page_title: Lèse majesté in Thailand
section_title: Political crisis: A political weapon and ailing King
hierarchical_section_title: Lèse majesté in Thailand / History / Political crisis: A political weapon and ailing King
caption_attribution_description: English: Banner instructing residents not to 'like' or 'share' non-mainstream views (that 'insult the institution', i.e. the monarchy) on social networks under direct threat of prison observed near Chit Lom, Bangkok, Thailand on 2014-06-30. The woman in the picture on the right is Chatwadee Amornpat, known as 'London Rose'. Bahasa Indonesia: Banner menginstruksikan warga untuk tidak 'like' atau 'share' pandangan non-mainstream (yang 'insult the institution', yaitu monarki) di jejaring sosial di bawah ancaman langsung dari penjara yang diamati dekat Chit Lom, Bangkok, Thailand pada 2014-06-30 . Wanita dalam gambar di sebelah kanan adalah Chatwadee Amornpat, yang dikenal sebagai 'London Rose'.
context_page_description: In Thailand, lèse majesté is criminalized by Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. It is illegal to defame, insult, or threaten the king, queen, heir-apparent, heir-presumptive, or regent. Modern Thai lèse-majesté law has been on the statute books since 1908; "insult" was criminalized and lèse majesté was made a crime against national security in 1957. The punishment, last strengthened in 1976 and the only constitutional monarchy to do so since World War II, is three to fifteen years of imprisonment per count and has been described as the "world's harshest lèse majesté law" and "possibly the strictest criminal-defamation law anywhere". According to social scientist Michael Connors, its enforcement "has been in the interest of the palace."
  There is substantial room for interpretation of the term "insult", which causes controversy. Broad interpretation of the law reflects the inviolable status of the King, resembling feudal or absolute monarchs. The Supreme Court decided that the law also applies to any previous monarchs. Criticism of any privy council member has also raised the question of whether lèse majesté applies by association.
context_section_description: Between 1990 and 2005, there were an average of five new cases per year. Since then, however, there have been at least 400 cases - an estimated 1,500 percent increase. Prior to the 2006 coup, targets of lese majeste were mostly politicians, high-ranking bureaucrats and extra-constitutional figures. But after 2007, a common people were included. The law was interpreted to cover past monarchs and symbols associated with the monarch. There have never been anyone who were sentenced to more than ten years jail before 2007. Observers attributed the increasing number of lèse-majesté cases in recent years to King Bhumibol's public invitation of criticism in 2005, increased polarization following the 2006 military coup, and to speculation over his declining health in the period before his death in 2016.
  In 2005, the case registered in the Atterney General's office rose sharply from 12 new cases in 2000–2004 to 17 in that year alone. Thai Rak Thai and Democrat Party as well as opposition movement People's Alliance for Democracy traded lese majeste accusations. Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's alleged lèse-majesté was one of the stated reasons for the Thai military's 2006 coup. After the coup, dozens of radio stations were shut down due to alleged lèse majesté.
  Academics have been investigated, imprisoned, and forced into exile over accusations of lèse-majesté. Prominent historian Somsak Jeamteerasakul was arrested for proposing an eight-point plan on the reform of the monarchy. Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn went into exile in 2007 after his book, A Coup for the Rich, questioned Bhumibol's role in the 2006 coup. In March 2011, Worachet Pakeerat, a law lecturer, banded together with same-minded lecturers and formed the "Nitirat group", aiming to amend the lèse majesté law. He proposed reducing the maximum jail term to three years, a circumstance for pardoning, and that only the Office of His Majesty's Principal Private Secretary can file a complaint. His action angered many people, and in February 2012, he was assaulted in broad daylight in Bangkok.
  During the government of Yingluck Shinawatra, the number of arrests and convictions for lèse-majesté offences significantly declined. However, she said she would not seek to reform the law. There were 478 cases in 2010.
  In May 2014, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), the military junta, granted authority to a military tribunal to prosecute lèse-majesté in Thailand. Military courts routinely imposed harsher sentences than civilian courts would. In August 2015, the Bangkok Military Court sentenced Pongsak Sriboonpeng to 60 years in prison for his six Facebook postings (later reduced to 30 years, when he pleaded guilty). This was Thailand's longest recorded sentence for lèse-majesté. The courts were dubbed "kangaroo courts." The military government has never successfully extradited someone living abroad.
  iLaw, a Thai non-profit organization, reported that the junta hold persons in custody for seven days without charges. Secret trials were used. The officials seized personal communication devices to search for incriminating evidence.
  In December 2014, the parents of Srirasmi Suwadee, formerly a Thai princess, were sentenced for “insulting the royal family and lodging a malicious claim.”
  In 2015, Prachatai published an infographic showing that bathroom graffiti, a hand gesture, a hearsay report of a taxi conversation, and not standing during the playing of the royal anthem, among other things, could be punished as acts of lèse-majesté. A nurse wearing black on Bhumibol Adulyadej's birthday was charged with lèse majesté.
  The last formal attempt to amend the law occurred in May 2012 when more than 10,000 people signed a petition to the Parliament, but the then Speaker of the House of Representatives, Somsak Kiatsuranont, dismissed it citing that amendment of the law concerning the monarchy was not a constitutional rights.
caption: A banner in Bangkok informs that using social media to "like" or "share" a picture or article could land them in prison. The banner asks people to "join together to protect the monarchy".
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