Op-Ed by Khmerization
18th April 2010
I know I have put myself in political hot waters or even in trouble with Thailand’s draconian lese majeste law for writing this opinion piece critical of the Thai royal family. I might even be subjected to a Thai lese majeste law. However, in this modern age and living in a free country that cherishes free speech, I believe that all individuals, regardless of their status, political belief or creed, should be permitted to exercise their full constitutional rights in expressing one’s own free opinions without any fears of being persecuted for expressing those very opinions.
With this in mind, I am mindful that even an Australian ABC TV, which had just screened an excellent documentary critical of the Thai royal family titled “Thailand - Long Live the King”, is faced with prosecution by this draconian Thai lese majeste law. I am now taking the risk for writing this critical article about the Thai royal family. I hope I am not a big enough fish whom the Thai government or the Thai king should argue with.
Thai lese majeste law is very draconian by any standard. It imposes severe and long term prison sentences for any people who defy the law. Anyone, Thais or foreigners, making the slightest remarks or innuendo critical of the Thai royal family risked being jailed between 3-18 years. On the political arena, the Thai subsequent governments have consistently and effectively used lese majeste law against their opponents, in the political or academic circles. Many opponents of the Thai subsequent governments and anti-royalists, such as Thaksin Shinawatra and Giles Ungaporn and others, had been jailed or been forced to live in exile with trumped up and false charges against them.
Many people have been persecuted and incarcerated needlessly for supposedly insulting the king. There are abundant examples of the ridiculousness of the applications of the Thai lese majeste law. A foreigner was once jailed for defacing the Thai currency that bears the picture of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. An Australian novelist, Harry Nicolaides, who satirised an unnamed prince in a short passage in his novel that sold only 7 copies, was in 2009 sentenced to three years in jail under the law over a self-published novel. The female red shirt protesters known as The Torpedo, who said the monarch had damaged democracy by supporting the coup, was jailed for 18 years late last year. Paul Handley, who wrote the only critical book of the Thai monarchy, titled “The king Never Smiles”, said he would have been jailed if he is to step foot on Thai soil.
The Thai monarchy is said to be a pivotal point in Thai politics which is central in keeping Thailand united, until now. However, King Bhumibol appears not to be a pivotal point anymore, but now takes side with Abhisit Vejjajiva in the current political crisis. He supports Abhisit against Thaksin because he is fearful of Thaksin’s overwhelming popularity, which surpasses his own popularity, with the majority of the Thai people. This theory has been proven correct because Abhisit has been hiding in the 11th Infantry Military Barracks, the King’s Royal Guards, since the heights of the red shirts’ protests in January. On 10th April, the troops that were used to disperse the red shirt protesters, an action that caused the deaths of 23 people, were mostly members of the Royal Guards as evident by the fact that most of the wounded soldiers were members of the Royal Guards and a colonel, Col. Romklao who was amongst the 4 soldiers killed, was the commander of the Royal Guards from the 11th Infantry.
Thailand had abolished absolute monarchy in a military coup in 1932. However, with the strict applications of the lese majeste law, there are some elements of absolutism in the present Thai monarchy.
The bad and negative side of the Thai royal family had been hidden from the Thai public for more than 64 years, often with self-censorship, but particularly due to the lese majeste law that prevent them from being exposed publicly. King Bhimbol’s brother, King Anand, was found shot in the head in his bedroom 64 years ago and there was a widespread suspicion that Bhumibol had something to do with his death because he was the only one in the bedroom with King Anand at the time of his death. However, due to the severity of the lese-majeste law, the matter of King Anand’s murder had been hidden from the Thai public for 64 years and had never been discussed publicly by any Thais. The murder of King Anand 64 years ago and the promiscuity of the playboy Prince Vajiralongkorn and the nudity of his third wife, the future queen, have been deliberately whitewashed to help protect the integrity of the royal family. The Thai people, who never knew of these negativity and scandals in their royal family, think that the members of the Thai royal family are some sort of gods that are infallible.
Lese majeste law is archaic and outdated in this modern day and age. God had created all mankind to be equal and that all man should be equal before the laws and that no one should be above the laws of the land. By the same token, no law should be created to suppress the majority just to protect the minority. As such Thailand’s lese majeste law should be abolished for good.
18th April 2010
“King Bhimbol’s brother, King Anand, was found shot in the head in his bedroom 64 years ago and there was a widespread suspicion that Bhumibol had something to do with his death because he was the only one in the bedroom with King Anand at the time of his death.”
I know I have put myself in political hot waters or even in trouble with Thailand’s draconian lese majeste law for writing this opinion piece critical of the Thai royal family. I might even be subjected to a Thai lese majeste law. However, in this modern age and living in a free country that cherishes free speech, I believe that all individuals, regardless of their status, political belief or creed, should be permitted to exercise their full constitutional rights in expressing one’s own free opinions without any fears of being persecuted for expressing those very opinions.
With this in mind, I am mindful that even an Australian ABC TV, which had just screened an excellent documentary critical of the Thai royal family titled “Thailand - Long Live the King”, is faced with prosecution by this draconian Thai lese majeste law. I am now taking the risk for writing this critical article about the Thai royal family. I hope I am not a big enough fish whom the Thai government or the Thai king should argue with.
Thai lese majeste law is very draconian by any standard. It imposes severe and long term prison sentences for any people who defy the law. Anyone, Thais or foreigners, making the slightest remarks or innuendo critical of the Thai royal family risked being jailed between 3-18 years. On the political arena, the Thai subsequent governments have consistently and effectively used lese majeste law against their opponents, in the political or academic circles. Many opponents of the Thai subsequent governments and anti-royalists, such as Thaksin Shinawatra and Giles Ungaporn and others, had been jailed or been forced to live in exile with trumped up and false charges against them.
Many people have been persecuted and incarcerated needlessly for supposedly insulting the king. There are abundant examples of the ridiculousness of the applications of the Thai lese majeste law. A foreigner was once jailed for defacing the Thai currency that bears the picture of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. An Australian novelist, Harry Nicolaides, who satirised an unnamed prince in a short passage in his novel that sold only 7 copies, was in 2009 sentenced to three years in jail under the law over a self-published novel. The female red shirt protesters known as The Torpedo, who said the monarch had damaged democracy by supporting the coup, was jailed for 18 years late last year. Paul Handley, who wrote the only critical book of the Thai monarchy, titled “The king Never Smiles”, said he would have been jailed if he is to step foot on Thai soil.
The Thai monarchy is said to be a pivotal point in Thai politics which is central in keeping Thailand united, until now. However, King Bhumibol appears not to be a pivotal point anymore, but now takes side with Abhisit Vejjajiva in the current political crisis. He supports Abhisit against Thaksin because he is fearful of Thaksin’s overwhelming popularity, which surpasses his own popularity, with the majority of the Thai people. This theory has been proven correct because Abhisit has been hiding in the 11th Infantry Military Barracks, the King’s Royal Guards, since the heights of the red shirts’ protests in January. On 10th April, the troops that were used to disperse the red shirt protesters, an action that caused the deaths of 23 people, were mostly members of the Royal Guards as evident by the fact that most of the wounded soldiers were members of the Royal Guards and a colonel, Col. Romklao who was amongst the 4 soldiers killed, was the commander of the Royal Guards from the 11th Infantry.
Thailand had abolished absolute monarchy in a military coup in 1932. However, with the strict applications of the lese majeste law, there are some elements of absolutism in the present Thai monarchy.
The bad and negative side of the Thai royal family had been hidden from the Thai public for more than 64 years, often with self-censorship, but particularly due to the lese majeste law that prevent them from being exposed publicly. King Bhimbol’s brother, King Anand, was found shot in the head in his bedroom 64 years ago and there was a widespread suspicion that Bhumibol had something to do with his death because he was the only one in the bedroom with King Anand at the time of his death. However, due to the severity of the lese-majeste law, the matter of King Anand’s murder had been hidden from the Thai public for 64 years and had never been discussed publicly by any Thais. The murder of King Anand 64 years ago and the promiscuity of the playboy Prince Vajiralongkorn and the nudity of his third wife, the future queen, have been deliberately whitewashed to help protect the integrity of the royal family. The Thai people, who never knew of these negativity and scandals in their royal family, think that the members of the Thai royal family are some sort of gods that are infallible.
Lese majeste law is archaic and outdated in this modern day and age. God had created all mankind to be equal and that all man should be equal before the laws and that no one should be above the laws of the land. By the same token, no law should be created to suppress the majority just to protect the minority. As such Thailand’s lese majeste law should be abolished for good.
7 comments:
This editorial is useless as it is a repeat of the documentary by ABC TV.
It has substance at all in giving readers a new taste in provididng new dimensions to this issue.
Most of issues discussed here are basically a rerun of the program.
Be more creative in your opinion and writing.
Give the readers something new and that they have known before.
This editorial is useless as it is a repeat of the documentary by ABC TV.
It has no substance at all in giving readers a new taste in provididng new dimensions to this issue.
Most of issues discussed here are basically a rerun of the program.
Be more creative in your opinion and writing.
Give the readers something new and that they have not known before.
Good on you, Khmerization. Members of the Thai royal family are not gods. It is a good editorial in the sense that it offers more facts beyond the TV documentary. Facts like the 1932 coup, the jailing of a foreigner who defaced the Thai currency, the assassination of King Anand, the use of the Royal Guards to disperse red shirt protesters are new facts not shown on the TV documentary. But importantly, the editorial offers insight and information to those readers who had not watched the documentary.
I am pretty sure that the Thai public, particularly the students and the educated professionals are well aware of the flaws of the King and His family. I am certain that they are not blindly ignorant of the human nature of the King.
The movement toward real democracy led by Thaksin Shinawatra and his supportors has been on the move for some time. Of course, it goes very slowly and takes time as this is the land where the King is above everything and has been revered for years.
Anet Khmer
The majority of Thai people, the red shirts and Thaksin's camp, are not happy with the king. The educated class are also against the king, but in the old day, before the internet, all critical articles and books about the Thai royal family, have been censored. Therefore many Thais, including the educated class, don't know much about the bad side of the royal family. Now, with the advancement of the internet, more critical material about the royal family have been readily accessible by internet, but many sites, like Sacrava's cartoon blog, have been blocked in Thailand.
Sincerely, Op-Ed (the writer) who wrote this article has no understanding about Thai's culture and just copied the idea from nowhere or rumours or whatever they can use for their writing without any precise proof.
Stop to do like this to others.
Before typing or writing something by lacking of any information or knowledge.
Study more man!
Good article good information just know today by reading this blog about the king of Siamese.This day of age no man is above the law and law must not bias toward the well connected or well to do,law should be protected all men equally.We are the people created by God to have equal rights.
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