Thai Group Pushes to Change Royal Insult Law as Cases Increase

Jan. 16 (Bloomberg) -- A Thai group began a public campaign to change a law protecting King Bhumibol Adulyadej from criticism amid a rising number of cases, resisting pressure from the military and royalist groups to avoid discussing the topic.Hundreds of people in a standing-room only crowd at Bangkok’s Thammasat University cheered yesterday as the Campaign Committee for the Amendment of Article 112 listed proposed changes to the law, including reducing the maximum jail sentence to 3 years from 15 years. UGG Classic Tall Boots It aims to gather 10,000 signatures over the next 112 days, a move that would allow lawmakers to consider the bill under Thailand’s constitution.The lese-majeste law “has become a weapon for intimidation, harassment and incitement of hatred among people,” Kritaya Archavanitkul, a scholar at Mahidol University, told yesterday’s gathering. “Article 112 is also a critical factor that has undermined freedom of expression.”Wider debate over the lese-majeste law threatens to revive political unrest that has led to street battles over the past five years in Southeast Asia’s second-biggest economy. The U.S., European Union and United Nations have called on Thailand to respect freedom of speech following convictions last year.“The fault line is now centered on the role of the monarchy in Thai democracy and the battleground is this inviolability of Article 112,” said Thitinan Pongsudhirak, director of Chulalongkorn University’s Institute for Strategic and International Studies in Bangkok. “It has the makings of a nasty face-off in the longer term.”