Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha recently revealed that the king asked him to not prosecute individuals under the country’s Lese Majeste Law, which makes it a crime to insult or criticize the Thai monarchy.
Those who are convicted of breaking Lese Majeste Law, Article 112 of Thailand’s criminal code, can face up to 15 years in prison.
Although Prayut said he will follow King Vajiralongkorn’s instructions not to punish suspected Lese Majeste offenders, the PM still cautioned individuals from criticizing the monarchy in any way, saying that it could have severe consequences on their future and job opportunities.
“Those who have this kind of behavior may find it hard to find work, businesses do not want this sort of people to work for them, so how can they make a living? I am worried for them,” Prayut stated.
Lese Majeste has been used less and less in the past years to go after critics of the monarchy, but opponents of the law state that a provision of the country’s Computer Crime Act serves a similar function by targeting those who make critical posts of the monarchy online.
Even with the king’s recommendation to not prosecute those who speak ill of the monarchy, Thailand lawyers advise against any criticism against the king or monarchy as the law is still on the books, as well as the aforementioned Computer Crime Act and another sedition law that can also be used to go after critics of the monarchy.
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