By Kristy Tridhavee
Impunity Watch Senior Desk Officer, Asia

BANGKOK, Thailand – Sulak Sivaraksa, a prominent intellectual, was arrested on a charge of insulting the Thai monarchy.  The offense may lead to a 15 year sentence for the 75 year old intellectual.

Sivaraksa was arrested for remarks he made in December last year to mark International Human Rights Day. Sivaraksa’s lawyer would not quote the passages from the speech on philosophy, society, and human rights.  However, reports indicate that the speech was broadly critical of government spending on the lavish 2006 celebrations for King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s Golden Jubilee. Sivaraksa’s lawyer stated that Sivaraksa considered his critical remarks to be an effort to protect the monarchy.

Although almost all Thais revere the monarchy and admire the king, the specific charge of lese majeste is often used for political purposes.  The timing of Sivaraksa’s arrest comes amid a struggle between the royalist, military “old guard,” represented loosely by the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) street campaign, and forces loyal to former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.  Although the monarchy is considered to “be in the middle and working in every field,” Queen Sirikit’s recent attendance at the funeral of a PAD protester killed in clashes has led many to believe the monarchy supports the campaign to oust the elected government.

“The more clear it becomes that the monarchy is caught up in politics, the more they are attempting to clamp down on local and international discussion of this role.  It seems that the authorities are trying to keep a lid on discussion of this political role,” said Thailand researcher Andrew Walker of Australian National University in Canberra.

The Thai police are presently investigating 30 other similar cases.  One includes an Australian writer, who is presently in jail, awaiting formal charges for allegedly inappropriate passages in a novel.

Sivaraksa was educated in Britain and has been associated with reformist movements since the 1960’s.  During the 1960’s he was a mentor to students who took part in an uprising against military dictatorship in 1973.  He fled abroad after a right-wing counterrevolution in 1976, the first of several periods he spent in exile.

For more information, please see:

AP – Thai Intellectual Arrested on Anti-Monarchy Charge – 7 November 2008

Bangkok Post – Sulak Arrested – 8 November 2008

Reuters – Arrest of Thai Academic Raises Free Speech Fears – 7 November 2008