Lèse majesté means injury to majesty, the law still exists in a few countries as nothing more than an anachronism. However in Thailand over the last few years the law has made a comeback with avengeance. The lèse majesté law in Thailand has always received at least a semi serious nod due to the demigod status of the king, but rarely used and mostly against persistant perceived critics of the regime, such social critic Sulak Sivaraksa 20 years ago who eventually was found innocent.
However since the military coup and the rise of the ultra rightwing PAD movement internationally notorious for the airport protest the lèse majesté laws have developed a new lease of life. In the last copule of years the laws have been liberally used to suppress freedom of speech, eliminate democratic opponents to the new unelected regime and to create a public witch hunt, where neighbour spies on neighbour.
Thai law is anyone can accuse anyone else of lèse majesté. The media are not allowed to report lèse majesté cases so victims of the law have little recourse and the penalty is up to 20 years in prison. This make the law the perfect way to eliminate political opponents. When arrested the accused are routinely not given access to a lawyer while being questioned and in a Kafkaeque way people are often not told how they actually violated the law just that they have and have.
Recent victims of the law include former prime minister in exile Taksin Shinawat, Chulalongkorn lecturer Ji Ungpakorn who wrote a book criticising the military coup and fled to Britain last month, the editor of Prachatai Thailand’s only independent news service http://www.prachatai.com/english/, Recently Red Shirt activist Kitti Saensukrotewong was arrested for lèse majesté his crime distributing UDD (pro democracy) literature. Others awaiting trial or jailed have simply criticised the recent coup. With reporting of people accused illegal it’s difficult to get information.
Intimidation hasn’t just been limited to Thai nationals and foreign writers. The Economist magazine was first to fall foul with its correspondents not being allowed into the country, CNN in Thailand also suppressed reports of the Harry Nicolaides story for fears its reporters would be arrested, finally even Amnesty International refuses to help Lèse majesté prisoners fearing arrest for its workers in the country.
The rise of the law being utilised as a method of political persecution is being promoted hand in hand with a new civil witch hunt. Recently the Thai government opened a website where anyone can anonymously accuse any other person of lèse majesté. Australian writer Harry Nicolaides’s jailing was the most famous international case, his book which had a fictional Thai prince as a character and only sold 4 copies had been cleared by the Thai ministry of culture before release, Harry well aware of Thai laws wanted to be safe. On top of this other pending prosecutions include people for visiting internet sites and one man for failing to stand for the national anthem at the cinema who faces 20 years in prison.
The Internet
In 1995 Lech Tomasz Kisielewicz allegedy made a derogatory statement about a Thai Princess on an aircraft in international airspace. Upon arrival in Thailand he was arrested and jailed for two weeks before being released. Though 10 years ago before the recent wave of paranoia, this case is significant because, in the 90's in response to the US passing a law, US law is law in every country Thailand followed suit, so if a British national exercises his right to freedom of speech in Britain then holidays in Thailand he can legally be prosecuted in Thailand for what he said in Britain. In April 2009 Suwicha Thakho was jailed for 10 years for posting an ‘altered’ image of the king on YouTube.
April 2009 Visa Application Law Change
As of April 2009 Thailand has passed a law that any foreigner applying for a visa to Thailand must disclose any websites they have an interest in, blogs or other sites they contribute to, presumably so they can be arrested upon arrival if one violates the lèse majesté law.
So if any member of this forum is thinking of visiting Thailand I’d give it a miss, and if you write on the visa app you are active on this site, the fact this post is on here alone should get you at least ten years.
Edited by Paul - 07-Apr-2009 at 11:12