Democrat Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban demonstrates the political uses of lèse majesté by claiming that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra wants to return to Thailand as president. Apparently (see Bangkok Pundit) this is a false claim as Thaksin did not say anything about a presidential system or being president. Suthep’s use of the term implies republicanism and being opposed to the monarch. A brief report is in The Nation, 3 February 2009: “Thaksin hopes to be president of Thailand”.
Thaksin responds to this with a civil law suit against Suthep. Meanwhile Suthep raised claims about Thaksin’s disloyalty, restating allegations that were widely circulated by the People’s Alliance for Democracy when they accused Thaksin of being a republican; Bangkok Post, 5 February 2009: “Thaksin sues deputy PM”.
Political Prisoners in Thailand 
[…] as PPT has shown in posts over the past few weeks (here and here), the law is used politically and fellow Democrats and Abhisit’s ministers have been […]
[…] republicanism. This was a theme during the Abhisit Vejjajiva regime, with Suthep Thaugsuban often banging this drum. Back in February 2009, it was said that “Bangkok swirls with rumours of republican […]