THAILAND: Academic freedom and lèse majesté

Contrary to claims made by the government, academic freedom is non-existent in Thailand. Those who have not noticed this have either consciously or unconsciously avoided discussing the role of the monarchy in Thai politics.

The authoritarian establishment likes to claim that "there is nothing to discuss about the monarchy, since all Thais revere the King". Not only is this not true, but it sets a terrible standard for freedom of expression. It implies that the freedom to express dissident or minority ideas is 'unnecessary', an idea often promoted by communist and fascist dictatorships alike.

Since the era of the Cold War the Thai military, which has frequently ruled the country with an iron fist and continues to intervene in politics, has claimed legitimacy for its actions by claiming to protect the monarchy. It has also created a false myth that it has taken orders from the King and Queen when staging military coups.

During the 2006 coup, which overthrew a democratically elected government, soldiers wore yellow, royal, arm bands. The junta called itself the Reform Committee for Democracy with the King as head of state. It released pictures of the generals with the King and Queen to imply that they were "receiving orders". Months before the coup, right-wing protestors had called for power to be "given back to the King".

The Thai monarchy is protected from being the subject of debate or criticism by the draconian lèse majesté law. Today there are people serving up to 18 years in prison for merely criticising the coup or the monarchy.

Lèse majesté prisoners are tried in secret courts and denied bail. The royalist judges claim that the offence is 'too serious' and 'a threat to national security'. Furthermore, there are no lèse majesté cases on record in which defendants have been allowed to argue that what they said was true or for the public good.

'Da Torpedo', Daranee Chancheangsilapakun, was sentenced to 18 years in prison and her prison conditions are appalling. 'Red Eagle', Tantawut Taweewarodomkul, was recently sentenced to 13 years for managing the UDD, pro-democracy website in the US.

Chiranuch Premchaiporn, web manager of the independent Prachatai newspaper, faces 50 years in prison for not removing other peoples' web-posts. A student faces lèse majesté charges for not standing up for the King's anthem in the cinema. Others, like the labour activist Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, are sitting in jail awaiting trial.

Since the 2006 military coup d'etat there has been a 2000% increase in new lèse majesté prosecutions. In 2009, an all-time high of 164 new lèse majesté cases were pursued.

Reporting on all lèse majesté cases is restricted by the Thai media's self-censorship and the conviction rate for such cases tried between 1992 and 2005 averaged 94%. Today the government has a list of about 30 people who are "soon to be arrested".

Recently, the head of the Department of Special Investigation announced that people can be charged with lèse majesté for merely using "body language", like clapping or smiling, while someone else makes a speech.

In 2009, while I was still a politics lecturer at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, I was charged with lèse majesté for writing a book that criticised the 2006 military coup. My university actually gave the book to the police. I was forced to go into exile in Britain.

Today, Dr Somsak Jeamteerasakul is the latest academic to be charged under this law. Somsak is a history lecturer at Thammasart University in Bangkok. He has taken part in seminars where he discussed the role of the monarchy and the constitution.

He was charged because he raised a question about a comment made by a princess about the Thai political crisis. He said that Thai citizens would not be allowed to debate with her freely because of lèse majesté. The army brought charges against Somsak.

Thai dictatorships have used the excuse that their opponents were seeking to 'overthrow the monarchy' in order to kill unarmed demonstrators in 1976 and 2010. But lèse majesté is not just about censorship, violence and intimidation by the state. The widespread use of the law is a green light for royalist thugs and other non-state actors to commit violence or make threats against citizens, as happened to me.

The lèse majesté law in Thailand represents a gross attack on freedom of speech, freedom of expression and academic freedom. The practical impact is that Thailand has struggled for years to achieve a fully developed democracy, a free press and internationally accepted academic standards in universities.

How can politics or history academics discuss the details of Thai society without the freedom to discuss the monarchy?

This question needs to be asked of the organisers of the Thai studies conference in Melbourne, Australia, this August. The academic conference is co-sponsored by the Thai embassy. You can be sure that Dr Somsak Jeamteerasakul will not be invited to make a keynote speech at the conference and any discussion of Thai politics will be heavily censored, despite the fact that it is being held outside Thailand in a democratic country.

Imagine what people would say if there was an academic conference on Libya co-sponsored by the Gaddafi regime or a conference on Syria sponsored by Bashar al-Assad!

* Giles Ji Ungpakorn is a former assistant professor in the department of political science at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University. He is author of Thailand's Crisis and the Fight for Democracy, for which he was charged with lèse majesté.