Somsak faces another lese majeste threat

Prominent Thammasat University historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul has faced several threats of lese majeste charges in the recent past. Some of his previous problems stemmed from Army boss General Prayuth Chan-ocha’s use of lese majeste to silence a dogged critic.

At Khaosod it is reported that Prayuth is at it again:

The Royal Thai Army is considering a legal action against a prominent historian for his remarks about the monarchy, according to an army spokesman.

The claim is that Somsak “gravely insulted the Royal Family in his Facebook posts.” Somsak seems to think that the Army is simply dim, misunderstanding comments where “he has been simply parodying and criticising certain type of royalists.” And goodness knows, they deserve parodying. Somsak asks: “Can′t the Army Commander-in-Chief read Thai?”

He probably can, but only through a lens that distorts meanings of political opponents, so the “army has instructed its legal team to determine which parts [of Mr. Somsak′s posts] can be considered as libelous toward the monarchy…. Because the army is a part of civil authorities dedicated to protect the monarchy and preserve its dignity.”

The Army has “warned that any further action that ‘falsely’ insult the Royal Family or lessen the public′s faith in the democratic regime with the King as Head of State would be met with legal action from the army.” The Army also promises “unspecified ‘social measures’ to deter such inappropriate action.”

And as is now usual when political tensions are high, the Army launches a witch hunt, demanding that “every sector … keep careful watch, in order to prevent anyone from slandering or insulting our beloved monarchy…”.