[Tlc] T-academic freedom

[justinm at ucr.edu]

Academic accused of insulting Thai king in exam paper
      >By Darren Schuettler
      >
      >BANGKOK (Reuters) - Question 8 on Professor Boonsong
      Chaisingkananont's
      >examination may seem a harmless academic exercise.
      >
      >"Do you think the monarchy is necessary for Thai society?
      How should it
      >adapt to a democratic system? Please debate."
      >
      >But in Thailand, one of the few countries where laws
      protecting royalty
      >are strictly enforced, it is a taboo question which could
      land the
      >46-year-old philosophy lecturer in jail.
      >
      >Acting on a complaint from a fellow professor at Silpakorn
      University,
      >police are investigating whether Boonsong insulted King
      Bhumibol Adulyadej
      >by asking his first-year students to debate the role of the
      monarchy in
      >exams in 2005 and 2006.
      >
      >Professor Winai Poonampol said he went to police because
      Boonsong's
      >teachings posed "a threat to society".
      >
      >"It should not be biased, teaching only one side like a
      doctrine," he said.
      >
      >The accusation is a serious one.
      >
      >Seen by many Thais as the guiding light, King Bhumibol, the
      world's
      >longest-reigning monarch who turns 80 in December, receives
      a
      >near-religious devotion from much of the country's 63
      million people.
      >
      >His portrait adorns offices and homes, and millions of
Thais
      have taken to
      >wearing yellow on Mondays, the colour associated with the
      king's birthday,
      >to show their respect and loyalty.
      >
      >One of Boonsong's questions asked: "How does the yellow
      shirt fever
      >reflect problems in Thai society? Are they problems that
      need to be
      >tackled? If so, how?"
      >
      >ABOVE CRITICISM?
      >
      >Revered as a champion of the poor and a pillar of stability
      through many
      >crises and coups, only the most delicate portrayal of the
      King and his
      >family is acceptable -- even though the monarch said
      publicly in 2005 he
      >was not above criticism.
      >
      >Since April, Thailand has blocked the on-line video-sharing
      Web site
      >YouTube for showing video clips mocking the King, and last
      year it quietly
      >banned"The King Never Smiles", a 500-page biography
      portraying Bhumibol as
      >"anti-democratic".
      >
      >A tough lese majeste law imposes jail terms of three to 15
      years for
      >anyone who "defames, insults or threatens" the King, Queen,
      heir apparent
      >or regent.
      >
      >The most recent conviction, a Swiss man jailed for 10 years
      in March for
      >defacing pictures of the King, was deported swiftly after
      King Bhumibol
      >pardoned him.
      >
      >But too often, critics say, the law has been abused because
      it allows
      >nearly anyone to level an accusation of disloyalty,
      compelling police,
      >prosecutors and the courts to act.
      >
      >"Generally, it's a risk-free action. Anyone can make the
      charge. You just
      >go to the police, " American academic and lese majeste
      expert David
      >Streckfuss said.
      >
      >At the height of a political crisis last year, Prime
      Minister Thaksin
      >Shinawatra and his enemies, who accused him of corruption
      and abuses of
      >power, hurled lese majeste charges at each other.
      >
      >His alleged disrespect for the King was cited as one reason
      for the
      >September coup, which some analysts say was as much about a
      royalist
      >military and corporate elite removing a nouveau riche
      businessman who had
      >encroached on their turf.
      >
      >All lese majeste charges were dropped after he was gone.
      >
      >Boonsong has not been charged, but police have interviewed
      students and
      >other faculty members at the leafy campus in Nakhon Pathom
      on the
      >outskirts of Bangkok.
      >
      >"We are collecting information," Police Colonel Passakorn
      Klanwan said.
      >"We are looking at the intent of his teachings".
      >
      >ECHOES OF MCCARTHY
      >
      >Insisting he did nothing wrong, Boonsong has refused to
hand
      over the
      >marked exam papers, saying it would violate his students'
      rights and could
      >expose them to allegations of lese majeste.
      >
      >"This is like McCarthyism," the bespectacled professor with
      >shoulder-length hair told Reuters, referring to the 1950s
      anti-communist
      >witch hunts in the United States.
      >
      >"I think it's important for students to be able to analyze
      and criticize.
      >They must have a deep understanding of any important
      institution in Thai
      >society and this includes the monarchy," he said.
      >
      >More than 500 academics and activists have signed a
petition
      >(www.petitiononline.com/4bs2007/petition.html) denouncing
      the case as a
      >grave threat to academic freedom.
      >
      >"It bodes ill for Thailand at a bad time for the country,
      when there are
      >strenuous efforts to roll back all sorts of modern thinking
      and
      >institutions in favour of those that serve only the
      interests of its
      >elite," said Basil Fernando of the Asian Human Rights
      Commission.
      >
      >The case has unnerved university officials who said they
      warned Boonsong
      >he was playing with fire.
      >
      >"In this country, this kind of thing is against the law,"
      said acting Arts
      >Faculty dean Maneepin Phronsuthirak. "If he wants to ask
      these questions
      >he should go and live in England or Australia or somewhere
      where it is not
      >against the law.
      >
      >"What happens to my students if they ask the same q
      >
      >http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1273532007
      >
      >

______________
Dr. Justin McDaniel
Dept. of Religious Studies
2617 Humanities Building
University of California, Riverside
Riverside, CA 92521
951-827-4530
justinm at ucr.edu