A king and the people’s quest for reforms

We love them all the same….Thailand is a land of compromise.”

Those words were uttered by the current Thai monarch to a British TV reporter in November last year, while he and the Queen were going around in front of the Grand Palace in Bangkok, greeting thousands of fawning loyal royalists. Just a few kilometers away were protesters—also in the thousands—demanding monarchy reforms.

The British journalist had asked what the king would want to say to the protesters, and if there was room for compromise.  Despite the King’s short reply before he and the Queen hurriedly turned to go, the journalist nevertheless ended his report by saying that “the King had hinted that there may be a way out” of Thailand’s political divide.

That has yet to happen. Instead, things seem to be headed toward the opposite direction.

Just this 22 July, 12 student activists were charged with royal defamation and sedition largely, their lawyers say, for a rally and speeches delivered in front of the German embassy in Bangkok last year. (The present king is known to spend months on end in Germany.) Between November 2020 and 28 June 2021, at least 100 individuals, including eight minors, have been suspected to be in violation of the lese majeste law, with some 48 of them prosecuted; in most of these cases, the alleged offenders had given public speeches or dressed or acted in manner deemed by authorities as being disrespectful to the monarchy. Since last February, the government has also begun placing alleged lese majeste offenders on pre-trial detention.

Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code says that it is a crime to defame, insult, or threaten the King, Queen, heir to the throne, and the Regent. Anyone in violation of the law can be meted a jail term of three to 15 years for each count. Just last January, a Bangkok court sentenced former civil servant Anchan Preelerd to 89 years in prison on 29 counts of lese majeste; because of her guilty plea, however, the sentence was reduced to 43 years and six months.

Anchan, now in her 60s, had uploaded audio clips deemed defamatory to the Thai monarchy between November 2014 and January 2015.

No insulting the king

Thailand’s lese majeste law is nothing new. But while the much loved and respected King Rama IX (Bhumipol Adulyadej) was still alive, most Thais tended to focus mostly on their ruler’s good deeds. Indeed, those who spoke up during his reign and were later arrested for allegedly violating the lese majeste law could be argued to have targeted primarily the Thai elite, who are known to be cozy with the monarchy, and the military, which is pro-royalty.

This began happening sometime in the mid-2000s. For instance, Daranee or “Da Torpedo” was sentenced to 15 years in prison for speeches she made during anti-coup protests in 2008. Yoswaris Chuklom, a leader of the so-called “Red Shirts” or supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was convicted under the lese majeste law for giving a speech and showing gestures that the audience supposedly took to refer to the King during a 2010 rally. Then there was Surachai Danwattananusorn, who disappeared in 2018 while he was in exile, and who had been convicted in six different lese majeste cases stemming from speeches he had made during Red Shirt rallies between 2008 and 2011.

It is telling that at some point, the leaders of the United Front of Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) found it necessary to stress that at least during March to May 2010, the aim of their protests had been only to call for the dissolution of parliament. Protesters at the time also apparently took the cue from the series of lese majeste court cases, and began to steer clear of mentioning the monarchy or saying anything that could misconstrued as insulting the Royal Family.

But then King Bhumipol passed away in 2016 and Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn ascended to the throne. With the military still firmly holding the reins of government, many Thais began to demand a return to democracy, which later included a call for reforms in the monarchy.

Popular discontent, however, became more evident and pronounced after the government dissolved the opposition Future Forward Party in February last year. FFP’s call for democratic reforms and curtailment of military power had resonated with Thai youths, who took to the streets shortly after the party was dissolved. Beginning February 2020, Thailand has seen sporadic youth-led protests nationwide even as countries elsewhere were going into lockdown because of COVID-19.

In some of these protests, a few signs that people were starting to voice their opinions about the monarchy began to emerge. First came modest handmade signs that contained pointed references to the monarchy. Then during a July 2020 protest in a university in Bangkok, a man was seen carrying around a photo of the late King Bhumipol that had been doctored to make it look like a caricature. He was pulled aside and questioned by the police near the protest site, but one of the rally leaders was able to convince the authorities to let him go. Another instance involved a man who attempted to burn the current monarch’s portrait near a rally; the man was arrested, but he was allowed to post bail the next day.

“He who cannot be named”

On 3 August 2020, however, human rights lawyer Anon Numpa, finally said in public what many Thais were already discussing behind closed doors.

“We have swept this issue under the rug for many years,” Anon said at the Harry Potter-themed rally that had a special reference to Lord Voldemort or “he who cannot be named.”

“No one has really talked about this issue, which led to attempts to solve the problem that did not get straight to the point,” Anon continued. “We have to accept the truth that students and citizens have risen up to protest today partly because many people would like to raise questions about our monarchy.”

In his speech, Anon stated clearly that what the Thais needed from the monarchy was for it to act in line with the democratic system and to be subject to auditing. But, he pointed out, current laws even made the monarchy step away from democratic principles, such as one allowing the King to have direct command over the military.

A week later, on 10 August, a rally organized by the student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD) ended with a statement that contained 10 demands toward reforms. Addressed to the King, the demands included the revocation of Article 112 of the Criminal Code and amnesty to all those prosecuted for criticizing the monarchy, as well as a stop to the monarch’s endorsement of any further coups.

Notably, the statement concluded with this: “These demands are not a proposal to topple the monarchy. They are a good-faith proposal made for the monarchy to be able to continue to be esteemed by the people within a democracy.”

Protesters later handed a copy of the demands in writing to the police at yet another rally in September, with the intention of having it passed on to the chair of the Privy Council, which acts as advisor to the King. The following month, at another rally, the newly formed Khana Radsadorn 63 (The People’s Party 2020), an umbrella protest movement, integrated the UFTD’s 10 demands—lumped as monarchy reforms—as part of its three major demands. The other two were the resignation of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha and the passage of amendment bills that would lead to a new Constitution.

Water cannons, rubber bullets, and arrests

Last November, a week after the King proclaimed love for all Thais to a foreign journalist, young Thais saw it fit to send him a letter, which they released to the press. It read in part: “When you hear all the flattering praise from the people, you must also hear fearless criticisms and suggestions all the same. When the King truly cherishes democracy, all people will find happiness. The three demands from the people are the utmost compromise.”

One official response was Prime Minister Prayuth’s announcement on 19 November 2020 that from then on all laws will be enforced against protesters who break the law. This was interpreted by many as the comeback of the lese majeste law, which had been unofficially suspended in 2018.

The protests, although now more sporadic, have not stopped, despite the rallyists being met by water cannons and rubber bullets, as well as being threatened with arrest and detention. The rallyists have said that their three demands remain the same.  And while protests of late are focused on getting Prayuth to resign because of his administration’s supposed mishandling of the COVID-19 crisis in Thailand, it would be imprudent to think monarchy reforms are no longer on the protesters’ plate.

The King himself has not said anything about the matter since his brief encounter with the British reporter last year. But an observation posted on Facebook recently by Munin Pongsapan, law school dean at Thammasat University, bears some mulling.

Wrote Munin: “In order to preserve the monarchy institution as a pillar of Thai democracy, there are two things that need to be done. First is the need to limit the monarchy’s involvement in politics to preserve its status…and protect the institution from legal and political conflict. Second, there must be no sanction against those who express that they neither love nor have faith in the monarchy….because love and faith cannot be forced through threats.” ●

Radsadorn is a political activist based in Thailand.