Thailand’s Constitutional Court on Wednesday ordered the kingdom’s most radical party, Move Forward, to stop pressing for reform of a hard-line royal defamation law that effectively criminalizes open debate on the role of the monarchy.
The court stopped short of dissolving the popular political party, however, averting an immediate political crisis.
Move Forward stunned the royalist establishment by winning the most seats in an election in May 2023. The party, however, was forced into opposition by the conservative coalition that now governs.
The party has won the support of young and old with its structural reform agenda, including amending the defamation law which carries up to 15 years in prison per charge of insulting the monarchy.
The law protects Thailand’s top institution, headed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who leads the country’s all-important system of patronage and is one of the world’s wealthiest monarchs.
Critics of the law say it kills free speech, is too sweeping and has been weaponized by conservatives to jail pro-democracy campaigners and hush wider debate on political reform across one of Asia’s least equal countries.
In a unanimous ruling, the court said Move Forward’s election promise to amend the law — known locally as 112 for its section in the Criminal Code — qualified as an unconstitutional attempt to “overthrow the monarchy.” The court also ordered the party to stop its campaign.
Thailand has been mired in a decadeslong struggle between the royalist establishment, which relies on army coups and court rulings to secure its power, and a public which votes in ever larger numbers for pro-democracy parties, which are then dissolved or pushed to the sidelines.
Move Forward has denied trying to overthrow the monarchy and warned the ruling leaves the door open to banning the party if the conservative establishment deems it a threat.
“I have a few concerns about the ruling today,” Move Forward leader Pita Limjaroenrat told reporters after the court rendered its decision.
“First, is the boundary between the legislative and the judicial court. Second … it’s a lost opportunity for Thai society to use the parliament to discuss this issue with maturity,” he said.
Pita, 43, last week survived a separate legal attempt to ban him from politics over shareholding in a long-defunct media company.
Pro-democracy campaigners said Wednesday’s ruling shows the conservative elite is still in control against the will of the majority, reflected in the last two elections.
“It’s very concerning,” Attapon Buapat, an activist who has faced charges in several 112 cases, told VOA.
“The court has expanded its power to the point where it seemingly now also controls the legislative and executive branches. If that is the case, how can we have checks and balances?” he asked.
Scores of people have been jailed under the law since massive student-led pro-democracy protests that started in 2020 highlighted the issue of reforming the monarchy.
Experts warn that Move Forward may still be vulnerable to a petition for its dissolution, with Wednesday’s court ruling acting as a bargaining chip for the establishment to cash in later.
Several pro-democracy parties have been dissolved by the same court, including Move Forward’s predecessor, Future Forward, which won around 6 million votes in the 2019 election.
Four years later, Move Forward won nearly 15 million votes.
“Parties get dissolved far too easily here, destroying the parliamentary tools that civilians have to deal with different opinions,” said Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, a law professor at Thammasat University.
“But if Move Forward is dissolved, its third incarnation will be ready to rise. It’s not the party that wins hearts and minds. It’s the idea,” he said.
The government is now led by real estate tycoon Srettha Thavisin, whose Pheu Thai Party once supported the democracy cause but compromised to take power in a coalition with arch conservatives.
Pheu Thai says it wants a more open and equitable Thailand but says the monarchy must not be touched by any reforms.
