About us

Contact Political Prisoners in Thailand at thaipoliticalprisoners@gmail.com

(Readers submitting to PPT from Thailand should be aware that the Thai government attempts to track emails that it considers might be associated with alleged computer crimes or lese majeste. This may not yet be highly sophisticated, but PPT warns readers to be careful and to think creatively about how to avoid the government’s thought police.)

Political Prisoners in Thailand (PPT) is dedicated to those who are held in Thailand’s prisons, charged with political crimes. It also seeks to raise the cases of those who are accused of political crimes. Our focus is the contemporary period where political cases revolve around the use of Thailand’s lèse majesté law and, increasingly, the Computer Crimes Act.

The authors of this blog are friends of Thailand who oppose the jailing of opponents for political reasons. We support the expansion of free speech in Thailand. Because this blog will include material that would be banned in Thailand, we choose to remain anonymous. We are also limiting postings to in English or English/Thai as we believe that this is one way to raise the international profile of the issues.

While this is a blog in format, we have chosen to operate without comments. In effect, the blog is a website of record on existing cases and, as far as possible, for previous cases. It also posts related comments regarding political events related to broader human rights issues and the struggles to define democratic progress in Thailand.

We welcome serious additions and contributions to Political Prisoners in Thailand. This can be done by emailing thaipoliticalprisoners@gmail.com. Not all contributions will necessarily be accepted.

Background

Thailand has had a checkered political history since its first steps towards democratic forms of government in 1932, when the absolute monarchy was overthrown. Since that time, there have been numerous cases of politically motivated arrests, jailings and murders.

Today, as Thailand’s politics has become more vigorous and divided, arrests and imprisoning through accusations of lèse majesté and acts against “national security” have become increasingly common. Lèse majesté and the Computer Crimes Act are used by governments and political figures to denounce opponents and to protect privileges and positions. We are deeply concerned and alarmed regarding the political uses of lèse majesté and other repressive laws in Thailand. Specifically, we are troubled by the vigorous pursuit of lèse majesté cases and so-called computer crimes by the Democrat Party-led coalition government that came to power in December 2008.

Lèse majesté is defined as: “anyone who defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the crown prince or the regent” (Article 112 of the Thai penal code). While the lèse majesté law has been criticized for many years as “draconian,” the Democrat Party proposes to further strengthen the law and accelerate on-going investigations and prosecutions of those accused of lèse majesté.

The Democrat-led government has expanded its vigilance, blocked thousands of web pages it considers offensive to the monarchy and presided over new charges and arrests. All of this in the defense of some ill-defined notion of “national security.” The are now reported to be more than 35 active cases, dozens more accusations and at least four persons have been jailed following lèse majesté charges or convictions or related computer crimes charges.

The persons involved – accused, charged and sentenced – are journalists, bloggers, academics, authors and political and social activists, both Thai and foreign. Often those charged are denied bail and remain in prison for several months awaiting sometimes closed trials.

It is troubling that the current government, while pronouncing that it favors a free press, political reconciliation and liberalism, appears determined to crack down on those it considers are, in its terms, threatening “national security” by criticizing the monarchy.

Various Thai governments make the point that the monarchy should be untouchable as it is universally admired and revered by all Thais. Clearly, given the need to expand vigilance regarding lèse majesté and the Democrats own view that there are now 13,000 offending web URLs blocked by the government, this claim of universal reverence cannot carry much weight.

For us, the actions of the Democrat-led government suggest a further politicization of the lèse majesté law and the computer crimes laws. In this context, we wish to shine an international light on the political use of these laws by the government in Thailand. International scrutiny of these cases is urgently required to ensure the protection of human rights and freedom of expression.

26 January 2009 (updated 1 November 2009)

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Thailand’s Climate of Fear

The flight from Thailand of activist and scholar Giles Ji Ungpakorn has raised the already high political temperature in the country. Giles, charged with lèse majesté, asserts that he cannot receive a fair trial in Thailand. As Giles has been outspoken about the ways in which the military and other conservative forces in Thai society use the monarchy, a vast array of powerful forces have reason to silence him.

As PPT has reported in earlier posts, following the distribution of Giles’ Red Siam manifesto, there have been calls for stronger action against people considered by royalists to be seditious or treasonous. These calls follows a spate of lèse majesté charges that have been processed under the Democrat Party-led coalition government – one report claims there are now 30 such cases. The result is a climate of fear.

The release of the Red Siam manifesto has been taken by royalists and the right-wing as further evidence that there is a plot to depose the monarchy and establish a republic. PPT is concerned that the Thai government will now be even more aggressive in silencing those it associates with Giles and his manifesto.

It is said that all Thai academics who signed a petition Giles circulated are now under threat. The signatories, who were supporting freedom of speech and opposing the political use of lèse majesté, are worried that they may be the targets for royalist reaction. Another threat is to bloggers who are posting material considered to be anti-monarchy. It is widely believed that a round-up is possible. Even if these threats do not result in action, the fear is palpable.

Reinforcing this deep consternation amongst academics and political activists is a widely held belief that a cause for Giles’ flight was a personal message from a prominent figure with strong palace connections. The message was that Giles would get no leniency and would be imprisoned. Of course,  PPT cannot confirm this story, but the belief is that the Democrat-supported campaign on lèse majesté has the highest support.

PPT deplores the political uses of lèse majesté in Thailand and the climate of fear that this use and the threat of its use engenders in Thailand.

We urge all friends of Thailand to take action. Contact human rights organizations, embassies, government leaders and ministries and express concern/dismay/outrage at the political use of lèse majesté. Make these cases highly visible in the media, on the internet and for the international community.

13 February 2009