[Thailand's] Slow move for lese majeste law, experts say

Sep 21, 2011
By Ansley Ng
Today Online (Singapore)

SINGAPORE - In recent years, there has been a spike in the number of people charged with lese majeste, or insulting the monarchy, in Thailand.

Many of the cases happened during the tenure of the Democrat-led administration, a government with ties to the military, which, in turn, has a close relationship with the monarchy.

Some activists and rights organisations, however, allege that the law was used to stifle political opposition and suppress freedom of speech. Now that the Democrats have been toppled by the Puea Thai party, led by fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's sister Yingluck, will there be an easing of the law?

Experts say any change will happen slowly and Ms Yingluck's new government will not want to risk angering the monarch or the military. Independent scholar David Streckfuss, who recently wrote a paper on the topic, said it remained to be seen if the Yingluck administration will pursue lese majeste cases as vigilantly as her predecessor. Thailand's lese majeste law, also known as Article 112, attracts a jail term of up to 15 years.

"Maybe (the cases) will get pigeon-holed for awhile," said Dr Streckfuss, at a forum on Thailand hosted by the Institute of South-east Asian Studies (ISEAS) on Monday. "I would suspect they would not want to do anything with the (Article) 112 to start with and they would probably want to aim at some larger issue like the Constitution and then, with change in the Constitution, maybe do a roll around and (say) 'Okay, now that we have the right Constitution back, let's look at laws that might be in conflict with that'."

The Office of the Attorney-General says that last year, 37 lese majeste cases involving 53 people were being considered by prosecutors. In 2005, there were 18 cases involving 24 people. In 2000, there was just one.

Another academic at the ISEAS forum said the current government could "push for change without making change", or keeping the law but not enforcing it rigorously. "The government might think that If you go too far to revise the law, it will be too confrontational," said Professor Thongchai Winichakul of the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Last Friday, the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand, headed by legal academic Kanit Nanakorn and set up after last year's deadly street clashes, called for lese majeste trials to be delayed and detainees to be freed temporarily.

"The prosecution can stop sending the cases upwards (and) don't file the suit," said Prof Thongchai. "But even if the government listens to (Kanit), for many principled people, the law should be reformed."

A range of topics were discussed at the forum, which took place on the fifth anniversary of the coup that ousted Thaksin, including the challenges facing Ms Yingluck's government. Dr Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a fellow at ISEAS, praised Ms Yingluck's handling of the Thai-Cambodian standoff over the Preah Vihear temple.

During a visit last Thursday to Cambodia, Ms Yingluck and her Cambodian counterpart Hun Sen agreed that troops along their disputed border should meet regularly to ease tensions and withdraw from the area as ordered by an international court in July. In an earlier visit to Indonesia, Ms Yingluck also agreed to let Indonesia - the ASEAN chair - play a role in sending observers to witness troop redeployment in the area.

"What Yingluck did in Cambodia had a win-win outcome ... (developing) better relationship with Cambodia and a better relationship with ASEAN by involving Indonesia," Dr Pavin said. Additional reporting by AP, Bangkok Post