THAILAND'S LEADING UNIVERSITY HOSTS DEBATE ON LESE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 001949

SIPDIS

DRL FOR BUCKLEY

E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/24/2018
TAGS: PHUM PGOV TH KPAO
SUBJECT: THAILAND'S LEADING UNIVERSITY HOSTS DEBATE ON LESE
MAJESTE LAW

REF: A. BANGKOK 01933 (THE PARLIAMENT'S TURN)

B. BANGKOK 01662 (LESE MAJESTE)

Classified By: Acting Deputy Chief of Mission Anne S. Casper, reason 1.
4 (b) and (d).

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Over 100 students and activists attended a panel on
Thailand's lese majeste laws at Chulalongkorn University.
Comments by panelists and audience members made it clear that
few in the room felt Thailand benefited from laws designed to
protect the King and select members of the royal family.
Meanwhile, it appears that the Palace has endorsed
prosecution of a man who failed to stand for the royal anthem
in a movie theater. BBC reporter Jonathan Head (strictly
protect) remained confident that accumulating lese majeste
complaints against him will be dropped thanks to friends in
high places. END SUMMARY

AN IMPEDIMENT TO PROGRESS
--------------


2. (SBU) On June 19, Chulalongkorn University -- Thailand's
most prestigious academic institution -- hosted a panel
discussion entitled "Lese Majeste: Legal Philosophy and
History." The June 19 panel was sponsored by the 6 October
1976 Committee, an organization dedicated to seeking justice
for those killed during a rally at Thammasat University, and
the Turn Left Club, a student organization with a leftist or
communist bent. Chief of the School of Government and
Administration Chaiyan Chaiyaphon opened the discussion with
high-volume statements about how lese majeste laws "obstruct
the development of social enlightenment and academic
discussion," stunting Thai society. The Dean of Faculty of
Law at Chiangmai University added that lese majeste's
extension to protect not only the King, but also any symbols
of the King is a distortion of the law. He also said that
police and public prosecutors always pursue lese majeste
cases and forward them to the court since it would reflect
poorly on them to dismiss a case where the Palace's honor is
concerned. Former Bangkok senator Jon Ungpakorn, the only
participant who said that the lese majeste law should not be
abolished, urged the Thai monarchy, police, judges and
religious leaders to have more transparency and be open to
public examination. The Director of the Institute of
Population Research at Mahidol University warned that if lese
majeste charges continue to escalate, the situation could
result in senseless violence. She reminded the audience of
the events of October 1976, explaining that radio messages
and word-of-mouth inspired popular support for a crackdown on
protesters at Thammasat University, mainly students, who were
portrayed as calling for the end of the monarchy. At that
time, scores of people at Thammasat University were killed or
injured by the security forces.

A NON-EVENT, IN EYES OF PRESS
--------------


3. (C) Despite press presence and a multitude of video
recording cameras throughout the audience, not a single one
of Bangkok's 10 main newspapers covered the panel discussion.
One of the panel's organizers told PolOff that "part of the
issue is establishing the right to talk about lese majeste,
but when the mainstream media ignores it, this is another
problem." On the evening of June 18, Manager Media's online
news website, founded by Sondhi Limthongkul who leads the
People's Alliance for Democracy (ref B),published two short
articles reporting the details of the event and panelists.
It blocked the option to add comments to one of the articles
and no comments were posted about the second article, a
notable absence for the website that seems to thrive on being
a forum for public debate. A cameraman from ASTV, a
satellite TV company under the Manager Media Outlet, recorded
the entire event and even evoked commentary from the
panelists. One panelist pointed to the ASTV cameraman and
joked that the presence of panelist Chaiyan, a People's
Alliance for Democracy (PAD) supporter and participant at the

BANGKOK 00001949 002 OF 002


ongoing PAD rallies (ref A),saved them all from written
attacks by Manager Media. He thanked Chaiyan for preventing
Manager Media from "claiming that we're all anti-monarchists."

BUT NOT IGNORED BY POLICE
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4. (C) Giles Ungpakorn, a professor at Chulalongkorn
University who helped organize the panel discussion, told us
that his students did not seem worried about attending the
panel event nor did the presence of multiple video cameras,
belonging to the press and audience members, seem to stifle
discussion. He commented that he recognized a plain-clothed
official of Police Special Branch and guessed that there were
many others present. He added that participants should have
felt safe since "it wasn't a general discussion about the
monarchy," but a flow of ideas about the existing law and its
application.

ONGOING LESE MAJESTE CASES
--------------


5. (C) Activist Chotisak Onsoong and his girlfriend Songkran
Pongbunjan (protect) who have pending lese majeste cases for
not standing for the royal anthem in a Bangkok movie theater
also attended the discussion. Afterwards, they sold their
trademark t-shirts, "To Not Stand Is Not A Crime," out of a
small book bag to several students (ref B) and told PolOff
that their lawyers were allegedly informed by the police that
the Palace had given the green light to prosecute both cases.
It is not required for the police to consult with the Palace
on lese majeste case and it remains unclear which cases get
the attention of the Palace. Songkran said that she felt more
nervous than before about the outcome of her case and
appeared less confident than when PolOff last met with her.


6. (C) Separately, BBC reporter Jonathan Head (strictly
protect) told PolOff on June 23 that although a police
official has filed a second lese majeste complaint against
him, he has been assured by former Prime Minister Anand
Panyarachun, who made inquires on his behalf, and by the head
of the Criminal Suppression Division Lieutenant General
Somyos Phanphummuang that the lese majeste charges "would go
away." The new complaint against Head accused him of being
in a conspiracy with Thaksin and Jakrapob based on articles
Head wrote for the BBC and a photo of him shaking hands with
Thaksin taken 6 or 7 years ago.


7. (C) Chairwoman of Triumph International Labor Union of
Thailand Chittra Khotchadet also attended the panel. Once
targeted by Manager's online news site after she wore one of
Chotisak's t-shirts in public, Chittra told PolOff that she
considered filing an official complaint against the Manager
Daily to the National Press Council of Thailand (NPCT) after
they published her address and other personal information
online, seemingly to encourage readers "to go after her."
After receiving death threats, she decided against filing a
complaint out of fear of receiving "even more vicious
reactions." Chotisak, whose personal information was also
published online by Manager Media, filed three petitions
against Manager Media to the NPCT, Thai Broadcast Journalist
Association (TBJA),and the Thai Journalist Association
(TJA). Chotisak told PolOff that the NPCT determined that
his petition did not qualify for further investigation; his
appeal is still pending. He added that the TBJA never
responded to his complaint, and the TJA claimed they never
received his petition.

COMMENT
--------------


8. (C) A small segment of Thai society remains willing to
engage on the issue of lese majeste, but lese majeste remains
an extremely sensitive subject for debate outside academic
and activist circles. Those who find themselves the subjects
of lese majeste complaints may be in for a long legal process
with no clear pattern of resolution and no clear outlets or
institutions of support.
JOHN