Child still detained on 112

Thanalop has been detained for a further 15 days. She is the 15 year-old who was 14 when accused of lese majeste during a rally in October 2022 at Bangkok City Hall that called for the release of political detainees and for the abolition of Article 112.

According to the Post:

Under the Juvenile and Family Court Procedure Act, a minor must be released from detention if the prosecutor does not file charges or request a postponement within 30 days. In Thanalop’s case, the prosecution on Thursday of this week requested that she be detained for an additional 15 days and the court agreed.

The law allows for as many as four 15-day postponements in cases where the offence carries a prison sentence of more than five years, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).

Thanalop was arrested on 28 March 2023.

Human Rights Watch has called for the charges to be dropped and the girl released. It referred to the case as “unjust.” Elaine Pearson, Asia director at HRW, added: “By arresting a 15-year-old girl, the Thai government is sending the spine-chilling message that even children aren’t safe from being harshly punished for expressing their opinions.” HRW also observed that the “Convention on the Rights of the Child, ratified by Thailand, states that the arrest, detention, or imprisonment of a child ‘shall be used only as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time’…”.

Elections or democracy II

Following our earlier posts (here, here, and here) regarding the rigging of 2023 election, it was interesting to observe that Human Rights Watch has a post headlined: “Upcoming Election Fundamentally Flawed. Unfair Processes, Censorship, Oppression.”

It begins: “Thailand’s election scheduled for May 14, 2023, will be held under political, constitutional, and legal frameworks that make a free and fair process nearly impossible…”. It adds: “The participation of Thai opposition parties in the upcoming elections should not be interpreted to mean that they believe the electoral process in Thailand is free and fair…”.

Human Rights Watch is not alone in making these critical points: “over 50 Thai and international civil society groups highlighted these issues in joint letters to 25 of Thailand’s democratic allies and trading partners, urging governments to raise concerns with Thai leaders.”

It makes the important point:

The electoral process is occurring within the framework of a 2017 constitution written by a commission appointed by the junta that seized power from a democratically elected government in a military coup in 2014. The 2017 constitution’s provisions entrench military power at the expense of civilian rule, including by reserving for the junta the appointment of members of Thailand’s Senate, Election Commission, Administrative Court, and Constitutional Court.

More on Duck 112

Prachatai and, unusually, the Bangkok Post have reported the case we posted on yesterday, adding detail that wasn’t available when PPT posted.

The Bangkok Post reports that it was Narathorn Chotmankongsin, aged 26, who was jailed for selling duck calendars that was interpreted as referring to King Vajiralongkorn and mocking him.

PPT may be daft, but it isn’t clear to us how a duck image mocks the king. He looks nothing like a duck. For instance, he has visible ears, and as far as we know, he doesn’t have webbed feet. Yet the court saw a duck as damaging to the king, observing the messaging involved.

Plastic ducks and chickens were prominent symbols in student-led monarchy reform and democracy demonstrations in 2020. Prachatai notes that:

… yellow rubber ducks, initially brought in as a mockery of the government and nicknamed “the navy,” as shields against water cannon blasts. The yellow rubber duck then became a symbol of resistance, appearing in several subsequent protests in 2020, and was given pseudo-royal titles by protesters.

Prachatai reports that Narathorn was arrested on 31 December 2020. He was charged under Article 112. It adds:

The police conducted a sting operation, posing as a potential buyer and ordering a calendar on Facebook and asking to have it delivered by a Grab rider. Officers then tracked the location until they located Tonmai’s residence and requested a search warrant. After searching his house and confiscating the calendar, the police arrested him and charged him with royal defamation on the grounds that the content of the calendar mocks King Vajiralongkorn.

During the witness examination hearing during October-November 2022, Narathorn:

… testified that the yellow duck is a character named Krommaluang Kiakkai Ratsadonborirak (Prince/Princess Kiakkai, the People’s Protector), which is a name given to the duck by some netizens, and the calendar did not mention the King or other members of the royal family.

Sawatree Suksri, lecturer at Thammasat University’s Faculty of Law, also testified that parody does not constitute an offense under the royal defamation law, since the law specifically refers to defamation and threat.

Activist Sombat Boonngamanong testified that the yellow duck is seen as a symbol of protection for the protesters, and does not refer to the King. Although the language used in the calendar is the same as that used for royalty, Sombat said that it has also been used in fiction where appropriate for a character’s status.

From Prachatai

Royalist “academic” turned royalist snitch Chaiyan Chaiyaporn became an “expert witness” – yes, seriously, a rabid royalist ideologue is an “expert” for the prosecution. This dolt declared:

… he saw the duck as representing the King and that the calendar is meant to show that the King uses taxpayer money for his own sexual gain, that he controls the military, and is above executive, legislative, and judicial powers.

Well, all of those claims are true, if that is what the ducks actually mean, but as we know, such claims are used as reasons for lese majeste charges.

When shown a picture from the March calendar, Chaiyan said he saw the duck with a condom on top of its head as meaning that the King is obsessed with sex or that he is promoting the use of condoms, but because he has never seen the King participating in any such campaign, he believes that the image is intending to mock the King as being sex-obsessed.

Again, with multiple wives, divorced and current, and a platoon of concubines, he is one who obviously likes his fornication.

Under cross-examination, Chaiyan noted that he is aware that a yellow rubber duck is a common item and that many images of the duck in the calendar represent crowd control police. He also agreed that the ducks were represented in many roles….

The court bought Chaiyan’s interpretation, probably because judges already hold such opinions. Clearly, the judiciary wants to suppress all notions of monarchy reform.

Meanwhile, Human Rights Watch also commented on this ludicrous case and the chilling impact it has:

“The prosecution and three-year sentence of a man for selling satirical calendars shows that Thai authorities are now trying to punish any activity they deem to be insulting the monarchy,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “This case sends a message to all Thais, and to the rest of the world, that Thailand is moving further away from – not closer to – becoming a rights-respecting democracy.”…

“Thai authorities should permit peaceful expression of all viewpoints, including those related to the monarchy,” Pearson said. “The government should urgently engage with United Nations experts and others about embarking on a process of amending the lese majeste law to bring it into compliance with Thailand’s international human rights obligations.”

Better to abolish it.

What rights?

Human Rights Watch has released its World Report 2023. Read the Thailand in 2022 report here. It begins ominously and predictably:

The government of Prime Minister Gen. Prayut Chan-ocha continued to restrict fundamental rights, particularly freedom of expression and assembly, and prosecuted human rights and democracy activists, community advocates, environmental defenders, and critics of the monarchy. Government promises to fulfill Thailand’s human rights obligations and end impunity for abuses remained largely unfulfilled.

On lese majeste:

In November 2020, Prime Minister Prayut ordered authorities to use all laws against democracy protesters, bringing back lèse-majesté (insulting the monarchy) prosecution under article 112 of the penal code after a three-year hiatus. Authorities have since charged at least 215 people under Article 112 in relation to various activities undertaken at democracy protests or comments made on social media. In addition, making critical or offensive comments about the monarchy is also a serious criminal offense under the Computer-Related Crime Act. Authorities have also charged some political activists with sedition under Article 116 of the penal code….

Judicial interpretation of lèse-majesté offenses seems to vary according to interpretations by different courts, making convictions arbitrary and sometimes going beyond what is stipulated in the law.

Release political prisoners II

Coconuts Bangkok reports on political prisoner Tantawan Tuatulanon:

Human rights campaigners and pro-democracy activists are calling for Thai authorities to release a young activist who has been on a hunger strike for over a month.

The authorities have been holding a number of young monarchy reform campaigners, and in recent days calls have grown for them to drop the case against a 20-year-old activist who has been on a hunger strike for over a month and reportedly requires medical attention.

Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon has not eaten anything except milk or water since April 20 to protest her ongoing pre-trial detention and should be immediately transferred to a hospital, legal reform group Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said yesterday. It said her life was in danger as her hunger strike continues, adding that the activist could barely move and faints several times a day. She also suffers from bleeding gums and weight loss.

The Manushya Foundation said: “This is unacceptable injustice and another example of the government waging war against pro-democracy students. Tawan must be released!”

Sunai Phasuk, Senior Thailand researcher at Human Rights Watch stated: “The lengthened pre-trial detention of Tawan and other activists is brutal and shows Thailand’s disregard of human rights and fair trial standards…”. He added that Tantawan’s hunger strike is “a display of Tawan’s bravery and commitment to civil disobedience to resist abusive authoritarian powers…”.

Sunai thinks the regime “believes that those who support the reform movement will eventually dissipate from public attention if they are held in prison.” We at PPT think that this is only part of the story. The regime wants to silence them, punish them, torture them.

Pornpen Khongkanchankiet, the director of Cross Cultural Foundation,observed that “detention without a guilty verdict and hefty bail fees amount to a violation of human rights.”

She ads that “Tawan’s activism is one step forward for the movement in unveiling the government’s problematic response to those who disagree with the status quo.” Her hunger strike by Tawan and others amounts to “sacrificing themselves to conduct an autopsy on our judicial system…. And it’s showing something ugly, something primitive, uncivilized. So now they are sacrificing themselves to show the international community, and the elder generation, this broken system.”

 

Silencing the media I

The regime has congratulated itself on its ability to repress anti-government/anti-monarchy protests. The king must feel confident returning to Europe later in the month.

But at what cost? In its annual report, Human Rights Watch says:

Thai authorities have prosecuted dissenters, violently dispersed peaceful protests, and censored news and social media…. Respect for human rights in Thailand has gone from bad to worse while the government’s promises of reform remain unfulfilled.

Read HRW’s World Report 2022. We assume that HRW is in the regime’s sights for repression next year.

The regime’s moves to shut down political expression has been going on for several years, and much of this has been posted by PPT. Of late, we have had several asides regarding the apparent constricting of the media. Some of this has to do with business decisions – look at the Bangkok Post where the “news” is obliterated by advertorials and “stories” that are promotional. Some of it has to do with the political proclivities of owners.

But much of it has to do with repression, censorship and self-censorship. That screw has been being wound down for some time, but the Constitutional Court’s support of the regime in its ludicrous judgement on political reform now seems like a turning point, sending the country further down the repressive royalist rathole. That decision silenced much of the media reporting on monarchy reform.

With that stimulus, as Khaosod recently reported, the regime has conjured “a draft law that would allow suspension of media license on grounds of publishing contents deemed against ‘good morals of the public’.”

The bill,  formally called “Draft Media Ethics and Professional Standards Promotion Act,” was proposed by the government’s Public Relations Department and approved by the Cabinet on Tuesday. The department is chaired by Lt. Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, who served as the spokesman for the junta….

We all know how the regime defines “good” and “good people.” It has nothing to do with goodness, but with supporting the regime and monarchy. And, we also know that morals have no meaning for a regime full of shysters and murders, not to mention a convicted heroin trafficker. Of course, they are all “good.”

The new law establishes a new licensing and watchdog agency called “Press Profession Council.”

The law will limit press freedom: “It stipulates that while freedom of the press is guaranteed, ‘the exercise must not go against the duties of Thai people or good morals of the people’.”

The Bangkok Post reports that the “draft bill on the promotion of media ethics and professional standards has cleared the cabinet…”.

Supporters of media repression

Regrettably, the Post is already under control, choosing to suggest, in Orwellian style, that an obvious effort to silence the media is, about “the rights, freedoms and independence of media organisations and practitioners.” This is buffalo manure, and the Post’s owners know it, but they have chosen to support repression.

Chavarong Limpattamapanee, chairman of the National Press Council of Thailand, is equally supine, describing “the bill as the best media-related piece of legislation to date.”

With the backbones of jellyfish, such support bodes ill for Thailand’s political future.

Trampling remaining freedoms II

The regime has defended its repressive action in the usual manner: it has lied.

Thai PBS reports that Government Spokesperson Anucha Burapachaisri and Deputy Spokesperson Rachada Dhnadirek “assured the media and the public” that the “government order banning dissemination of fake and distorted news and fearmongering” is “not restricting people’s rights to expressing their opinions.” Anucha stated: “If you criticize the government with distorted information, people may be confused, have misunderstandings, and develop hatred…”.

How high?

Anucha added: “You can voice criticism, but as long as it is based on facts.” Whose facts? The regime’s.

Everyone knows this is buffalo manure.

The Financial Times in “Thailand outlaws reports that cause ‘fear’ as Covid-19 cases” is clear:

Thailand will allow officials to block online reports that cause “fear”, even if they are true, in a move critics have lambasted as an effort to shut down debate of the government’s handling of the coronavirus pandemic.

The measure announced late on Thursday will penalise anyone who causes “misunderstandings” or jeopardises national security during the country’s state of emergency, which has been in effect since March 2020.

The provision gives authorities the power to find where online content originated from and block it or hand over information to police for prosecution. Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha’s government was able to pass the new rule without parliamentary approval under the emergency powers.

In that report, Sunai Phasuk from Human Rights Watch hits the dictatorial nail on the head:

This is the way a dictator would respond to a credibility crisis…. Instead of addressing challenges and bringing about efficient solutions, [Gen] Prayuth [Chan-ocha] chose to issue a gagging order that essentially banned anyone from talking about bad news.

Updated: Inhumane policy

Accounts of the inhumane treatment of workers locked into work camps and guarded by soldiers are growing. There are hundreds of camps and thousands of workers.

Some of the camps have received little food, health care or much else. Indeed, it is as if the regime has created hundreds of concentration camps. The camps have been sealed since 27 June for at least 30 days.

As usual, the assurances given when sealing the camps have been ditched. In some cases, volunteers are providing food for the hungry workers, many of whom are migrant workers.

Clipped from Thailand Construction News

The idea of sealing in workers was to protect the rest of the community from the virus. Of course, this is a nonsense as the virus has spread far and wide. The idea of locking healthy people in with those infected beggars belief.

Thai Enquirer reports that the regime has decided “to stop Covid testing and providing healthcare for migrant workers who have been confined to camps…”. This is the height of stupidity and is barbarous.

The report states that the “Ministry of Labour, which gave the order to halt the testing and offering healthcare assistance” claims that it is “unable to conduct Covid-19 tests in sealed up construction worker camps because the Bangkok Governor’s office will not give it the necessary permission.”

The governor should be immediately sacked for jhis inhumane policy. But, then, he’s a junta man.

Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher for Human Rights Watch stated: “The ministry’s decision is discriminatory and blatantly shows disregard of Thailand’s obligations to uphold labor standards and human rights during the pandemic…”.

Appropriately, he added:

It will also become a ticking time bomb that threatens the already strained public health structure with many undetected and untreated new cases. The Prime Minster needs to immediately quash this senseless policy….

Labor Minister Suchart Chomklin has said “the government will now send more food and water to 520 camps in Bangkok and 797 camps in five surrounding provinces between July 12 and 27.” Thai Enquirer observes: “He did not explain why the government did not send enough food and water…”. Suchart reckoned “that companies should help their workers and that they cannot wait on support from the government.”

That seems a broader message: no person can depend on this government for any semblance of humanity, human rights, or ingenuity. Reasonable policy is off the agenda. The regime is now, as it has been since 2014, a disaster for Thailand. It is now a threat to public health as well.

Update: Minister Suchart has made his position more grotesque. He is reported to have “defended the ministry’s decision to shift from conducting a blanket Covid-19 test on migrant workers at construction worker camps to randomly testing them, as the problem of hospital bed shortages continues.” In other words, the Ministry has decided to find fewer cases among migrants because the government cannot or will not treat them. They have to wait for promised “field hospitals.”

Land Rights Activist Gunned Down

Thailand’s mafia state out of control as extrajudicial killings are used as a tool of the state. The following is reproduced in full from Human Rights Watch:

Thailand: Land Rights Activist Gunned Down
Investigate Killing of Somsak Onchuenjit; Protect Rights Defenders in South

(New York) – Thai authorities should immediately investigate the killing of Somsak Onchuenjit, a lawyer and land rights activist, in Trang province in southern Thailand, Human Rights Watch said today. Successive Thai governments have failed to prevent or adequately respond to attacks against human rights defenders who represent landless farmers.

On May 4, 2021, at about 7:40 a.m., an unidentified gunman fatally shot Somsak, 54, while he was working in a rubber plantation near his home in Trang province’s Wangviset district. Somsak had recently told his family that he had been followed and was receiving death threats. But local authorities had neither investigated the threats nor arranged any measures to protect him.

“Thai authorities should not just stand by while grassroots activists in southern provinces are being murdered for standing up for their communities,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The Thai government should urgently conduct a credible and impartial investigation and bring those responsible for Somsak’s death to justice.”

Somsak had led a campaign for the right to agricultural land for poor villagers in his district. Over the past five months, conflicts in the area have intensified between local villagers who occupied oil palm plantations that no longer have valid leases with government agencies and private companies backed by local politicians. Community members told Human Rights Watch that police investigations into Somsak’s murder so far appear half-hearted and ineffectual.

During the past decade, at least five land rights activists in southern Thailand have been killed. All were leaders in campaigns seeking community ownership of agricultural land used by palm oil companies in which the lease with the government for the land had expired. The police have not made any serious progress in any of these cases. Meanwhile, the remaining activists constantly face harassment, physical intimidation, and a barrage of lawsuits filed by palm oil companies.

The United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders calls on governments to take all necessary measures to protect human rights defenders against violence, threats, retaliation, and other abuses because of their work. International law recognizes government accountability for failing to protect people from rights abuses and violence by private actors. According to the United Nations Human Rights Committee, governments must not only protect people from violations of rights by government officials but “also against acts committed by private persons or entities that would impair the enjoyment” of their rights. A government may be violating human rights by “permitting or failing to take appropriate measures or to exercise due diligence to prevent, punish, investigate or redress the harm caused by such acts by private persons or entities.”

“The Thai government is failing in its obligation to seriously and effectively investigate deadly attacks against human rights advocates and hold those responsible to account,” Adams said. “With each new killing, Thailand slides further into lawlessness, and the government’s frequent claims to be protecting rights defenders ring hollow.”

Further updated: Heroin smuggling approved

In one of its more deranged and highly politicized decisions, the Constitutional Court has ruled that Deputy Agriculture Minister and soon to be boss secretary-general of the ruling Palang Prachart Party Thammanat Prompao who “pleaded guilty to conspiring to import heroin into Australia” can retain his cabinet post.

Like the regime’s leadership, the court decided that spending four years in a “Sydney jail is not a breach of the constitution.”

Convicted heroin smuggler

Section 98 of the constitution states, in part, that one is prohibited from exercising the right to stand for election in an election as a member of the House of Representatives if they have been sentenced by a judgement to imprisonment and imprisoned by a warrant of the Court.

But, the hopelessly biased Constitutional Court on Wednesday ruled that while Thammanat “had admitted to his Australian conviction … the … court could not recognise the authority of another state.”

The court stated:

We cannot implement the verdict of foreign courts, and we cannot interpret the verdict of foreign courts as having the same power as our courts…. The verdict of any state only has effect in that state.

The report quotes political commentator Voranai Vanijaka who says the verdict was more “proof there’s no rule of law in Thailand, only the rule of power”. He added:

Over the past year and a half, Deputy Minister Thammanat has become a key power player and deal maker for the [Prime Minister] Prayut [Chan-o-cha] regime…. He’s too valuable. He knows it. The regime knows it. The Thai people know it. The decision is to no one’s surprise.

Sadly, he’s right.

Human Rights Watch researcher Sunai Phasuk said:

This outrageous ruling nonetheless confirmed that he was sentenced [to prison] in Australia, which means his parliamentary testimony denying it is a lie.

With this shocking ruling by the Constitutional Court, now all sorts of criminals convicted in foreign courts could run for a public office in Thailand without a worry. Crimes committed outside of the motherland, no matter how serious they are, don’t count in the Thai realm of justice.

Sadly, he’s right.

Thammanat is now fabulously wealthy. No one has questioned that. It could reasonably be described as unusual wealth.

No wonder so many young Thais are despondent about a country run by military thugs, criminals and mafia figures.

Update 1: Thammanat seems to lead some kind of exalted existence. Prachatai has a story of Samart Jenchaijitwanich, Assistant to the Minister of Justice, who “has submitted his resignation letter to the Minister after Phalang Pracharat Party voted to remove him from all positions in the government and the party.” He was “Director of the Complaint Centre of Phalang Pracharat Party, a government whip, president of an anti-ponzi scheme committee, and member of other Phalang Pracharat Party committees.”

Samart was outed by Sira Jenjaka, a Phalang Pracharat MP, who “revealed that he [Samart] cheated on an English exam by sending a proxy to take the test for him. The test was a part of the requirement for a PhD at Ramkhamhaeng University.”

It was a “Phalang Pracharat investigative committee led by Paiboon Nititawan [that] voted unanimously to remove Samart from all political positions in the government and the party.”

As far as we can determine, Samart has not been charged or convicted of anything.

In comparison, Thammanat, in addition to his conviction for heroin trafficking, has a fake degree and has repeatedly lied to parliament, the media and the people. He also managed to barely escape a murder charge a few years ago. We know that Gen Prawit Wongsuwan loves, promotes and protects Thammanat, but his ability to avoid political damage suggests even more powerful support.

Update 2: The fallout from the Constitutional Court’s bizarre decision continues. Social media is scathing, parodying the decision, damning the court, and slamming the regime. The commentary is equally scathing. As Thai PBS puts it, the decision “has sparked outrage and ridicule and has added to the feeling of hopelessness…”. It cites Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a political science lecturer at Chulalongkorn University and an interpreter of Thailand for the English-speaking world: “This is arguably Thailand’s lowest point in its international life.” Titipol Phakdeewanich, a political scientist at Ubol University, said the verdict “continue[d] to undermine the legal system of the country …[and] is not based on facts.”