The lese-majeste law stipulates that whoever defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years.
Opinions on the lese-majeste law are divided among politicians along three main lines.Several prime ministerial candidates have expressed their support to preserve the status quo on Section 112. These include incumbent Prime Minister Prayut from the United Thai Nation Party, who made a reference to the lese-majeste law during his campaign rally in Krabi last weekend.
At present, lese-majeste is an offence related to national security and complaints can be made by anyone. “I’d like to affirm that this law does not affect the development of the country, and that it’s not a problem for the people,” said Warong in a political debate last month.The abolishment of the lese-majeste law is one of the key policies of the Commoners’ Party. Its parliamentary candidate Kornkanok Khumta mentioned in a political debate in April that Section 112 has become a weapon to “silence the ordinary people”.
Sunai from the Human Rights Watch believes that the youth protests and their call to reform the monarchy remain relevant as issues to the electorate to this day. “The conservative wing has gained support from people who want to preserve the status quo. We’ve seen political campaigns against talks about Section 112, and this showed that the issue has become a selling point for the conservative too,” he said.
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