THAILAND'S MOMENT OF TRUTH - ZENJOURNALIST

A law originally intended to shield the monarchy from insults and slander has become something far
more: it is increasingly used to prevent any questioning of Thailand's established social and political
order. As historian David Streckfuss says in the foremost academic work on the subject, Truth on Trial in
Thailand: Defamation, Treason, and Lèse Majesté: "Never has such an archaic law held such sway over
a 'modern' society (except perhaps 'Muslim' theocracies like Afghanistan under the Taliban)":
Thailand's use of the lèse majesté law has become unique in the world and its elaboration and
justifications have become an art. The law's defenders claim that Thailand's love and reverence
for its king is incomparable. Its critics say the law has become the foremost threat to freedom
of expression. Barely hidden beneath the surface of growing debate around the law and its use
are the most basic issues defining the relationship between those in power and the governed:
equality before the law, rights and liberties, the source of sovereign power, and even the system
of government of the polity - whether Thailand is to be primarily a constitutional monarchy, a
democratic system of governance with the king as head of state, or a democracy.
Most Thais remain unaware of the full story of how Bhumibol restored the power and prestige of the
monarchy over the past half century. Handley's book The King Never Smiles is banned in Thailand - as
is Handley himself - because he violated the taboo that forbids a critical look at the role of the palace in
Thailand's modern history. As he writes in the introduction:
Any journalist or academic who takes an interest in Thailand soon learns that one topic is offlimits:
the modern monarchy. One is told variably that there is nothing more to say than the
official palace accounts; that such matters are internal; that the subject is too sensitive and
complex for palace outsiders to handle; or simply that it is dangerous, and one risks expulsion or
jail for lèse majesté.
Most people give in to these explanations with little argument. It is easy to do: nearly every Thai
one meets expresses unquestioning praise for the king, or at least equivocates to the point of
suggesting that there really is not much to be said: the history that is in the open is the whole of
it. Palace insiders sometimes concede that there is indeed more to the story, but then demur to say
that only real insiders, only Thais within the inner royal circle, can comprehend the mysteries of
the king’s reign.
The subject, then, hardly seems worth the trouble to dig into, and so as even the most curious
succumb to Thailand’s charm and King Bhumibol’s carefully crafted image, the palace remains
an enigma. The result, however, is a crucial gap in modern Thai history and political analysis.
Thongchai Winichakul, a history professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and visiting fellow
at the National University of Singapore, discussed the chilling effect of the lèse majesté law in his 2008
paper Toppling Democracy:
The current generation of Thais mostly grew up after the Second World War when they no
longer lived with the memories and experiences of the 1932 revolution. Instead they have lived