The untimely death of lese majeste detainee Netiporn “Bung Thaluwang” Sanehsangkhom, 28, on Tuesday would not have taken place in a genuinely free and democratic society.
This is something that cannot be stressed often enough because holding an impromptu survey by asking passerby “whether royal motorcades inconvenience others or not” is definitely not a crime in England, Japan, or Sweden. Bung was charged under the law along with five others (including a minor) in the Kingdom of Thailand, however, and was accused of not just defaming the monarchy, but committing a seditious act. And at present, we are supposedly not living in a medieval age, or under absolute monarchy, any longer.
The original lese majeste ‘crime’ was committed on February 8 at Siam Paragon Shopping Mall and she was arrested on January 26 this year after her bail was revoked due to her joining and calling for a political protest last August, thus breaking the bail conditions.
How on earth, in a self-proclaimed democratic society, could Bung be charged with royal defamation crime and sedition for something so harmless as publicly asking people to attach a sticker on a paper board to answer whether royal motorcades caused inconveniences to ordinary people or not?
The second thing worth noting is that Bung’s father is a judge, her sister an attorney, and she came from a solid middle-class family, and well-educated. She was a graduate of Kasetsart University’s Faculty of Business Administration, a leading university, and works as a private English-language tutor of school students.
Bung also used to support royalist movement and attend royalist demonstrations of the so-called Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) led by veteran politician Suthep Thuagsuban in 2014, which eventually led to the May 2024 military coup in the name of protecting the monarchy (and the transition of the throne).
All changed when she learned more as to why and how Redshirts were mowed down by soldiers during the crackdown on Redshirt protesters in 2010 and joined the emerging wave of youth calling for monarchy reform over the past half a decade. Bung was not alone, although her decision to go on hunger strike to call for judicial reform and the bail rights for all political detainees eventually led to her death on Tuesday, May 14, after 110 days of hunger strike in prison, there are many more young Thais with similar political views.
Her death is definitely causing more anger, if not hatred, particularly among young Thais who share Bung’s views about the need for Thailand to become freer and egalitarian. We are definitely moving closer towards the tipping point.
Third, while some expressed sorrow and praised Bung as a hero, a good number of royalists, and even some supporters of the Pheu Thai government, laughed and expressed joy, or schadenfreude, on social media at Bung’s untimely death. Perhaps it is too much to ask some to be considerate, even if they disagree or see Bung as an ungrateful Thai who’s against the monarchy.
To be fair, when the late king died, some anti-monarchists were expressing satisfaction on social media as well. And this is where Thailand finds herself in 2024.
