I would like to understand the meaning and English translation of "หมิ่นเบื้องสูง". I understand that Lese Majesty is "หมิ่นพระบรมเดชานุภาพ" and หมิ่น itself is to insult or dishonor. "เบื้องสูง" according to Lexitron is "[N] superior; senior; higher ranker." Are there levels in Thai society, below royalty, to which this offense applies? Thanks.

I´m not expert on Thai language only i´m native speaker. I think below royalty level would be ดูหมิ่น this aply for regular people.

Above royal level would be หมื่นเบื้องบน usually mean for the high level like heaven or higher power.

I´m not expert on Thai language only i´m native speaker. I think below royalty level would be ดูหมิ่น this aply for regular people.

Above royal level would be หมื่นเบื้องบน usually mean for the high level like heaven or higher power.

11 June 2008

I happened to be checking this particular phrase this morning as part of a book I am also working on relating to abuse and consequences of lese majeste in Thailand and the need to suspend current prosecutions, reform the process, and eventually repeal the charge over the long term by first assigning authority to file it with the Royal Household itself.

As to the phrase " เบื้องสูง" you touched on the literal translation, that is; high, superior, elevated, etc., but the connotation, rather than denotation, is what counts here in Thailand. The connotation is the institution of the monarchy and/or its members, from His Majesty all the way through to princes and princesses. Presumably it may also include grandchildren of the monarch, but that is an open question until one of them provides an authoritative reference to clarify.

เบื้อง is defined as partition or side or part. So the superior part or high part would imply the royal family and the monarchy.

The phrase itself is used colloquially to ascribe references without being overly precise, sort of like saying, Stateside, that someone is defaming a member of Congress. In that case it could be a senator or representative, but which is unclear. So it is with เบื้องสูง so as to intentionally leave it unclear on the one hand, but there is also another nuance here. It probably has to do with the deferential nature of the phrase, which provides both an implication but still leaves details out of the picture. I have been draft translating several pieces by Thai academics and others, including members of the Thai military, who have discussed lese majeste and a separate issue of defamation against the king. The two are separate.

I have often seen เบื้องสูง translated as 'the higher institution' when the writer has translated from Thai to English referring to the royal family as an institution.