page_title: Lèse majesté in Thailand
section_title: Social context and impact
hierarchical_section_title: Lèse majesté in Thailand / Social context and impact
caption_attribution_description: English: Governor Tanin Subhasaen, of Chiang Mai province, bows to a portrait of His Royal Highness at the reception held in honour of HM the King on December 6, 2012.
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: King Rama VI interpreted that insults to the King are also insults to his power source: the people. And every subject was also insulted.
  David Streckfuss, a scholar on Thai human rights and politics, commented that lèse majesté is one factor defining neo-absolutism in Thailand. Lèse majesté is used in less democratic monarchies to protected the system of power. Thai mainstream media has supported the use of the law, and avoid covering it. It also does not discuss the role of the monarchy in the politics, thus created a distorted view. Lese majeste and communism once was the definition of the ultimate traitors, but with the decline of communism, lèse majesté began to define a new kind of traitors. 
  Michael Kelly Connors, a professor in social science from University of Nottingham, wrote that the king had dual position: an agent of political and economic interests and the soul of the nation of glaring disparity between social classes, and thus required controlled imagery. The stage-managed role of the monarch, the compulsory respect shown to the institution, and the pressure of social conformity left many people with a taste of bitterness which few felt confident to express. Thai elites feared that Thai monarchy will be subjected to mockery once it was open to scrutiny, just like the British monarchy.
  Lèse majesté remains the most potent political charge in Thailand. The charges went up in times of political upheaval. Human rights groups say the lèse-majesté laws have been used as a political weapon to stifle free speech. Political scientist Giles Ungpakorn noted that "the lèse-majesté laws are not really designed to protect the institution of the monarchy. In the past, the laws have been used to protect governments and to shield military coups from lawful criticism. This whole [royal] image is created to bolster a conservative elite well beyond the walls of the palace." However, Connors argued that while some have used it as a political weapon, it has always been in the interests of the palace.
caption: The late King Bhumibol Adulyadej was accorded an almost divine reverence,[32] which still holds true today.
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