Thai activists pursue change despite legal threats

[snoop1130]

PHOTO: Chonthicha Jangrew Facebook Page

 

Chonthicha “Lookkate” Jangrew is taking her campaign to the streets, going door-to-door to garner support for the upcoming May 14 General Election. However, she faces the possibility of imprisonment due to charges of sedition and royal defamation from protests in 2020.

 

The 30 year old activist is among over a dozen representatives from the student-led protest movement who are shifting their focus from demonstrating on the streets to participating in the election as candidates. They are bravely addressing the issue of the monarchy’s role in society despite the severe consequences. A conviction under Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese-majeste law, could lead to up to 15 years in prison.

 

The Move Forward Party, for which Chonthicha is running, aims to modify – instead of abolishing – the royal defamation law. The party proposes to decrease the severity of punishments and states that only the Bureau of the Royal Household should be qualified to file complaints.

 

“Both paths need to move forward together,” Chonthicha stated in an interview while taking a break from campaigning in Pathum Thai. “If you want to make a change in Thailand, you cannot rely solely on street movements or only on parliament.”

 

The 2020 demonstrations were initially against the military’s domination of politics and a controversial election. However, they made history by also questioning the authority of the monarchy. Legal action against protest leaders has largely suppressed the protests, with hundreds arrested and facing ongoing criminal cases in the courts.

 

Chonthicha disclosed that she has 28 criminal cases against her, including two of lese-majeste. If convicted, her parliamentary career would come to an end since a person convicted of an offence is disqualified from the House of Representatives.

 

Data from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reveals that since the inception of the Free Youth pro-democracy protests in July 2020, 1,898 individuals have been prosecuted for political participation and expression. At least 237 are facing lese-majeste charges, and 130 are charged with sedition.

 

Full Story: https://thethaiger.com/hot-news/politics/thai-activists-pursue-change-despite-legal-threats

 

-- © Copyright Thaiger 2023-04-19

 

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[hotchilli]

10 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

They are bravely addressing the issue of the monarchy’s role in society despite the severe consequences.

Leave the monarchy out of it.. why give the government ammunition?

[zzaa09]

Hmmm....

Lovely.

Is she spoken for?

[sammieuk1]

112 Is of course running a parallel campaign to winkle out any free and fair election candidates in the usual fashion and with threats of 15 years in jail to make sure of any dissent is eliminated  ????

[RichardColeman]

1 hour ago, hotchilli said:

Leave the monarchy out of it.. why give the government ammunition?

She's right, royalty of any country should have no role in politics. Kings and queens are figureheads and should be venerated and left as such

[spidermike007]

These brave activists are the only hope this nation has for a promising future. The laws should be changed, and the army should not be able to use them to muzzle protests. That is tantamount to fascism or the kind of authority a superfreak like Xi weilds.

 

If you say this is a democracy, behave like it! It is no wonder the goons are disrespected by nearly everyone. 

[BangkokReady]

3 hours ago, hotchilli said:

Leave the monarchy out of it.. why give the government ammunition?

The movement was co-opted pretty much from the start.  Possibly some groups knew that solely calling for democracy would have too great a chance of causing change, so they stuck anti-monarchy onto to it to make sure it would fail.  That or simply groups that dislike the monarchy saw it as an easy way to piggyback into the mele.

 

Either way, not a great move. Baby steps.  You're simply not going to get everything you want all at once.  Unfortunately I think social media has made people believe that they can change the world overnight.

[nahkit]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

If convicted, her parliamentary career would come to an end since a person convicted of an offence is disqualified from the House of Representatives.

Unless, of course, you're convicted in another country.

Australia springs to mind.

[klauskunkel]

14 hours ago, snoop1130 said:

The Move Forward Party, for which Chonthicha is running, aims to modify the royal defamation law. The party states that only the Bureau of the Royal Household should be qualified to file complaints.

Be careful what you wish for:

Wikipedia: Aphirat Khongsomphong was the Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army from 1 October 2018 to 30 September 2020. He currently serves as the Vice-Chamberlain of the Royal Household Bureau and the deputy director of the Crown Property Bureau.

After the coup d'état in 2014, General Apirat was appointed as Member of the National Legislative Assembly where he served in of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Local Government Commission. When General Apirat took the office of the Commander in Chief of the Royal Thai Army in 2018, he was appointed the Secretary of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). Following the general election in 2019, Gen Apirat was appointed to the Senate where he remained in office until his retirement from the military in 2020.

Barely a month into his tenure as army chief, Apirat created a media firestorm with his comments on the necessity for military intervention in Thai politics should turmoil surface.

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by klauskunkel