Sulak Sivaraksa, a renowned Thai social critic, reflects on his latest lèse majesté case and his experience petitioning to the King. 

If you asked me if the decision by a military prosecutor to drop the lèse majesté charge against renowned historian and social critic Sulak Sivaraksa is good news, I’d say, ‘yes it’s good that the old man does not have to spend time in jail’. But if you asked me if this is a good sign for the state of freedom of expression in Thailand, I’d say ‘no, it’s not.’ 

A rock singer’s charity campaign has sparked debate over the ethics of donations, while a senior academic is facing a lèse majesté lawsuit for criticising King Naresuan, who ruled the kingdom of Ayutthaya 400 years ago.     Thailand’s lèse majesté law is notorious for its excessive punishments and broad interpretations.

The police have decided to press royal defamation charges against Sulak Sivaraksa, a renowned royalist and lèse majesté critic, over a public speech about King Naresuan, who ruled the Ayutthaya Kingdom 400 years ago. On 9 October 2017, Puangthip Boonsanong, a lawyer representing Sulak, said the police took Sulak, 84, to the Military Court of Bangkok and submitted to the military prosecutor the case file in which he is accused of violating Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law. The military prosecutor will decide on 7 December 2017 whether to indict.

Thai police have summoned a 25-year-old anti-junta citizen from central Thailand for declaring that he will not turn up for the 7 August referendum on the junta-sponsored draft charter while a renowned anti-lèse majesté intellectual has also said that he will not participate in the referendum. At 11 am on Thursday, 4 August 2016, Wasin Wainiya, a 25-year-old man from the central province of Nonthaburi, reported to Mueang District Police Station in the province.