Thailand: Former PM Indicted on Royal Defamation Charges

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Facts

• Former Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Tuesday was granted 500K baht ($13.6K) bail by the Criminal Court of Thailand following his indictment on lese majeste charges.¹
• Thaksin is charged with defaming the monarchy during an interview he gave to a South Korean newspaper nine years ago when he accused the king's advisory council of helping conduct a coup the year before.²
• Thaksin was initially charged in 2016, but the case wasn't pursued as he had been living in exile since 2008 following his ouster in a 2006 coup. He went into exile to avoid other charges he said were politically motivated.³
• The billionaire, who is still closely tied to the ruling Pheu Thai Party, returned to the country last August. Thai politics are divided between political parties and the military-backed, pro-monarchy elite.⁴
• Besides his defamation case, Thaksin faces potential removal from politics at the request of 40 military-backed senators. Likewise, the progressive Move Forward Party (MFP) faces potential dissolution by a court due to its attempt to amend lese majeste laws.⁴
• Alongside the lese majeste charges — which carry up to 15 years in prison for each insult — Thaksin is being prosecuted for alleged computer crimes, which accuse him of inputting information into a computer that threatened national security.⁵

Sources: ¹Reuters.com, ²New York Times, ³Associated Press, ⁴Al Jazeera and ⁵Bangkokpost.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by thediplomat.com. Thaksin must be held accountable for his corruption. Despite his indictments and previous parole status, he decided to act as a de facto diplomat by meeting with foreign governments. Instead of allowing the MFP to take charge and make real change, Thaksin's Pheu Thai Party is also proposing economic policies that would benefit his corporate friends over working-class people.
• Narrative B, as provided by openDemocracy. Thaksin's wealth doesn't mean he's an elitist. Consider how he garnered a voter base of working-class Thais, and how his anti-monarchy platform inspired regular people to speak out. If the military establishment didn't crack down on him and his supporters through coups and lawfare, he wouldn't be facing these charges.

Predictions