BobKKKindle$
13th January 2009, 14:52
Associate Professor Giles Ji Ungpakorn is fighting charges of lèse majesté (offending the dignity of a sovereign) over his book A Coup for the Rich, an academic work on the 2006 military coup.
In Thailand lèse majesté is a serious charge that can lead to a prison sentence of between three and 15 years.
Giles says, "I have been summonsed to Pathumwan police station for questioning at 10am on Tuesday 20 January. The summons was issued as a result of a charge filed by Special Branch Police Lt Col Pansak Sasana-anund."
Just after publication, his book was withdrawn from sale by Chulalongkorn University bookshop and later by Thammasat University bookshop, both in Bangkok.
Giles thinks the charge is a gross attack on academic freedom. He says, "I encourage people to read my book and judge for themselves whether I should face criminal charges over this. Relevant passages can be found in Chapter 1, pages 15, 23-27 and Chapter 2.
"My most recent academic paper on the monarchy appears on my blog. It argues that the monarchy is not all powerful and that political and military factions claim Royal legitimacy in order to boost their own power and interests.
"Their recent actions may be bringing the institution of the monarchy into crisis because they have created an image of the monarchy being directly involved in politics.
"I presented a Thai version of this paper at the National Thai Political Science Conference at Chulalongkorn University in December 2008."
The monarchy has been quoted and used by various political factions in Thailand to legitimise their actions. The most notable cases are the 19 September 2006 military coup and the illegal protests by the yellow-shirted People’s Alliance for Democracy, which included violent protests and the shutting down the international airports.
Lèse majesté charges in Thailand are notorious for being used by different political factions to attack their opponents. Many believe that this law is actually counter-productive to defending the Monarchy. This is why it is very important that political scientists attempt to analyse the real role and nature of the Thai Monarchy in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy.
I am prepared to fight any lèse majesté charges in order to defend academic freedom, the freedom of expression and democracy in Thailand.
Since this accusation was filed by a Special Branch officer, the present Democrat Party Government should be questioned about its role in this and many other cases.
The new Prime Minister has stated that he wants to see a firm crackdown on lèse majesté and many recent cases have been filed by the police.
What you can do to help Giles Ji Ungpakorn:
Write a letter of protest/concern to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Government House, Bangkok, Thailand. Fax number +66 (0)29727751
Write a letter of protest/concern to the Ambassador, The Royal Thai Embassy, in your country
Demand that Amnesty International take up all Lèse majesté cases in Thailand.
Demand the abolition of the lèse majesté law.
The print edition of A Coup for the Rich is sold out, but it can be downloaded from Giles Ji Ungpakorn's blog » wdpress.blog.co.uk (http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/), and from the International Socialism journal website » www.isj.org.uk/docs/CFRbook.pdf (http://www.isj.org.uk/docs/CFRbook.pdf) [440kb PDF]
*******
It's unfortunate that academics and socialists throughout the world are still denied the right to express themselves freely without being faced with the threat of state persecution for even the smallest slight against the political elite. It's also ironic that Thailand has been cited as an example of democracy in a region historically dominated by semi-autocratic regimes given that the military continues to play such an important role in national politics and basic rights have not yet been won despite decades of struggle. The history of the developing world teaches us that the bourgeoisie will never be willing to take up the struggle for democracy and civil rights due to its dependence on the state and the interests of foreign capital, and so these tasks must necessarily fall to the revolutionary proletariat, which will, in the course of a revolution, not limit itself to these tasks, but will push forward and extend the revolution to include socialist tasks, such as the abolition of private property, and the expropriation of foreign investments. This article serves as a genuine warning against the restriction of free expression even if such expression is carried out under the pretext of fighting against reactionary ideas.
In Thailand lèse majesté is a serious charge that can lead to a prison sentence of between three and 15 years.
Giles says, "I have been summonsed to Pathumwan police station for questioning at 10am on Tuesday 20 January. The summons was issued as a result of a charge filed by Special Branch Police Lt Col Pansak Sasana-anund."
Just after publication, his book was withdrawn from sale by Chulalongkorn University bookshop and later by Thammasat University bookshop, both in Bangkok.
Giles thinks the charge is a gross attack on academic freedom. He says, "I encourage people to read my book and judge for themselves whether I should face criminal charges over this. Relevant passages can be found in Chapter 1, pages 15, 23-27 and Chapter 2.
"My most recent academic paper on the monarchy appears on my blog. It argues that the monarchy is not all powerful and that political and military factions claim Royal legitimacy in order to boost their own power and interests.
"Their recent actions may be bringing the institution of the monarchy into crisis because they have created an image of the monarchy being directly involved in politics.
"I presented a Thai version of this paper at the National Thai Political Science Conference at Chulalongkorn University in December 2008."
The monarchy has been quoted and used by various political factions in Thailand to legitimise their actions. The most notable cases are the 19 September 2006 military coup and the illegal protests by the yellow-shirted People’s Alliance for Democracy, which included violent protests and the shutting down the international airports.
Lèse majesté charges in Thailand are notorious for being used by different political factions to attack their opponents. Many believe that this law is actually counter-productive to defending the Monarchy. This is why it is very important that political scientists attempt to analyse the real role and nature of the Thai Monarchy in an atmosphere of freedom and democracy.
I am prepared to fight any lèse majesté charges in order to defend academic freedom, the freedom of expression and democracy in Thailand.
Since this accusation was filed by a Special Branch officer, the present Democrat Party Government should be questioned about its role in this and many other cases.
The new Prime Minister has stated that he wants to see a firm crackdown on lèse majesté and many recent cases have been filed by the police.
What you can do to help Giles Ji Ungpakorn:
Write a letter of protest/concern to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, Government House, Bangkok, Thailand. Fax number +66 (0)29727751
Write a letter of protest/concern to the Ambassador, The Royal Thai Embassy, in your country
Demand that Amnesty International take up all Lèse majesté cases in Thailand.
Demand the abolition of the lèse majesté law.
The print edition of A Coup for the Rich is sold out, but it can be downloaded from Giles Ji Ungpakorn's blog » wdpress.blog.co.uk (http://wdpress.blog.co.uk/), and from the International Socialism journal website » www.isj.org.uk/docs/CFRbook.pdf (http://www.isj.org.uk/docs/CFRbook.pdf) [440kb PDF]
*******
It's unfortunate that academics and socialists throughout the world are still denied the right to express themselves freely without being faced with the threat of state persecution for even the smallest slight against the political elite. It's also ironic that Thailand has been cited as an example of democracy in a region historically dominated by semi-autocratic regimes given that the military continues to play such an important role in national politics and basic rights have not yet been won despite decades of struggle. The history of the developing world teaches us that the bourgeoisie will never be willing to take up the struggle for democracy and civil rights due to its dependence on the state and the interests of foreign capital, and so these tasks must necessarily fall to the revolutionary proletariat, which will, in the course of a revolution, not limit itself to these tasks, but will push forward and extend the revolution to include socialist tasks, such as the abolition of private property, and the expropriation of foreign investments. This article serves as a genuine warning against the restriction of free expression even if such expression is carried out under the pretext of fighting against reactionary ideas.