Thai Minister Makes Unprecedented Call For Monarchy Debate

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Thai minister makes unprecedented call for monarchy debate

by Didier Lauras

BANGKOK (AFP) -- Thailand's foreign minister has broken a taboo by advocating reform of the monarchy, unprecedented in a country where the king is hugely revered and any criticism of the royals is a serious crime.

Kasit Piromya said in Washington that any resolution to the political crisis gripping the kingdom might see the role of royalty revamped, with greater involvement in the political arena given to the rural poor.

"It is a process that we have to go through and I think we should be brave enough to go through all of this and to talk about even the taboo subject of the institution of the monarchy," he said at a seminar on Monday.

The monarchy's role remains one of the most sensitive subjects in the kingdom, where violent clashes between the army and anti-government "Red Shirts" Saturday -- Thailand's bloodiest for 18 years -- left 21 people dead.

"I think we have to talk about the institution of the monarchy, how it would have to reform itself to the modern globalised world," Kasit said, citing the examples of Britain and the Netherlands as countries where the role of the royal family has adapted.

"Everything is now becoming in the open," he added. "Let's have a discussion. What type of democratic society would we like to be?"

The debate, he said, should address many questions left unanswered by Thai society over the past decades.

"What would be the role of the military? What would be the prerequisite of the political parties? How do you channel the wishes of the farmers, the workers, the office workers?" he said.

Insulting the royal family is a serious crime in Thailand, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and Thai politicians rarely dare to speak about the matter overtly.

Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said he would not confirm Kasit's comments "until we verify his statements".

"The government usually does not make any comment about the monarchy. Academics can. I think it is the same in England. The prime minister does not make any comment on the queen. We have the same practice," he told AFP.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 82, has no official political role but is revered as a demi-god by many Thais and seen as a unifying figure in a country that is frequently riven by political unrest.

During a 1992 uprising, he chastised both the military and protest leaders, effectively bringing an end to the violence.

Earlier this year Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thailand would be better off if it stopped relying on the widely revered king to intervene in times of difficulty, although he said it would "take time".

He also said a new advisory board on legisation concerning lese majeste would "create clarity". Rights activists have criticised a rise in the number of accusations of insulting the monarchy.

After Saturday's deadly clashes, a Red Shirt leader called on the monarch to intervene in the latest crisis to prevent further bloodshed.

But King Bhumibol, who is the world's longest-reigning monarch, has been hospitalised since September and has not commented publicly on the latest turmoil.

In his last public appearance in February, television footage showed him in his wheelchair viewing the river in front of the Siriraj hospital in Bangkok, following his dog on a leash.

His wife Queen Sirikit and their son Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn on Monday attended a Buddhist ceremony for a colonel killed in the weekend's bloody clashes with protesters.

But the royal couple will offer financial support to the wounded and families of those killed, both civilians and soldiers, deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban said.

A Bangkok-based Thai observer, who asked not to be named, said he did not think many from the ruling Democrat party would be ready to echo Kasit's comments on the role of the monarchy.

"Don't be surprised if you don't read a line of these statements in the Thai press tomorrow because of the sensitivity of the matter," he said.

-- ©Copyright AFP 2010-04-13

Published with written approval from AFP.

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