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The collective and social value enforced agreement that certain senior leaders are noble, a few even near-divine, that the good government knows best, and normal people love the king versus the accepted truism that if you don’t then you are not normal are ideas found in very repressive governments, up to and including Burma but now apparently also Thailand. Those who agitate or attempt to buck the system in such countries are eliminated - sometimes literally and the rest get the picture sooner or later.
As a result, this ship of the Thai state is thus not far afield from its close cousins running similar ships of state in Burma and Cambodia. There are differences, of course, but the similarities are what will steer the course of these “Association of Southeast Asian Nations” neighbors through time and impact ASEAN policies internally and externally.
In defense of its wayward drift from credible democracy to less-than-benevolent patronage, as long as elitist status quo is not seriously threatened, Thailand has repeatedly attempted to teach others that they do not understand its particular monarchy image-centered state ethic. Failure to comprehend this is deemed to be ignorance or ill intent toward the kingdom. The progenitors and defenders of the nationalist mantra cite something they call “Thai Style Democracy,” or TSD.
A 21st century quasi-communist Thai political Think Tank - in terms of structure and approach to transparency - seems to have found a new champion in the guise of Laksana Kornsilpa, who on June 30, filed lèse majesté charges against the board of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.
Following up on her June actions, according to the popular political website Prachatai, Laksana provided a press release on Thursday that expanded and clarified her earlier allegations that the FCCT was in league with former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and according to her analysis, was conspiring against the monarchy and state security.
She cites the Thai governmental system not as a constitutional monarchy but a monarchal democracy. Despite common sense dictating this as an oxymoron, especially in the hands of ill wishers, Laksana said, quoted Prachatai, “Some media have distorted the facts recently, this [lèse majesté charges] is not an issue of freedom of speech. I fully support freedom of speech but do not support the dissemination of lies and propaganda in an underground movement to destabilize Thailand's economy and internal security. Foreign correspondents clubs and media alike are advised to examine the facts carefully before making biased statements, intelligent nations like China and Japan should be able to differentiate between news and lies. Lèse majesté cases should not be filed against anyone unless there is clearly malicious intent that can be proven, people cannot just file Lese Majeste cases against others when there is absence of motive as that would result in either the case not being processed or the accused receiving a Royal pardon after a short spell inside, the accuser could also be sued heavily if sufficient evidence is not provided to show serious malicious intent. Many media sources lack legal knowledge and are guilty of reporting that anyone can file a case against anyone; this is simply not true. His Majesty has stated himself that he is human and as such can do wrong. This does not however mean that people are free to make unwarranted accusations and lies regarding His Majesty as such behavior would anger his subjects and cases would certainly be filed, especially if the lèse majesté statements were being used as a tool for subversive threats to internal security."
Laksana has neglected to mention that lies affecting national security and the monarchy may also originate from pro-repression quarters that are prone to interchange the phrase “freedom of speech” with “threat to national security.” That their own speech and actions are simultaneously protected by the state and they undermine national security, social unity and freedom of speech is somehow not readily apparent to them. They chop down trees and then claim there was never a forest.
Commenting on opposing views to her own, Laksana is quoted as declaring that numerous blogs that appear on the Internet attempting to protect the FCCT from their crimes are written by anonymous bloggistas and clandestine journalists.
The “anonymous bloggistas” and “clandestine journalists” are hardly a mere matter of interest, save perhaps only to those who are blindsided by their own repressive thinking.
Lack of protected speech in Thailand is the main reason for threats to national security - and let there be no question of that. This lack of protection is now taking a very concrete pseudo-communist form that could lead to greater and more widespread repression.
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(Frank G. Anderson is the Thailand representative of American Citizens Abroad. He was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer to Thailand from 1965-67, working in community development. A freelance writer and founder of northeast Thailand's first local English language newspaper, the Korat Post – www.thekoratpost.com – he has spent over eight years in Thailand "embedded" with the local media. He has an MBA in information management and an associate degree in construction technology. ©Copyright Frank G. Anderson.)
