Redux: Why the lese majeste law is an abomination

We want to re-publish a post from 2011 that, despite a changing cast, seems entirely relevant today. It is by Giles Ji Ungpakorn, now long in lese majeste exile, and published at Red Thai Socialist. It called for the abolition of the lese majeste law:

The lese majeste law in Thailand represents a gross attack on the freedom of speech, freedom of expression and academic freedom. It is a fundamental attack on Democracy carried out by the Military, the Palace and the elites. The practical impact is that Thailand has struggled for years to achieve a fully developed democracy, a free press and internationally accepted academic standards in our universities.

Today, Da Torpedo, Red Eagle, Surachai Darnwattanan-nusorn (Sa-Darn) and many others are in prison in Thailand for merely expressing their beliefs in a peaceful way. In recent days arrest warrants have been issued for 5 more people and the police have a list of 30 more people who face arrest. Lese majeste prisoners are denied bail. The royalist judges claim that the offense is “too serious” and “a threat to national security”. Thai dictatorships have used the excuse that their opponents were seeking to “overthrow the Monarchy” in order to kill unarmed demonstrators in 1976 and 2010. Jail terms for lese majeste are draconian. Da is in prison for 18 years and prison conditions are appalling. Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the web manager of the independent Prachatai newspaper faces 50 years in prison for not removing other peoples’ web-posts. A student faces lese majeste charges for not standing up for the King’s anthem in the cinema and the Military-backed Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva tells lies about how he is committed to reforming the law. Abhisit and the army generals also tell lies about the deliberate state-ordered killings of unarmed protesters in May 2010.

In my particular case, my own university gave my anti-coup book to the police special branch, which resulted in a lese majeste prosecution against me. Imagine the impact on my fellow academics. This climate of fear creates poor quality academic work which avoids all important controversial issues and debates. This appalling tradition of educational mediocrity starts at primary school and works its way right to the top of the educational system. Students are encouraged to learn subjects parrot-fashion and write descriptive, one-sided essays. Academics refuse to engage in any debate, do not read work by those who do not agree with them and regard any academic arguments as personal attacks.

Professor Amara Ponsapich and the Thai National Human Rights Commission have disgraced themselves by remaining silent on lese majeste. At the same time they have defended the “right” of fascist PAD members to cause a war with Cambodia. Recently Amara warned the pro-democracy Red Shirts not to cause “trouble” with their protests. No such warning was ever given to the royalist mobs. NGO senator Rosana Tositakul told Red Shirt MPs to stop whining about the 90 deaths last year and to concentrate on the problems of inflation. Amnesty International has followed in the same path by defending the use of lese majeste. Academic hold seminars about why the lese majeste law “needs to be reformed”. But it cannot be reformed. It has to be abolished.

The Thai Monarchy is said to be “universally loved by all Thais”. This may have been the case in some periods of history, but it is no longer true. Many millions have turned against the Monarchy for appearing to condone the 2006 military coup and for saying nothing about the 90 deaths last year. This openly expressed hatred of the Monarchy is despite the climate of fear created by the lese majeste law, along side a manic promotion of the Monarchy. The King is said to be a genius in all fields. All statements by the Monarch are repeated as though they are the ultimate wisdom and he is referred to as “our father”. Photographs are circulated to “prove” that the King actually tied his own shoe-laces!! Many have made comparisons with North Korea. Now they are comparing Thailand to the Middle-Eastern dictatorships. Recently the head of the army claimed that Thailand was “nothing like Egypt”. If he really believed that, then why did he bother to make the public statement in the first place?

Another example of “Monarchy Mania” is the idea of “Sufficiency Economics”. Once the Monarch gave his blessing to the “Sufficiency Economy”, we were all supposed to accept it and praise it without question. The Sufficiency Economy is really a reactionary political ideology that teaches people to be happy with their present circumstances and to ignore the need for income redistribution. Luckily, this aspect of brain-washing has not worked very well in Thai society, for a society which cannot openly discuss economic and political policies will remain backward and under-developed. But the mere criticism of the Sufficiency Economy is enough to attract charges of lese majeste.

What is the aim of all this attempt at enforced idiocy among the population? It is a continuous attempt to keep the vast majority of Thai people in their place. We are encouraged to believe that the King is all powerful, when in fact he is a spineless willing tool of the Military. The Thai population are encouraged to believe that we live under an “ancient system of Monarchy”, a cross between a Sakdina, Absolute and Constitutional Monarchy system. People have to crawl on the ground in front of the King. But the true beneficiaries of this are the Military, the civilian conservative bureaucrats and the Democrat Party who are now in government.

The Military often claim that they are the “defenders of the Constitutional Monarchy”, yet the Thai Military has a long history of making un-constitutional coups. These are often “legitimised” by claiming to protect the Monarchy. The 19^th September 2006 coup is a good example. The Military sought to legitimise themselves by referring to the Monarch. The lese majeste Law is thus used as a tool by the military to defend coups. The promotion of an image that the Monarchy is all powerful (an un-constitutional image), is part of this self-legitimisation by the military and other forces who are now in government. Lese majeste cases have multiplied since the Democrats were manoeuvred into government by the army in December 2008. It is now a central weapon to be used against all those who criticised the 2006 coup or those who oppose this military-installed government.

It is now an undeniable fact that this brain-washing campaign is falling apart. And it is falling apart at the very moment when the King is getting old and may soon die because he is so frail. If the King were ever loved and respected, the same cannot be said about his son. We know from Wikileaks that even the elites think the prince is a liability. The Military, the right-wing PAD protestors who closed the airports and the Democrat Party, have dragged the Monarchy into politics by claiming that the 2006 coup and violent actions by the PAD were supported or even directed by the Monarchy. It is now common to hear ordinary Thais complain that “the iguana and his wife” ordered the May 2010 killings. Royal legitimacy is all that the conservative authoritarians have and they are panicking because it is all unravelling. They have brought this on themselves.

We must not forget the plight of those jailed and killed on the pretext of defending the Monarchy. We must wage an international and national political campaign to defend democratic rights in Thailand and for the abolition of the lese majeste law. Without abolishing this law, we cannot have democracy in Thailand and without overthrowing the dictatorship we cannot abolish lese majeste.

Killing kids

Prachatai adds information to our post on Tuesday regarding the fate of Tantawan Tuatulanon and Natthanon Chaimahabutra.

On 20 March 2024, a royalist court decided “to continue detaining activists Tantawan … and Nutanon …, who have been on a hunger strike for over a month, for 12 more days, as the police claims they are still gathering evidence.”

Of course, this is ludicrous. They have been held since 13 February, crazily accused of sedition for honking a horn at a passing royal in another car.

We think that rather than investigating, the powers that be have decided that these kids should rot in prison and probably die if they do not abandon their hunger strikes. In other words, they are being punished for defiance.

Cruelty is a feature of royalist (in)justice.

 

They pulled out his teeth and told him to grin

A reader, admitting a senior age, wrote to us and asked about the music videos we sometimes post. In doing so, he recommended a video from way back, suggesting the lyrics bore a resemblance to the way that royalists want to prevent progress in Thailand. There’s something in this:

The lyrics are here.

Further updated: More 112 time for Arnon

Clipped from a Reuters report

Thai PBS reports that Ratsadon protest group leader Arnon Nampa has again been sentenced to jail time on a lese majeste charge.

On 17 January 2024, the Criminal Court “ruled that the message, posted by Arnon on his Facebook page on January 1st, 2021, had led to public misunderstanding about the monarchy and was, therefore, deemed to have offended the revered institution.”

Arnon is already serving four years on another bogus 112 conviction. This means that he is now subject to eight years in prison on two 112 convictions, and there remain more cases to face court.

Update 1: Prachatai, via Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, provides more information on the case and verdict.

The complaint against Arnon was made by the ultra-royalist snitch Nangnoi Assawakittikorn, who was a member of the ironically named Thailand Help Centre for Cyberbullying Victims, which spends its energy bullying those it thinks are anti-monarchists. As usual, the police and prosecutors took up the case and charged and indicted Arnon on 112 and computer crimes.

The charges related to three Facebook posts. It is reported that two posts, made on 1 January 2021, opined that Article 112 “should not be allowed to be used to silence critics of the monarchy and that people should be able to talk about the monarchy when it comes to public matters even if they do not praise it.” One of those posts also “asks how losing faith in the monarchy could be an offense and if people have to believe in the monarchy even if its members are not behaving appropriately.” A third post, on 3 January 2021, “criticized royalist groups for trying to silence dissidents despite questions raised about the monarchy.” Arnon criticized them for “refusing to see the problem even though the monarchy is causing problems, such as by lavishly spending the government’s money.” He pointedly “asked if people would find it acceptable if the Prime Minister or a government official moved to Germany and flew back and forth between Thailand and Germany with an entourage.”

In his submission to the court, Arnon:

… admitted to making the posts, but said that he was calling for reform to make the monarchy better and more democratic. He also said during the trial that he was not talking about a specific monarch and that the content of the posts refers to those working in the justice system that enforce the royal defamation law [Article 112]. He was also criticizing the use of the royal defamation law to silence dissent and questions about the role of the monarchy in Thai politics and its use of taxpayer’s money.

TLHR stated that Arnon’s lawyer “requested that the court summoned documents to be used as evidence, including King Vajiralongkorn’s travel schedule and records of government budget allocated to the monarchy.” The royalist court refused to summon the documents. But, in the worst traditions of the injustice system, this request was used against Arnon by the court.

It found Arnon guilty “on the grounds that the posts contain false information and are defamatory against King Vajiralongkorn.” In its twisted “logic,” the court found that even though “the posts only referred to ‘the monarchy,’ … they are intended to be about King Vajiralongkorn and to cause a misunderstanding that the King took national property for himself and that he has been wasting taxpayer’s money.” It calculated that the posts must have been about Vajiralongkorn “because the defendant has requested documents on the King’s travel schedule to be used as evidence and it believes that there would be no need to request the documents if the posts do not refer to the King. Additionally, it cited Anon’s testimony that he wanted legislations related to King Vajiralongkorn amended so that it is the same as it was during the reign of King Bhumibol.”

The royalist courts and judges continue to find ways to mangle law and deliver injustice. They are a disgrace.

Arnon faces 14 lese majeste charges “speeches given at pro-democracy protests and posts made on his social media accounts.” That means there are 12 to follow.

Update 2: Here’s some of the reporting on Arnon’s second conviction: Al Jazeera, AFP, Bangkok Post, Irish Independent, La Prensa Latina, Reuters, The Nation

112 update I

During the break we took over the past few weeks, there have been several developments related to Article 112. As a matter of record, we list these stories and sources, in rough chronological order, over two posts.

The Bangkok Post reported on the amnesty bill proposed by the Move Forward Party by pointing to the significant opposition to the bill. As expected, this opposition comes from the royalist parties of the current Srettha Thavisin government.

Their opposition hinges on lese majeste, as did the narratives used following the election to sideline Move Forward, on Article 112. Puea Thai’s Deputy Prime Minister Phumtham Wechayachai has mentioned this as what will be the regime’s response. Puea Thai is gleeful and slimy when manipulating Thaksin’s personal “amnesty,” but seems uninterested in political prisoners and former prisoners.

Royalist posterior polisher and Chartthaipattana Party leader Varawut Silpa-archa said “his party is against granting amnesty to people charged with or convicted of lese majeste or of serious offences causing damage to the nation.” Meanwhile, Nikorn Chamnong, also of Chartthaipattana said “he agrees with the government proposing its own amnesty bill but emphasized that any proposal must exclude lese majeste and serious crimes.” In other words, the regime will manipulate a partial amnesty bill but will steer clear of free speech, monarchy-related “crimes.”

Of course, lese majeste offenses skyrocketed under the previous regime as a means to defeat monarchy reformers. This has left hundreds of people charged, convicted, or awaiting trials, most bailed but a dozen or so still in prison.

While estimates of numbers are often provided, we assume that there are some that never get attention. For example, Prachatai recently reported that a 51 year-old man, identified as Yong (first and last name withheld) “has recently been found detained in Bangkok Remand Prison since 2020 after being found guilty” of lese majeste.

Yong was previously a taxi driver. He said “ he had previously participated in the 2010 Red Shirt protests. He also witnessed the shooting in the head of Red Shirt military chief Maj Gen Khattiya ‘Seh Daeng’ Sawasdipol at the Saladaeng intersection.”

Yong stated that he has been detained for three years. His case stemmed from a comment he made on a Facebook post “that contained an image of the royal family and interacted with others on the post.”

He was arrested by officials from the military, including the Internal Security Operation Command and taken to the 11th Infantry Regiment and detained for 3-4 days, during which time his mobile phone was confiscated. This detention by the military was common under the military junta led by Gen Prayuth.

After he was transferred to the police and informed of the 112 and computer crimes charges, Yong was detained for 19 days before filing a bail application. He was later released on bail. However, after being released, “he decided to plead guilty on 1 December 2020. Yong was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but due to his guilty plea, the sentence was reduced to 6 years.”

Yong also “added that he had received two pardons on special occasions which reduced his sentence. His remaining sentence is approximately 7 months and he expects to be released on 15 June 2024.”

Of course, some get it easier than others.

Clipped from Prachatai

The Bangkok Post reported that a “former co-leader of pro-democracy demonstrations who later switched to support a party linked to former prime minister [Gen] Prayut[h] Chan-o-cha has received a suspended sentence for royal defamation in connection with a rally staged in February 2002.”

Shinawat “Bright” Chankrachang is described as “a former co-leader of the Rasadon group, which staged street protests against the military-backed government led by Gen Prayut.”  He later turned to “helping candidates of the Prayut-linked United Thai Nation Party,” a group of military-supported royalists, in the May election.

Turncoats are a common feature of Thailand’s politics. Shinawat claims that his turning got him special treatment.

… the court notified me that I have turned over a new leaf and carried out community work to benefit society…. The court then suspended my jail term for two years and ordered me to report to probation officials.

Shinawat claims he was previously “misguided.”

The Privy Council and the bourgeoisie

The social media distaste expressed for the king’s appointment of royalist posterior polisher, coup maker, constitution smasher, and commander of murderous military units, Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha, to the Privy Council has prompted yet another effort to veneer the obvious.

The Nation has been prompted/ordered to publish something it headlines “Some facts about the Privy Council of Thailand.”

The article is pretty straight up and down, reading the official screed.  However, as it notes that “[privy] councilors cannot be partisan…”, and refers to official positions, it says nothing about the fact that every privy councilor is partisan in political terms. That’s why there are so many former military and police officers appointed. It is but a committee for the palace and the royalist ruling class.

The only statement in the account that might be considered mildly controversial is the observation that “Privy councillors are not … prohibited from sitting on the boards of influential companies.” As we said, it is but a committee for the palace and the royalist ruling class.

Privy councilors get on well with their betters in the Sino-Thai bourgeoisie, and have often made family fortunes by skimming when in official positions.  In the Privy Council, the relationship is cemented, as is the relations ship between bourgeoisie and palace.

The old guard’s work continues apace

In a report at University World News, Teeranai Charuvastra shows how the incessant work of the royalist old guard is making Thailand a political tinderbox (again).

Chiang Mai University’s administration has issues new regulations that prevent “its students from holding any protest or gathering within the campus that mentions the Thai monarchy in any capacity…”.

Teeranai observes that this “development comes just two months after the Move Forward party that campaigned for monarchy reforms swept to victory at the polls, thanks to the support of many students and young voters.” Of course, Move Forward also swept Chiang Mai. The royalist administrators are seeking “to curb freedom of expression.”

The university’s new rules, released on 3 July “also require students to seek permission before holding any protests,” and claims to “upholds students’ rights to peaceful gathering while safeguarding safety and order on campus.”

However, one student group based said that the restrictions “infringe upon academic freedom and freedom of expression, without any regard for the principles of public space and constitutional rights to assembly.”

The group is also collecting student signatures to petition for the measures to be reversed.

As is now the custom of authoritarians everywhere, the university administration’s announcement stated that it respects “rights, liberty and responsibility to assembly under the boundary of the Constitution and the law,” while then listing “a number of restrictions on campus protests and gatherings.” This includes excluding members of the public from campus events such as rallies.

But, the real core of the rules is muzzling any commentary regarding the monarchy. Teeranai says that this is a “blanket ban” on any mention of the monarchy “whether directly or indirectly” during a protest.

Associate professor at the faculty of law at Chiang Mai University, Somchai Preechasilpakul,  “said the university administration’s blanket ban on students’ discussion of the monarchy in public gatherings was neither in accordance with free speech principles, nor practical. He noted that university officials often host events extolling members of the royal family.” Of course, the administrators will not act against anyone praising the monarchy. Rather, they target critical commentary and especially related to Article 112/lese majeste.

As PPT has long pointed out, royalists in concert with military and military-backed regimes worked long and hard to capture the leadership roles in universities in Thailand. It was the dead king who pointed out the ideological significance of universities. For more examples of royalism, universities, and the limiting of freedom of expression, see here, here, here, and here.

More conspiracy madness

Conspiracy theories have long been in the royalist-rightist toolkit for defeating those who win elections. To mention just a few, there was the Finland Plot, the Marxist network, and the Illuminati secret society. All have been concoctions, but all had real political impacts. Each of these was taken seriously by elements of the state and elite.

Take the Illuminati nonsense as an example. In July 2019 crazed royalist Nathaporn Toprayoon, a former adviser to the Ombudsman, lodged a complaint, claiming that the Future Forward Party was anti-monarchy because it was a part of the Illuminati. Future Foward denied the dopey claims.

Part of the “evidence” for this bonkers claim was that Future Forward’s logo was triangular, which was a bit like an Illuminati sign, albeit rotated 180 degrees. Nathaporn claimed the “secret Illuminati sect [was] ‘believed to be behind the unseating of monarchies in Europe’.” Other concocted “evidence” was that the party’s did “not use the standard phrase ‘democracy with the king as head of state’, but instead uses the words democracy according to the constitution’,” and that it was “party policy [to ]… have Thailand ratify the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, a body that does not grant immunity to the head of state, which is against the Thai constitution.”

The anti-monarchist claims were taken seriously and resulted in a Constitutional Court case. Although dismissed, as the royalists hoped, Future Forward was damaged.

The mad monarchists are at it again. The Bangkok Post reports that the Election Commission has asked the Move Forward Party to explain “why it included a hammer and sickle in its campaign cartoon, after a complaint that it suggested opposition to the constitutional monarchy.”

From Bangkok Post

The cartoon is from a party social media post on April 18 that introduced “its list-MP candidates from the labour sector, ahead of the … general election.”

The EC said a “complainant asked it to investigate if the party was against constitutional monarchy, which would be a violation of the constitution.”

So the claim is that Move Forward is made up of communists intent on overthrowing the monarchy, and the stooges at the Election Commission take it seriously.

112 update

So… PPT chose the wrong time to go on holidays. So much happened. Our apology comes in the form of an update, focused mainly on lese majeste.

In the middle of the month, there was an election. Lots of enthusiasm, with the military-backed monarchists defeated in a progressive landslide, with Move Forward coming out on top. But hold on. Two weeks later, and once again the same military-royalists are seeking to overturn the result. A variety of mechanisms have been deployed to get rid of Move Forward and to split the proposed coalition apart. We found several articles particularly useful in explaining the situation: Thitinan Pongsudhirak has two insightful articles in the Bangkok Post on 19 May and 26 May, while Kevin Hewison had “Thailand’s Orange Wave: Progressives, Conservatives, and Monarchy” with Australian Outlook.

The senate votes

Most noticeably the appointed senators have gotten off their posteriors, awoken from junta-induced sleep, and have been poked into action to oppose the electorate. Their action is unequivocally about the monarchy, with the proxy issue that is front-and-center in the royalist rejection of Move Forward is Article 112. Of course, the military junta’s constitution writers made sure that the unelected have the capacity to reject a prime minister.

Meanwhile, the judicial system has been hard at work, charging, convicting, and repressing. It seems that the courts and prosecutors are keen to push lese majeste cases through the courts, ensuring that as many are locked up as possible. Here’s a summary, Based on Prachatai’s excellent reporting, which begins with a good news story (although appeals may be ongoing):

• Appeal Court dismisses royal defamation charge for putting sticker on King’s portrait
• Disabled 19-year-old summoned on royal defamation charge
• Court dismisses royal defamation charge against performance artist
• 9 activists arrested at police station protest
• Student protest demands release of 15-year-old activist
• “She did not reject justice”: TLHR counters court’s statement on 15-year-old’s detention
• Teenager charged with royal defamation over Facebook post
• Detained 15-year-old activist released
• Court reverses judgement on royal defamation against deceased King
• Man faces 18 months in prison for comments on Somsak FB post
• 38-year-old arrested for royal defamation, denied bail
• Two influencers charged with royal defamation over notorious Lazada advert
• Teenager indicted for royal defamation over burning King’s portrait

International criticism of 112

From 112 Watch

DW reports that “Some European lawmakers are pressuring the EU to include tougher demands on Thailand to reform its taboo lese majeste law that imposes lengthy prison sentences on those who criticize the monarchy.”

Jordi Sole, a Menber of the European Parliament (MEP) and a member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, observed that “European Union relations with Thailand will be strengthened under a cooperation and partnership agreement signed last December, and this is an ‘an excellent opportunity for the EU to push for higher standards of human rights in Thailand, including the demand to abolish Thailand’s draconian lese majeste laws’…”.

The Europeans aren’t the only ones, as the story highlights:

In March … Democrat US senators Edward J. Markey and Dick Durbin, the Senate Majority Whip, introduced a resolution that called on the Thai government to “repeal and cease the promulgation of laws and decrees that are used to censor online content and speech related to the electoral process, including Thailand’s lese majeste law.”

Meanwhile, in the European parliament, in discussing amendments to the new agreement, there were several suggestions regarding Article 112:

MEP Jordi Sole last month sought to include an amendment to the European Parliament’s draft report on the EU-Thailand cooperation agreement that “urges the Thai authorities to repeal its lese majeste provisions.”

Tonino Picula, another MEP and member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, proposed an amendment to call on the Thai government “to review the lese majeste law.”

A third MEP, Fabio Massimo Castaldo, wanted to include a reference that Thailand’s “democracy remains deeply flawed, the regime continues to employ authoritarian tactics, including arbitrary arrests, intimidation, lese majeste charges…”

It is not yet known if these amendments will be accepted. Presumably Thailand’s royalists in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are busy lobbying against such reasonable suggestions. But the European Commission is weak:

EU spokesperson Peter Stano said that the bloc “is closely following developments regarding the use of the lese majeste law in Thailand.”

“The European Union continues to reiterate in its dialogue with the Thai authorities the crucial importance of up-holding human rights and the rule of law, including the principle of proportionality,” he added.

As soon as one talks of rule of law in the same breath as 112, you know the royalist arguments will be that Thailand has rule of law and 112 is a part of that. Of course, any reasonable observer knows that when it comes to lese majeste, there is no justice and no rule of law.