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Recently, Thailand’s Constitutional Court ordered the dissolution of the Move Forward Party, which had promised to reform the country’s lèse-majesté law. This decision has drawn significant attention to the Thai monarchy and King Maha Vajiralongkorn. The King has faced frequent criticism from the Thai public for various issues, including wearing crop tops, his alleged relationships with multiple women, and his lavish lifestyle.
On the 7th, a Thai court barred Pita Limjaroenrat, the young leader of the Move Forward Party, and ten other senior party members from participating in politics for the next decade. The Thai Constitutional Court deemed the party’s pledge to reform the lèse-majesté law an attempt to undermine the constitutional monarchy, leading to these sanctions.
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Thailand’s lèse-majesté law is notoriously strict. For instance, activist Mongkol Tirasakul was sentenced to 50 years on lèse-majesté charges. Thai authorities arrested him in August of the year before last after posting 27 Facebook updates criticizing the monarchy. This led to accusations that he insulted the royal family.
Mongkon Tirakot was initially sentenced to 28 years in prison during his first trial, but his sentence was extended by 22 years following an appeal in January of this year, totaling 50 years. Given that he is in his 30s, this sentence effectively amounts to a life term.
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Under Thai criminal law, Article 112—known as the lèse-majesté law— imposes penalties of up to 15 years in prison for offenses that insult or negatively portray members of the royal family or their achievements. Before Mongkon Tirakot’s 50-year sentence, the longest sentence was 43 years, handed down in 2021 to a former government official in her 60s.
Thailand did not enforce lèse-majesté laws for two years starting in 2018 but resumed strict enforcement following the large-scale pro-democracy protests in 2020. The intensification of the pro-democracy movement is primarily attributed to the controversial actions of the Thai King.
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Born in 1952, King Maha Vajiralongkorn became the 10th King of Thailand in December 2016. As crown prince, he married three times and divorced three times. He married his cousin at age 25 and had a daughter with her. However, he reportedly had an affair with an actress just a year into the marriage, eventually living with her and fathering five children. He officially divorced his first wife in 1993, 14 years after marriage.
He later married the actress with whom he had an affair, but this marriage was brief and ended in divorce. His third marriage also ended due to corruption allegations linked to her misuse of his name. Following his ascension to the throne, King Vajiralongkorn made headlines in 2019 for his first marriage and the controversial decision to take a concubine just two months later.
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One of the most controversial aspects involved videos of the King wearing a crop top, which went viral despite his position as a national representative. In these videos, the King walks through the streets with colorful tattoos on his arms, back, and abdomen, visible above the crop top.
In response, the Thai government asked CEO Mark Zuckerberg to remove all pages featuring these videos, claiming that the photos were illegal posts that had spread rapidly on Facebook. The King’s controversies didn’t stop there. In 2020, he faced criticism for his lavish lifestyle, including reports that he owned 38 aircraft, which led to accusations of excessive luxury.
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