Time to abolish the lèse majesté law in Thailand
Giles Ji Ungpakorn, Chulalongkorn University
http://rspas.anu.edu.au/rmap/newmandala/2008/05/03/ji-ungpakorn-on-the-abolition-of-lese-majeste/
Once again we are seeing the extreme Right in Thailand using lèse majesté as an excuse to encourage acts of violence against those who stand up for freedom and justice…Manager is opening its web-pages to Right-Wing thugs who want to encourage violence against Chotisak Onsoong because he chose to think differently and not stand for the King’s song in the cinema. Following this there have been threats of violence, also posted on The Manager website, against Jittra Kotchadej, Chairwoman of the Triumph textile workers union. Her supposed “crime” was to wear a T-shirt supporting Chotisak’s freedom of expression. In both cases, their addresses have been published by The Manager. The actions by Manager are not only illegal in that they encourage violence against others, but they are also a serious obstacle to basic rights and democracy…The fact that lèse majesté is an excuse to silence and use violence against those who think differently is merely one of many reasons why the law should be abolished…The second reason to abolish lèse majesté, as a matter of urgency, is that it is an authoritarian law of the type found in countries with Absolute Monarchies. No modern civilised and democratic nation in the world maintains such a law. If we are to have democracy we must have the right to express ourselves. There must be the right to criticise the Monarchy. Otherwise the Monarch or members of the Royal Family can behave as they like without any accountability or transparency. Lèse majesté laws actually indicate that the Conservatives are afraid that if they allow criticism we shall see that many many Thais have different opinions. The constructed image of the Monarchy will also face serious scrutiny. In other words, the Conservatives are afraid of the truth. If not, why not dare to abolish lèse majesté?
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