is shutting the gate well after the horse has bolted. In fact, the horses are over the hills and out of sight! Handley’s book has been downloaded, read and translated and photocopied by anyone who wanted to read it in Thailand.
But it is this extra charge that has allowed the DSI to oppose bail for Joe Gordon.
Tharit adds that “lese majeste was also deemed an offence against state security.” But then adds that Joe Gordon has somehow been “instigating people to break the law under Section 116 of the Criminal Code.” Perhaps this relates to allowing others to download copies of the book.
It seems to PPT that this is the same tired argument being made by DSI which simply seeks to strangle political debate on the monarchy. Again, this is a futile task.
Cases like this will get a great deal of international attention and will bring an international spotlight to lese majeste and will raise questions about Thailand’s international standing. It also offers the opportunity for a renewed international examination of Thailand’s human rights abuses and repression of political opponents. PPT hopes that Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the U.S. Department of State and human rights activists everywhere will pay due attention to continuing and to the ever more bizarre nature of lese majeste repression.
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