Book banned for discussing monarchy

THAILAND: Book banned for discussing monarchy - 30/01/2008


The author of a book that police say was banned for its material on the Thailand monarchy has vowed to fight any charges laid against him. The book criticised Thailand's 2006 military coup and raised questions about the political role of the Thai monarchy. It's the latest in a string of cases where Thai authorities have sought to enforce the law of lese majeste.

Presenter - Joanna McCarthy Speaker - Giles G. Ungphakorn, Associate Professor from Chulalongkhorn University.

MCCARTHY: Political scientist, Giles Ungphakorn's book is called "A Coup for the Rich". As the title suggests it's a highly critical account of Thailand's military coup in September 2006. It also delves into the role allegedly played by the country's reveered king and it refers to another banned book "The King Never Smiles" by United States journalist, Paul Hanley, that portrays the king as a deeply political monarch, his desire for stability and unity has stifled Thailand's democracy.

Associate Professor Ungphakorn, says these kind of debates are not tolerated by the country's elite.

UNGPHAKORN: In the chapter where I discuss the king, I try to take part in the academic debate which are going on right now about the nature of the king and the monarchy as an institution. Because we're seeing a lot of discussion, recently around the Thai studies conference about how powerful is the monarchy, to what extent is an ancient institution in conflict with new institutions and so on. And it seems that just the discussion of that can be something which the Thai elite think shouldn't take place.

MCCARTHY: In a country where the king is so revered, did you also know that referring to these kind of debates was going to be controversial and even inflammatory?

UNGPHAKORN: Of course, anyone who operates in Thailand knows that these debates are controversial. But if we are to have a functioning democracy, we need to be able to discuss the monarchy.

Now, Paul Hanley's 'The King Never Smiles" is banned in Thailand, but yes it is a very well researched book. We can argue about Hanley's analysis, and we should argue about it, but I think he's quite wrong to ban the book. And what it really means is that people have the discussions about the monarchy behind closed doors and certain sections of the population are too afraid to even discuss it.

MCCARTHY: The king is almost seen as a semi-divine figure in Thailand. Do you grant any credence to the argument by Thai authorities that this is needed to maintain harmony?

UNGPHAKORN: I think that it is counterproductive, it doesn't actually maintain harmony. The monarchy has never maintained harmony in Thai society. It's counterproductive in two ways. One is that you can't have a functioning democracy where somebody is regarded as a semi-God and can't be discussed.

Interestingly the king himself has said that people have the right to criticise him. The second reason why it's a very poor reason is that when you have someone regarded as a semi-God like this, when a transition occurs to the next king, the Thai Ruling class are going to have considerable difficulty keeping up this story and therefore even in their own terms, it's not something which leds to a stable monarchy.

MCCARTHY: And your own university refused to sell this book. Was that disappointing?

UNGPHAKORN: Very disappointing, yes. I mean I thought that at least in university circles that people would uphold the principles of academic freedom. The Thammasat University, another university in Bangkok did agree to sell it and has been selling it for quite a long time. This banning letter only came recently and I suppose it's something to do with increased publicity around the discussion during the Thai studies conference.

MCCARTHY: And you say you haven't been contacted by police as yet. Do you expect you will be in future?

UNGPHAKORN: I don't know. If the letter is merely an attempt to just close off the outlet where I was selling my book through a shop, then they might never contact me. I mean that's one tactic that the government's use in authoritarian states is to close off the outlet. On the other hand, if they wish to prosecute me, then they will contact me, and I will be prepared to defend my case.

Source : www.radioaustralia.net