During the weekend, Prof Borwornsak Uwanno made a visit to the UK to speak at a seminar at SOAS (organised by the Thai Embassy) as well as at the Samaggi Academic Conference the following day. New Mandala has already put up a report on the SOAS event. Copies of a booklet written by him were also distributed at both events.

The booklet, titled “Lèse-Majesté: A Distinctive Character of Thai democracy amid the Global Democratic Movement”, is basically a collection of Borwornsak’s earlier essays in defence of the LM law in Thailand. The essays first appeared in the Bangkok Post a while back (see here, here, and here) and there seems to be no alterations made in the booklet version. Nonetheless, for those of you who have not read them yet, you can get a general idea of his argument from the extract below.

Conclusion and Recommendations

As a Thai and a lawyer, this author believes that the three groups of insult and defamation laws in Thailand, including the lese majeste law, are consistent not only with the principles of international law and constitutional monarchy, as well as with the principle of criminology on criminalisation of acts in accordance with democratic principles. They also place limitations on freedom of expression which reflect the ethical and cultural norms that most Thais adhere to, and which are not inconsistent with the human rights principles enshrined in the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

[...]

As the Buddhist law of impermanence states, everything, the lese majeste offence included, arises, exists and perishes, as the society’s ethical and cultural norms evolve also in accordance with this same Buddhist law. Nothing is permanent. “The only permanent thing is impermanence.”

- Extracted from Borwornsak Uwanno (2009). Lèse-Majesté: A Distinctive Character of Thai democracy amid the Global Democratic Movement, Nontaburi: King Prajadhipok’s Institute.

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Bangkok Post reports:

The Siam Samakkhi Group on Tuesday filed two complaints alleging lese majeste with Dusit police against former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and two other people.

The complaints were lodged on behalf of the group by senators Somchai Sawaengkarn and Warin Thiamjarat, Gen Somchet Boonthanom, former chief of the secretariat of the Council for National Security, and Lt-Gen Nanthadet Meksawat, former deputy chief of the national intelligence coordination centre.

Somchai Sawaengkarn is an ardent critic of Thaksin, and in this sense alone it is not surprising to see him file an LM complaint against the fugitive former PM. But Somchai is also a Senator, and more importantly he chairs the Senate committee on human rights (see here and here). Yes, a human rights committee, whose job is supposedly to protect and advance freedom of expression, free speech, civil liberties and such.

Apparently, whatever Somchai’s understanding of human rights is, it is completely different from what the rest of the world think.

h/t to a Facebook friend

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