Thailand’s conservative establishment is trying to eliminate politicians who have promised reforms, according to the former leader of a popular party that was banned by the courts last week.
Pita Limjaroenrat, whose Move Forward party won the most votes and seats in last year’s election, said Thailand was trapped in a “double-lock democracy” in which the legal system and military coups were repeatedly used to undermine election results.
His former party was dissolved on Wednesday because it promised to reform the country’s strict lese majeste law, under which criticism of the monarchy can be punished with up to 15 years in prison.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk, the European Union and the US State Department expressed concern about the Constitutional Court’s ruling and warned that it would undermine the country’s democratic progress.
The party’s remaining MPs have since reformed into a new party, the People’s Party, but Pita and the Move Forward board are banned from political activity for ten years. He warned that legal threats against the new party could escalate.
“They are after us. They are destroying us,” said Pita, speaking to the Guardian from his home in Bangkok. “They will not compromise. They are not here to find consensus.”
Move Forward had promised to shake up Thailand by stopping military interference in politics, breaking up monopolies that dominate the economy and reforming the law against lese majeste.
Its promises resonated with a large section of Thai voters, but also faced fierce opposition from the powerful royalist military government, which blocked the party’s takeover of power and accused it of trying to overthrow the monarchy.
Pita said his opponents were using the monarchy as a pretext to protect their own interests.
“I believe that the king is more respected than politics because we are a constitutional monarchy,” he said, adding that he hoped “that the people in power, whether military or monopolies, will stop abusing the monarch as a pretext for protecting their concentration of power and wealth.”
The party’s promise to reform the law aims to de-escalate the conflict between younger generations and the monarchy, he said.
“In my attempt to amend Article 112 of the Penal Code (the lèse majesté law), I hoped to use Parliament as a middle ground, a common denominator with transparency.”
In 2020, mass protests by young people called for reform of the monarchy, criticising an institution long considered sacrosanct. In the run-up to last year’s elections, unprecedented discussions about lèse majesté emerged, and political parties were forced to announce their stance on the law. Move Forward was the only party to promise reform.
The space for such debates is shrinking, Pita said, adding that conditions for freedom of expression are worse today than they were before the mass protests began. Since 2020, at least 272 people have been charged with lèse majesté.
Pita said there was a “desire for justice” among the public following the dissolution of Move Forward. “I spend my time directing the anger and desire (towards) the ballot box rather than the street fighting,” he said, adding that street protests carried the risk of “bullet holes in people’s heads” and a military coup.
The Thai authorities have repeatedly used excessive force against demonstrators in the past. In 2010, for example, at least 90 people were killed in a military crackdown.
The threat of a coup has always been a possibility in Thailand, he added. “I’m not saying that because I see it that way, but because there are facts… Since 1932… there have been 13 military coups and 20 attempted coups… the last one was just a decade ago,” he said. Judicial harassment is another way the establishment maintains control, he added.
According to Pita, Move Forward was the 34th political party to be dissolved since 2006.
Further legal threats are being made to former Move Forward MPs, including those who have defected to its successor, the People’s Party. The National Anti-Corruption Commission is investigating the ethical conduct of 44 politicians who were members of Move Forward and supported the lèse majesté reform bill. They face a lifetime ban from political activity.
The new party is aiming for an even bigger victory than in last year’s election, “so that we are the undisputed leader in a democratic Thailand.”
There is also a risk that Thailand’s old structures will “collapse from within” as new generations enter politics, the judicial system or the military, he added.
The People’s Party has said its ideology remains unchanged, even if its strategies may differ. “You can pick a few flowers, but you can’t stop spring,” Pita said.
