FACT rebuts Justice Minister

CJ Hinke of FACT comments: I was very pleased to read the Justice Minister’s remarks which are a wonderful introduction to Thais’ affection for the King and Queen. But then the Minister spoiled it by getting aggressive. Wars (and war rooms) don’t work in the modern world.

What we need to accomplish is a lasting peace in our society, building common bridges between people, and this will not happen if government starts out on a war footing. Let’s look at all those other unsuccessful wars: terrorism, drugs, pornography.

The government is wrong to create enemies when there are none. All the freedom of expression groups working against censorship and lèse majesté are not doing this because we support defamation of the King or anyone else. Nor do we have any interest in changing our Constitutional monarchy.

But I think we should look at the order of those words. They do not say, monarchial Constitution. Both Constitution and monarch lead the country in order to protect the people, not criminalise them. The minister invokes “national security” which, undefined, leaves far too much room for government excess and abuse.

I have been involved as an academic in censorship issues in Thailand for more than a decade. If anyone might, I think I would know if there were any organised movement to bring down the monarchy. This is a paranoid fantasy.

Yes, there are a few lone crackpots out there, all Thais to my knowledge, who directly and intentionally insult the monarchy. But there is certainly no movement! Furthermore, none of the efforts I have seen could convince any of us against the King.

So when the minister asks why “the movement” is growing over the last two or three years, the real movement he’s talking about is the government movement to find lèse majesté under every rock and behind every tree! There is a great difference between real lèse majesté and imaginary insults.

For the first time, the international Thai Studies Conference in 2008 discussed the monarchy, including The King Never Smiles. Police were in attendance at these panels. The same is true for web discussion boards. Thai people have every human and Constitutional right to discuss the monarchy.

But government must stop presuming insult where there is none. The BBC, The Economist, The Guardian, Newsweek, are not insulting Thai monarchy. They are trying to understand it and find ways to explain it. The same is true for The King Never Smiles; the book simply does not insult the monarchy.

For all those who want Paul Handley’s blood, I must ask: have you read the book for yourself??? Both academics Sulak Sivaraksa and Giles Ji Ungphakorn have been charged with lèse majesté for no other reason than they had the unmitigated audacity to reference The King Never Smiles!

The minister states there have been “continuous” lèse majesté arrests but he doesn’t want them in the public media, nor does he want the closure of websites to become public knowledge.

Secret arrests, disappearance in the dead of night, denial of bail, long prison sentences for dissenters, suppression of news, government in secret. These are hallmarks of tyrannical regimes not Constitutional states and not modern monarchies. We should actually listen to the King.

Disregarding His Majesty’s wise counsel is the highest form of lèse majesté. All else is just vain flattery and ingratiation.

The definition of lèse majesté is bringing the monarchy into disrepute. Thai bureaucrats, politicians and martinets have done more damage to the honour of the King through spurious lèse majesté charges than 1000 YouTube videos.

The justice minister states quite clearly that, if lèse majesté is not intended, then it is not criminal. What about Harry Nicolaides?

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