Forum 4

POS 222

Q. What does this Draconian “lese-majeste” for the Thailanders?

Introduction
Long before the modern era of politics and governance many of the world’s oldest and long standing
nations followed a form of monarchical government on which houses and nobilities reign and all of the
nation’s decisions are made. Overtime, due to circumstanced many nations abolished monarchies
and favor of democratic practices of electoral voting for the many positions of state; empowering the
people to elect officials to represent them in the governing bodies of their state, however many
nations, despite adapting democratic practices still held on to the traditional monarchies in their
nations institutions. And having roots on their nation’s history such as the UK and Thailand adapted a
form of Constitutional monarchy or democratic monarchy are governing practices that hold closely to
traditional monarchy with monarchs exercising authority to the nation, however, unlike traditional
monarchy monarchs do not have the absolute power and are bound to the constitution; a de facto
head of state that severs no more than ceremonial purposes. With democratic recites on the helm of
the nation’s authority these constitutional monarchy holds no absolute power, adhering to the laws of
the people and the constitution the monarchs coexist with the people’s government as equals.

RRL 1
Thailand is among many of the world’s government that practices constitutional monarchy within their
nation. Once an absolute monarchy where the Thai kingdoms and kingdom of Siam followed the rules
of kings. It was not until 1932 after the European expansion and colonialism where the influence and
expansion of western culture and traditions seeped into Southeast Asia and influencing many
bearcats and intellectuals such as Pridi Phanomyong to revolt and seize the monarchy and the army
in the 1932 “Siamese Revolution” otherwise knowns as the “democratic revolution” ( Hafner, J, et al.
2022) where afterward The government of Thailand follows a constitutional monarchy as a state
institution. In accordance to the nation’s 2007 constitution the exercise of power is held by the prime
minister as the the head of state, followed by a bicameral National Assembly then the Council of
Ministers. Yet, events of the 2014 coup d’état lead by Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha and
the military powers took over the democratically elected government sought to suspend the nation’s
2007 constitution but with the exception that relating to monarchy provisions, of Thailand. and as of
writing remained in power in many of the high officials in Thailand
analysis
A nation build upon centuries of monocratic control of course would find itself to have many of the
system of government deeply rooted to the monarchy, and with influences from western nations that
long as had its fair share of monarchies and liberation from feudal rule many sought out to change the
institutions that gave all the power and decision making of a single nation on the hands of the few
meant that a transition to democracy gave the people its power over what the nation does and
allowing themselves to gain control of their own laws, and rather than removing the monarchies all
together, many decided that the alternative is to share the power with the people, allowing the
commoners to represent themselves in the interworking of the law

RRl 2

As the nation’s follows a constitutional monarchy as the main governing institution adapted many of
the laws and polices among their criminal code, and one of the more prominent law that is present
among constitutional monarchies is the Lese Majeste Law, French for "to do wrong to majesty" law
that dates back to the feudal times of Europe; a crime that is seen as treason in the feudal era, The
Lese majeste law of Thailand has been regarded as one of the strictest form of lese Majeste law in
the world. with the law of Thailand that protects the monarchs from defamation, as according to the
Thailand’s criminal code, Section 112 states that it is illegal to defame, insult and even threaten any
member of the Thai monarchy and is punishable with imprisonment of 3 to 15 years (Thailand:
Repeal Repressive Lèse-Majesté Provision, 2021) However, since the rise of protest in Thailand in
2017 by pro-democracy protesters seeking that the nations heads of state to step down and to allow
the nation to reform its constitution brought about by the civil unrest caused by the regime that
overthrew the nations democratically elected officials in the coup of 2014 sought to weaponized the
law for their own personal gain (BBC editors, 2017) The Thai Government use of the law was
exacerbated over the coming years after the coup occurred in 2014, on where the Thai government
weaponized the law to target dissidents and activist that push against the military government;
arresting family and friends of activist with little to no reason other than arbitrary evidences. (BBC
Editors, 2016) and with as many and 98 charges of this arbitrary law with the span of 4 year the Thai
government has used the law as a tool to both silence and intimidate dissidents and activist alike
(Thailand’s Lese Majeste Law: A Weapon to Silence Dissent?, 2020) and even then using the law as
to gain power through the silencing of critics and opposing parties alike, with the failed 2015
constitutional draft by The government of Prayuth has made a point of emphasizing that the new
constitution was drafted in conformity with the "roadmap to democracy." They maintain that
everything has been transparent, open to public inspection, and that they have been willing to accept
criticism.' witch itself was a false as those who do oppose the of the draft are at risk of imprisonment.
(Editors, East Asia Forum, 2016) many has already opposed to the law, with some from international
and local human rights group calling out that the law itself does ot adhere to international law of the
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which itself protects all and the right to freedom of
expression. and with David Diaz-Jogeix, the senior deirector of Programmes of Europe as well as
central and pacific Asia spoke out against the law stating that “Section 112 is obsolete. It is a danger
to democracy and human rights, and it should be removed from Thailand's legal code," Diaz-Jogeix
added. "You can't persuade people to change their beliefs by silencing them." Thai legislation should
protect freedom of expression rather than stifle it." (Thailand: Repeal Repressive Lèse-Majesté Provision,
2021)
Analysis
nation under a corrupt and draconian rule the law itself is nothing more than a tool, what was one the
law once made to protect the nobilities of the feudal eras of the world has become a nation weapon
against freedom of expression and speech. as the need to secure power for themselves as to remove
or even quell activist and dissident alike; stamping out any and all protest against the regimes rule of
the land and exacerbating the use of the law to unethical levels paired with the civil unrest from the
many dissatisfied people the move to push the law, as the law itself goes against many of the pre-
establish international law that protects freedom of expression. and going so far as to call out the law
as an obsolete practice made to keep people in position of power

general analysis
the events that placated the Thai government over the years from its pre democratic era to the 21 st
century and the laws that are made, written and institutionalized to many of Thailand’s government
gave way to an unfortunate event on which the nation was ran by a corrupt government that aimed to
empower itself after deposing the legitimately elected body, and where able to secure their position
over the coming years through the exploitation of legal loopholes and silencing of activist made it
difficult to create a reform for the nation to return the democratic practices prior to 2014. and still
today many are still under draconian rule that many took to international intervention to abolish the
laws that are abused to silence dissidents and establish the democratic practices to the nation once
more

Reference:
Editors. (2016, May). The Thai cleaning lady facing prison for “I see.” BBC News. Retrieved February
26, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-36328865
BBC editors. (2017, October). Lese-majeste explained: How Thailand forbids insult of its royalty. BBC
News. Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-29628191
Editors, East Asia Forum. (2016, August). Thailand returns to military monarchy. East Asia Forum.
Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/08/08/thailand-returns-
to-military-monarchy/
Govt abusing lese majeste law to silence dissent. (n.d.). The Nation. Retrieved February 22, 2022,
from https://www.nationmultimedia.com/detail/opinion/30314657
Hafner, J. A. , Keyes, . Charles F. and Keyes, . E. Jane (2022, February 20). Thailand. Encyclopedia
Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/place/Thailand
BBC
Quinley, C. (2021, November). Protests loom in Thailand after court ruling fuels anger. Aljazeera.
Retrieved February 26, 2022, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/11/13/dark-day-
thailand-court-ruling-threatens-more-protests
Thailand: Repeal repressive lèse-majesté provision. (2021, April). Article 19. Retrieved February 26,
2022, from https://www.article19.org/resources/thailand-lese-majeste/#:~:text=Section
 %20112%20of%20Thailand’s%20Criminal%20Code%20is%20one%20of%20the,of%20three
%20to%20fifteen%20years’.
Thailand’s lese majeste law: A weapon to silence dissent? (2020, October). Aljazeera. Retrieved
February 26, 2022, from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/10/15/thailands-lese-majeste