Thailand, the idyllic Land of Smiles in Southeast Asia, escalates to a serious level in its perpetual political crisis with the worrisome decision of the Constitutional Court that has just ruled to dissolve the nation's first party, Move Forward, a liberal reformist ideology party that made headlines by winning the last general elections in April 2023, with nearly 14.5 million votes and 141 deputies. The highest judicial court has found that this political force, as denounced by the Electoral Council, violated the party law by attempting to amend the draconian Lese-Majesty Law in the country, something that, according to the Constitutional Court, implies that Move Forward sought to undermine the Monarchy, the pillar on which the entire Thai institutional framework is based.
This dissolution of a party, especially with such a motivation, once again calls into question the country's democracy in Southeast Asia. For days, the main foreign ministries around the world, especially those of some of Bangkok's main international supporters like the United States, awaited with great concern the verdict of the Thai Court. It is expected that what has happened will trigger protests and a new wave of social outrage in a country deeply divided for decades between those who support the status quo and the powerful forces that prevent any change, mainly identified today with the military, the Crown, the influential Buddhist clergy, and a large sector of the population, including a significant number of young people, who demand democratic reforms and profound changes in the system. The most intense protests in Bangkok and other cities occurred between 2020 and 2021 when the student movement took to the streets to say enough is enough.
Far from attempting any overthrow of the Monarchy, a revered institution that still enjoys majority support in the local society, the party did win at the polls after an intense campaign promising reformist measures, especially the amendment of the draconian lese-majesty law, which imposes harsh prison sentences on anyone daring to criticize the royal family, becoming an undemocratic instrument with significant interference in the party struggle that is hard to comprehend from these latitudes.
A significant part of Move Forward's success was due to its leader and aspiring prime minister, the young and charismatic Pita Limjaroenrat. It is worth noting that in July of last year, the same Constitutional Court suspended him as a deputy during the Parliament session in which his investiture was being debated. It was an incredible maneuver by the powerful forces against the revolutionary leader, unnecessary in any case since Limjaroenrat had not obtained the necessary support of the simple majority of deputies and senators to assume the position of Prime Minister, despite his resounding victory at the polls and forming a government coalition with up to seven parties. He crashed, mainly, against the veto of the members of the Upper House, appointed by the government of the coup leader General Prayut Chan-ocha, who had tied up all loose ends before resigning from the last military government to prevent any "dangerous" politician from replacing him in power.
Limjaroenrat managed to have his temporary suspension as a deputy lifted weeks later, after a prime minister had been elected in the country, and therefore he was perceived as a lesser threat. However, he is still awaiting a ruling from the Constitutional Court on the case of attempting to overthrow the Monarchy initiated by a well-known former monk in the country for his political activism and radicalism, Thirayut Suwankesorn. Pita Limjaroenrat faced up to 10 years in prison and disqualification.
In fact, the panel of nine judges that reached the resolution "unanimously" has also disqualified the 10 members of the party's executive committee, including Pita Limjaroenrat, from holding an institutional position for the next 10 years.
Businessman Srettha Thavisin was appointed Prime Minister in August of last year, after the failed investiture of the previous candidate, with the support of a broad alliance of parties that included forces controlled by generals from the outgoing government, completely excluding Move Forward, considered as we said, too radical.
In Thailand, one of the most severe lese-majesty laws in the world is in force, which includes prison sentences of up to 15 years for participating in acts or making statements considered insulting to the deified king or his relatives. This aberrant norm not only serves to keep the Monarchy far from any criticism, no matter how mild, and thus the institutional status quo in the country but is also used by the State powers - government leaders, the influential Buddhist clergy, or the judiciary - to persecute opponents or combat organizations advocating pro-democratic reforms. In January, a sad record was set when a citizen was sentenced to 50 years in prison for defaming the royal family. A multitude of years resulting from the sum of sentences for various offenses included in the aforementioned lese-majesty law.
No one is exempt. Around that time, the Member of Parliament Rukchanok Srinork was sentenced to six years in prison for insulting the Monarchy. A court found her guilty of retweeting two messages regarding a company owned by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, Rama X, involved in producing a Covid vaccine. This led her to end up in a dismal cell and immediate disqualification from public office.
The Monarchy has been an absolutely revered institution for years. During the 70-year reign of the deified Bhumibol, everything in the country was questioned a thousand times... except the Crown. Under his rule, Thailand experienced up to 10 coups d'état, and the Monarchy was never in danger. Even the coup leaders always needed the royal blessing to stay in power. The monarch also remained above the strong division - especially in the last decade - between the so-called red shirts - mostly from the poor layers of rural and urban areas, as well as students and educated sectors demanding pro-democratic reforms - and the yellow shirts - military elites, business aristocracy, and urban middle classes, mainly. Royal intervention was essential at times to end the confrontation.
But things began to change in 2016 with the death of the revered Bhumibol. The ascension to the throne of his son, the current sovereign, Rama X, was accompanied by demands from significant sectors of society that, while not questioning the crowned Head of State, do demand pro-democratic advances that also reach the king. Thus, in the fall of 2020, unprecedented student marches took place, with direct criticisms of the Monarchy for the first time.
International pressures against Thailand for its legislation absolutely incompatible with fundamental freedoms and basic principles of democracy have so far fallen on deaf ears. Organizations like Amnesty International warn in their annual reports of serious violations of rights such as peaceful assembly and freedom of expression. Paradoxically, Thailand aspires to hold a rotating seat on the UN Human Rights Council between 2025 and 2027, a decision to be made later this year. Last April, two UN special rapporteurs, Clément Nyaletsossi Voule and Irene Khan, issued a statement expressing strong concern over the Move Forward case. Today, following recent events, Bangkok moves even further away from the standards of any system that calls itself democratic.