As Thailand’s common election approaches this Sunday, a series of TikTok videos featuring prime ministerial candidates answering questions about controversial subjects has gone viral. The matters raised during the electoral marketing campaign embody the legalization of e-cigarettes, local alcohol industry deregulation, sex work decriminalization, and amending the country’s strict royal defamation law.
Child’s play , often identified as Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, is a sensitive topic in Thai society, as it stipulates that those who defame, insult, or threaten the king, queen, heir-apparent, or regent might face between three and fifteen years in jail. Increased public interest in Section 112 has led to it turning into a sizzling subject in political debates in the lead-up to the election.
Sunai Phasuk, a senior researcher on Thailand from Human Rights Watch, said that the issue’s frequent presence in political discussions originated from the pro-democracy demonstrations that began three years in the past, calling for monarchy reform. The 2020 protests, led predominantly by younger Thais, made calls for corresponding to decreasing the federal government budget for the monarchy and abolishing the royal defamation law.
Opinions on the legislation amongst politicians fall into three primary categories. Some prime ministerial candidates—including incumbent Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha—support maintaining the established order. Other candidates, like Pita Limjaroenrat from the Move Forward Party, again amendments to the law, together with reducing penalties and permitting only the Royal Household Bureau to press costs. A third point of view, represented by the Commoners’ Party, calls for the law’s abolishment, as they imagine it has been weaponized to silence ordinary citizens.
A whole of 1,902 individuals have been prosecuted for joining demonstrations or expressing political views between July 2020 and April 2023, in accordance with data from Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). Of these prosecutions, 242 instances contain accusations of lese-majeste.
Sunai Phasuk believes that the persisting relevance of the youth protests and their calls for for monarchy reform illustrates the lasting impression of the demonstrations. He notes that Thai society is now clearly divided between those who want to preserve the monarchy’s established order and those looking for reform. Candidates on both sides have gained support due to their positions on the problem stories Channel News Asia..