Further updated: Lese majeste exorcism

As we regularly state, lese majeste is essentially a political charge. In recent months and weeks, however, it has been used in other ways, some of them highly personal and referring to very specific behavior and individuals.

In the swathe of cases associated with Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn’s separation from his third wife, some of the lese majeste have referred to alleged crimes, some claimed to be massive, and others have targeted alleged fraud by comparing retail and market prices for produce sold to the prince’s household.

Khaosod has another of the quite bizarre reports associated with this exorcism of a wife and her family and their associates.

It reports that Srirasmi’s parents “are facing charges of lese majeste…”.

The charges were reportedly “filed by Sawita Maneechan, a resident in Ratchaburi province. Sawita accused Apiruj and Wantanee Suwadee, the parents of former princess Srirasmi, of using their royal connection to bully her in 2003.”

Sawita said that Wantanee “falsely accused her of having an affair with Apiruj.” It is alleged that “Wantanee later used her royal connection to convince a high-ranking police officer to charge Sawita with a bogus fraud charge…”.

Sawita was found guilty and sentenced to 18 months in jail because she confessed to what she claimed was a bogus charge.

In addition to Srirasmi’s parents, “several of her relatives, including her brother and sister, were arrested on charges of lese majeste and running a massive corruption ring.”

Khaosod states that at least “27 arrest warrants have been issued to people in connection with the [alleged] crime network.” Srirasmi was kicked out of the palace, stripped of her title, her royal surname was scrapped and it seems the prince has their son. It is “unclear whether Srirasmi and the Crown Prince are formally divorced.”

In fact, the behavior seen in the prince’s household, while extreme, fits a pattern of royal excess, massive and unchallenged power and wealth, grasping greed and the use of state resources for personal gain. When there is a falling out in the royal gang, it can sometimes be public and extreme.

Update 1: With all of the royal family housecleaning taking place, PPT neglected to report all of the social media activity associated with the passing of the prince’s favorite dog, Fu Fu. In a sensible world, a king’s dog and prince’s hound should count for nothing. Yet in ultra-royalist Thailand, royal pooches matter. They get television coverage, they appear at dinners, official events and at birthday parties [clicking the link opens a video banned in Thailand]. All of this nonsensical adoration of royal canines shows how silly yet sad Thailand’s royals and their sycophants are. Andrew MacGregor Marshall has an account of Fu Fu’s death and royal cremation at The Guardian. He sees the event from a successionist perspective. We think it is more a sad commentary on contemporary Thailand and enforced royalism.

Update 2: Ji Ungpakorn has also posted on the Fu Fu funeral rites and the degeneration of the Thai royals. Noting rising tension between royalists and others, he’s right to be pointing to what we’d see as a monarchy meltdown.