Ruling Sought On Coup Call: Thailand

[Thai at Heart]

Inciting people to break the law, any law, is ordinarily illegal in most countries. But then TIT.

If he incited everyone to litter the street, presumably that would be illegal......

So we would expect the majority of the Red Shirt leaders to get tried for Inciting their Protestors back in 2010 to "burn down Bangkok" etc?

Somehow methinks that just ain't gunna happen

Yup

[visionchaser45]

Advocating for the overthrow of a democratically elected government by other than democratic means (i.e., use of force) is sedition by anyone's definition.

[Thai at Heart]

Advocating for the overthrow of a democratically elected government by other than democratic means (i.e., use of force) is sedition by anyone's definition.

It is the exact meaning of sedition. As i wrote earlier, i am amazed no one dug this law up 5 years ago.

[bigbamboo]

Freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom to protest government policies and waste...........are all now unconstitutional, according to the senator. He's a few months ahead of himself, the constitution reform hasn't been done yet.

calling to overthrow the government by undemocratic means, is that against the constiution?

it must be there somewhere i would hope.

There is a difference between publicly approving, and even calling for an illegal action, and actually plotting and/or carrying it out.

Did you not notice " the court should order an end to more unconstitutional protests" - should they ban them because they might call for a coup?

Banning public gatherings on the apprehension of an illegal act is just a tad draconian, or dictatorial if you prefer.

And again, if it's not unconstitutional now, it may well be soon.

Who knows what is unconstitutional in Thailand any more when the country is run by a fugitive in another country?

[nurofiend]

Freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom to protest government policies and waste...........are all now unconstitutional, according to the senator. He's a few months ahead of himself, the constitution reform hasn't been done yet.

calling to overthrow the government by undemocratic means, is that against the constiution?

it must be there somewhere i would hope.

There is a difference between publicly approving, and even calling for an illegal action, and actually plotting and/or carrying it out.

Did you not notice " the court should order an end to more unconstitutional protests" - should they ban them because they might call for a coup?

Banning public gatherings on the apprehension of an illegal act is just a tad draconian, or dictatorial if you prefer.

And again, if it's not unconstitutional now, it may well be soon.

Who knows what is unconstitutional in Thailand any more when the country is run by a fugitive in another country?

the constitutional court? i know your question was rhetorical, as was mine.

they seemed to have some trouble themselves deciphering whether an 'and' in article 68 was coordinative or correlative

[McMagus]

This sort of thing is so juvenile, Thailand will never grow up and get to play with the big boys until it stops looking for an 'easy' and 'quick fix' to its political problems. It truly is a pathetic approach.

[JAG]

Whether it is unconstitutional, sedition or treason is ultimately irrelevant. The tanks trump the constitution every time.

And once the tanks have done their job you can always write another one...

Edited November 6, 2012 by JAG

[15Peter20]

Whether it is unconstitutional, sedition or treason is ultimately irrelevant. The tanks trump the constitution every time.

And once the tanks have done their job you can always write another one...

There's something else that trumps the constitution and any other legal organ in Thailand. It is called Expediency. It is a part of the natural law of Thailand and its supremacy simply cannot be understood, much less accepted, by most foreigners from developed countries.

I bet visitors to Thailand from places like India, Eastern Europe and South America don't have half as much to say about Thai politics as the indignant Brits, Aussies, Canadians and Yanks who fret at Thai politics like a person scolding a quadriplegic person for not trying to run fast enough.

We can all dream of a better Thailand, I'm sure. Just no need to bust a blood vessel in the process (unless you get shot or bombed at a demonstration).

[OzMick]

Whether it is unconstitutional, sedition or treason is ultimately irrelevant. The tanks trump the constitution every time.

And once the tanks have done their job you can always write another one...

And if you haven't got a tank, you could rent a mob.

[fasteddie]

Shame no one arrested or charged the reds on stage during 2010 for exactly the same thing... even though they flowered it by inciting to burn the city as well, which they did. No treason there at all...

When exactly did the reds ever call for a coup to overthrow a democratically elected government?

as usual you speak with forked tongue!

[otherstuff1957]

This is not a surprising move. Freedom of speech has never been big on the Redshirt/PT agenda. The few Redshirts who actually were for any degree of freedom of speech have mostly been locked up & muzzled by the draconian LM laws, laws that the PT find just a useful as the Democrats.

[Thai at Heart]

Well for future reference at least rallies in the future can't whip up the crowd by asking for a coup.

He isn't going to get into massive trouble for this, but, presumably, this is a good thing right? Presumably this applies to the coloured media too? I.e. Manager and Red TV or whatever they are called.

[fasteddie]

Freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom to protest government policies and waste...........are all now unconstitutional, according to the senator. He's a few months ahead of himself, the constitution reform hasn't been done yet.

Calling for a coup to overthrow a democratically elected government is freedom of speech?

typical yellow shirt supporter with no hope of EVER winning an election.

[fasteddie]

Statistically, Thailand has a coup or coup attempt every 4 years. It's part of their democratic process. It's not how things are done back home.....but I'm not back home. Who am I to criticize how democracy is done in Thailand.

''It's part of their democratic process''

a coup, part of a democratic process? what are you blathering about?

[Thai at Heart]

Statistically, Thailand has a coup or coup attempt every 4 years. It's part of their democratic process. It's not how things are done back home.....but I'm not back home. Who am I to criticize how democracy is done in Thailand.

''It's part of their democratic process''

a coup, part of a democratic process? what are you blathering about?

That is one of the biggest issues. A coup is accepted as part of the parliamentary process in Thailand. Everyone needs to learn that coups are NOT a good thing, and come up with a better way, such as checks and balances and a functioning legal system with fair and proper judgements to handle issues.

[billd766]

The numbers of various sections of the constitution have been given in this thread: 68, 113, 190, 237. Here is a copy of an English translation of the current constitution:

Constitution 2007.pdf

Thank you for that download.

[rixalex]

That is one of the biggest issues. A coup is accepted as part of the parliamentary process in Thailand. Everyone needs to learn that coups are NOT a good thing, and come up with a better way, such as checks and balances and a functioning legal system with fair and proper judgements to handle issues.

I believe this is indeed the crux of the problem. When Thaksin was elected for the first time i think the future looked bright. A new face in Thai politics and a very successful business man who was genuinely popular and had no need for corruption. But then what happens? Almost the moment he gets elected, he is found to have hidden assets with various members of staff, but the courts were scared to act against the people's choice. Thaksin realised he was untouchable... above reproach.. at least that is how he felt. This emboldened him to act progressively more and more blatantly and arrogantly with regards rule bending, nepotism, law breaking, intimidation, censorship, cover ups etc, until finally he took things to breaking point with his tax dodging magic trick with the sale of his business... and then came the coup.

If only we could go back to that ill-fated day when the courts weren't brave enough to stand up to him, and change their decision, i really do believe that the last 10 years of turmoil and conflict would have been completely avoided and the country would not have been divided as it remains to this day. That's not to say i think it would have been avoided because Thaksin would have been out of the picture. I don't think the courts finding against him in the assets concealment case would have ended his political career. He could easily have made a comeback, and had he, i think he would have had a very different attitude... who knows, with a little humility and a little less arrogance, he might even have done an awful lot of good for the country. Hypothesising of course.... either way, fact remains, that case set the country on a downward spiral from which it has yet to recover from. IMHO.