Thailand’s lèse majesté law
泰国的冒犯君主罪法律

Treason in cyberspace
互联网上的叛国罪

Jul 2nd 2009 | BANGKOK
From The Economist print edition

The battle over the royal family between government and opposition goes online
政府与反对派之间关于王室的斗争蔓延到互联网

ON YOUTUBE, he was “thaiman 8”, a prolific poster of crude videos that mocked Thailand’s royal family. These days Suwicha Thakhor goes by another identity: inmate in Bangkok’s Khlong Prem prison. In April he was sentenced to ten years in jail after pleading guilty to lèse majesté, the crime of defaming or threatening the Thai crown. Since 2005 this century-old law has enjoyed a renaissance, netting politicians, scholars, activists and an Australian author. Recently, it seems to have got more coercive.

在Youtube上，他是“thaiman 8”，一个经常发布粗俗视频，嘲弄泰国王室的用户。这些日子，Suwicha Thakhor 获得了另一个身份——曼谷孔普雷监狱的住客。今年四月，他被指控冒犯君主——一项试图侮辱或威胁泰王的罪行，获刑十年。自2005年以来，这项有百年历史的法律“再发神威”，获罪者包括政客、学者、异议分子以及一位澳大利亚作家。最近，它似乎变得更加生猛。

Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul was arrested in 2008 after a blistering anti-royal public tirade. She went on trial last week and the judge ordered the case to be heard behind closed doors on national-security grounds—a ruling that would conveniently bar the foreign press. Ms Daranee and her lawyer cried foul. An appeal is pending.

2008年，由于在公开演讲中猛烈攻击王室，Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul被捕。她的案子上周开审，法官以国家安全为由，下令封闭审理，这项裁决轻易的将外国媒体拒之门外。Daranee女士和她的律师大呼不平，正在提请上诉。

The scope of investigations under the law is widening. This week police began inquiries into whether the board of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand is guilty of lèse majesté. Equally disturbing is a new snitch scheme set up by the justice ministry. The scheme, claims a free-speech activist, is a way of monitoring social-networking sites. In May the prime minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva, signed up as the first volunteer. The goal seems to be to defend the royal family from criticism.

根据这项法律进行的调查正在扩大。本周，警察开始调查泰国外国记者俱乐部的管理委员会是否涉嫌冒犯君主。同样恼人的是司法部新设立的一项检举方案，这个声称鼓励自由言论积极分子的方案，实际上是监控社交网站的一种办法。五月份，总理阿披实•威差奇瓦签约成为该方案的第一个志愿者。该法案的目的似乎是保卫王室，使之免于批评。

Thailand, unlike China, claims to be a democracy. But as in China, cyberspace has become a battleground between free speech and censorship. Online speech has been freer than Thailand’s supine news media. But censors are working overtime. Since March 2008 the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT) has blocked 8,300 website pages on lèse majesté grounds. Thailand’s police have jammed another 32,500 pages for various offences. In 2007, YouTube was blocked for several months.

泰国不像中国，它自称是民主国家。但跟中国一样，泰国的互联网也成为言论自由与审查制度的战场。在泰国，虽然网络言论比谨慎的新闻媒体自由，但网络审查也变本加厉。自2008年3月以来，泰国信息通信技术部以冒犯君主为由，封杀了8300个网页。出于其他各种理由，泰国警察当局封锁了另外32500个网页。2007年，YouTube 曾经被封锁达几个月之久。

Cyberspace is being subjected not only to lèse majesté constraints but to other laws. Mr Suwicha fell foul of one. He was charged under Thailand’s 2007 Computer Crime Act, which makes it an offence to import computer data that harm national security. In the eyes of Thai authorities, rude anti-royal videos fall into that category. Mr Suwicha is the first person to be convicted under a law that carries a five-year jail term and was passed by a military-appointed legislature. He is unlikely to be the last. Police have arrested dozens of internet users who posted comments on web boards. Some face criminal charges.

互联网不仅受制于冒犯君主法，也被其他法律压制。Suwicha 先生就撞到了枪口上，他被指控导入危害国家安全的计算机数据，违反了2007年开始实施的计算机犯罪法。在泰国当局眼里，粘贴对王室无理的视频就属于危害国家安全。计算机犯罪法是由军方指定的立法会通过，Suwicha 先生是第一个受该法律制裁，被判处五年监禁的人。他应该不会是最后一个。警察逮捕了很多在论坛上发表意见的互联网用户，他们中的一些人将面临犯罪指控。

The authorities are also going after webmasters for failing to delete offensive posts promptly enough. One, Chiranuch Premchaiporn, who runs Prachatai.com, a news website, was charged in April because her site carried a comment by one user which allegedly excoriated Queen Sirikit. Ms Chiranuch insists that she deleted the post when asked to by MICT. But Aree Jiworarak, an official at the ministry, says Ms Chiranuch should have spotted the post herself and is “responsible for what happens”. To her distress, Ms Chiranuch was forced to disclose private data that led police to the user, a Thai woman with the online name “Bento”, who was arrested and charged. Ms Chiranuch faces multiple counts that could, potentially, send her away for 50 years.

同时，当局也追查没有及时删除激进帖子的网站管理员。新闻网站Prachatai.com的站长Chiranuch Premchaiporn被指控没有删除一位用户攻击王后诗丽吉的评论。Chiranuch女士坚持说她在泰国信息通信技术部的要求下，删除了帖子。但是该部门官员Aree Jiworarak称，她应该自己发现并删除该贴，现在她需要为“发生的事情负责”。让Chiranuch尤为痛苦的是，她被迫向警察提供该用户的私人数据，导致这位网名为“Bento”的泰国女子被逮捕和起诉。Chiranuch女士自己面临多项指控，很可能面临50年牢狱之灾。

Crime or politics?
是惩罚犯罪，还是政治迫害？

The political backdrop to this witch hunt is well known. Since a coup in 2006 Thailand has been torn between supporters of the ousted prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra, and his conservative opponents in the armed forces, judiciary and, many assume, the palace. In December a coalition led by Mr Abhisit took power in the wake of anti-Thaksin protests by yellow-clad royalists known as the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD). A red-coloured protest movement allied to Mr Thaksin failed in April to force out Mr Abhisit. He has claimed that there is a conspiracy to undermine “the institution”, as the crown is known. His backers point the finger at the irascible Mr Thaksin, who denies disloyalty to the throne while cocking a snook at “aristocratic” Thai government.

这场司法迫害的政治背景众所周知。在2006年军事政变之后，泰国社会已经被撕裂，一边是流亡前总理他信•西那瓦的支持者，另一边是他信在军队、司法系统里的保守派对手，很多人相信，王室也站在这一边。去年12月，保皇的黄衫军（人民民主联盟）发起反他信示威之后，阿披实领导的联合政府上台。今年4月，亲他信的红衫军发起游行，但没能够将阿披实赶下台。阿披实声称有人阴谋颠覆 “传统制度”——这里指王室，他的支持者把矛头指向坏脾气的他信。他信否认对王室不忠，并对泰国当前的“贵族”政府嗤之以鼻。

But the efforts of self-proclaimed royalists are arguably doing as much harm to the institution as criticism by their opponents. The justice minister, Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, for instance, has declared that his highest priority is the protection of the monarchy. So an elite law-enforcement agency in his ministry, which is supposed to take on drug kingpins and other crooks, is busy chasing lowly bloggers.

这些人，自称忠于国王，努力保卫“传统制度”，他们的对手则批评王室。但是毫无疑问，这两派的行为对王室造了同样多的伤害。比如，司法部长Pirapan Salirathavibhaga声称，他的首要任务是保卫君主。因此，本来应该对付毒贩子和其他罪犯的执法精英们，天天忙着追查无关紧要的博客写手。

By persecuting Thais who give vent online, these moral guardians may be adding to the anger against Bangkok’s elite and, perhaps, fanning the flames of republicanism. Their zeal certainly undercuts Mr Abhisit’s feeble efforts to unite a polarised nation. Many observers conclude that the crown must be behind the crackdown. They think the royal family wants to keep a lid on frank discussion, at least until the 81-year-old King Bhumibol hands over to his likely successor, the unpopular crown prince, Maha Vajiralongkorn. Not so, insists a source in the palace, who blames an overzealous government for the spurt of arrests. King Bhumibol himself said in 2005 that he was not above criticism. He has also pardoned lèse majesté convicts, including Harry Nicolaides, an Australian author, in February.

这些道德卫士们，迫害在网上发泄不满的泰国人。他们的行动不但增加了平民对曼谷政治精英的愤怒，还可能激发对共和制度的向往。他们的“爱国”狂热使阿披实先生弥合分裂社会的微弱努力显得徒劳。许多观察家认为王室在背后支持这些行动。他们认为，至少在81岁的国王普密蓬将王位移交给不收欢迎的王储玛哈•哇集拉隆功之前，王室希望保持对民间自由讨论的控制。王宫内的消息来源说，事实并非如此，是过于热心的政府自作主张，进行了大量的逮捕。2005年，国王普密蓬曾经说过，他是可以被批评的。他也特赦了一些冒犯君主罪的犯人，其中包括二月份对澳大利亚作家哈里•尼古拉德斯的特赦。

Even in China, it is hard to control the internet (this week, the country delayed plans to put internet filtering software into every computer). And compared with China’s sophisticated controls, Thai censorship is Firewall 101. It uses keyword searches to turn up suspect websites. Wily netizens will no doubt stay a step ahead of the censors, using proxies and other tools, as they do in China and Myanmar. Meanwhile, the government’s efforts to protect the good name of the king are not only damaging democracy but may even rebound upon the royal reputation.

即使在中国，控制互联网也不容易（本周，中国政府推迟了在每台计算机上安装互联网过滤软件的计划）。与中国复杂精巧的互联网审查体系相比，泰国使用Firewall 101审查系统，依靠关键字找出有嫌疑的网站。毫无疑问，跟中国和缅甸的网民一样，聪明的泰国网民总是能依靠代理软件和其他工具绕过审查。同时，政府保护泰王名誉的努力不但伤害了民主，还可能损害王室的声誉。