Dear Mark Zuckerberg,
We wish to thank YOU for creating Facebook: a space that has greatly enabled Thai people to share memories, feelings and thoughts with their beloved relatives and friends in their own motherland - and with people all over the world.
Facebook has grown rapidly in Thailand in recent years. In part this rapid growth is a result of the political climate in Thailand, where a royalist, military junta is imposing heavy censorship on all forms of media and communication and actively encouraging the exercise of Thailand's archaic and draconian laws of Lèse-majesté.
Accurate, honest reporting of events in Thailand is not possible within Thailand. This makes it close to impossible for Thai people in Thailand to form accurate analysis of their own situation and circumstances in Thailand.
For the great number of Thai people who cherish the principles of democracy, the maintenance of open, on-line cyberspace is now a matter of critical importance, and Facebook is now a most important meeting place and medium for Thailand's 30 million FB users - for almost half the population - to follow political developments, to glean information from an as wide a spectrum of opinion as possible and form more-or-less up-to-date views and opinions that can then be communicated and debated openly.
The military coup d'états staged of 2006 and 2014 have not led to social or economic stability or peace and millions of Thai people are becoming extremely tired in their struggle to remain rational in defence of democracy, and keep hold of potentials that can prevent the re-establishment of a hierarchical, authoritarian social order.
On one side of this political conflict stands the great majority of the population demanding that the outcome of elections be respected. On the other the minority - the royalist power-elite hand-in-hand with the new urban elite, is clinging to beliefs in their having a divine right to rule.
We would like to mention briefly that decades of political turmoil in Thailand deepened significantly after the military crack-down in 2010 and simultaneous exercise of the Emergency Decree Act (2005), the Computer Crimes Act (2007), wide implementation of martial law, especially after the 2014 military coup, and increasing application of the law of Lèse-majesté. The six or seven Governments we have had since the 2006 military coup have all focused on blocking the freedom of public media and the freedom of individual people to express themselves, especially on issues relating to the power of the institutions under patronage of the monarchy.
All this is contributing to making Facebook the most significant platform for both within and without Thailand for political discussion, and a channel through which Thai people can vent their legitimate frustrations. In the Thai political arena, the 'red shirt' mobilization has had a highly significant enfranchising impact on the political awareness of millions of Thai citizens, notably the rural majority. In response to this the royalist camp and new urban elite have mobilized to re-establish their advantages in all areas of administration, particularly with regard to control of the judiciary.
The most effective non-military tool in the royalist political arsenal is Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code: the instrument for silencing 'people who think differently'. This law of lèse-majesté states that: “Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years." The law allows itself to be used by anybody to accuse anybody.
The exact numbers are unknown. However, it estimates that since 2006 more than 1,000 people have been charged under Article 112 and dozens of these people have been detained in prison indefinitely. Many of those charged are, indeed, experienced activists and campaigners for democracy. Many of them are also just regular citizens who want some straight talking, men and women young and old, writers of conscience, academics, journalists, students, farmers and workers, also people from mainstream business. Several have been forced to flee this old Land of Smiles and have sought political asylum elsewhere – for more than 200 people.
In all three of our most recent General Elections (2006, 2007, 2011) the royalist elites have lost by huge margins.
It seems, now, that even Thai Facebook pages are beginning to be dominated by fascist elements who work in packs to intimidate whoever they feel like intimidating (please see the attachment). There is now a Facebook network called “Rubbish Collection Organization” whose objective it is to mount witch-hunts against any individual deemed to not be demonstrating sufficient loyalty towards the monarchy. Posts and comments aim at encouraging royalist sympathisers to assault, physically as well as mentally to anyone who thinks differently about the monarchy. FB users deemed guilty of not demonstrating sufficient love towards the King could find themselves being charged under Article 112.