M. 112 & the Move Forward Party: A Dive Into Thailand’s Politics
Written by Quinn
“Every action has its equal opposite reaction”, said Isaac Newton; who would’ve thought this phrase would mean so much even outside the field of physics? Within the past few weeks, Thailand has been under a kind of political reformation. With the election of a new president and the fall of a political party to the point of the US court of justice issuing a statement on the matter– what does this mean for the future of Thailand’s government?
During the past election in Thailand, a political party by the name of the move forward party caught the attention of many Thai citizens. Why? Because they’ve suggested a change to something no other party of their time has suggested before. Their main objective is to reform a section of Thailand’s laws named Section 112 of Thailand’s criminal code; the section states that “Whoever, defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years.”. This law has long been a topic of debate in Thailand as to whether it is justified or simply royalist.
The objectives and ideology of the move forward party sparked polarizing views within Thai citizens. Those loyal to the monarchy deemed them disrespectful and unreasonable and accused them of having goals to dismantle the monarchy and overthrow Thailand’s current constitution. Despite that, an estimated 14 million Thais— of the country’s 71.7 million— voted for the move forward party by the end of the election in May 2023 thus putting the party’s (now former) leader, Pita, in a position that is bound to be the prime minister.
So what changed? How did the move forward party go from one of the most popular if not the most popular political party to being dissolved? On August 7th 2024, the constitutional court of Thailand ruled that the move forward party had aims to overrule the constitution of Thailand by challenging criminal code section 112. For their “ill intent”, the court ruled for the dissolution of the move forward party and banned 11 of its executives from practicing politics.
It wasn’t long, however, before the United States court of justice issued a press release on August 7th 2024. The US court of justice expresses “deep concern” towards Thailand’s constitutional court’s ruling, stating that “The Constitutional Court’s decision also jeopardizes Thailand’s democratic progress and runs counter to the aspirations of the Thai people for a strong, democratic future.” This brings up a point of concern for the Constitutional court of Thailand, however, because the extent of the influence of the United States extends thoroughly into how other countries perceive Thailand. Despite that concern, the constitutional court of Thailand has yet to respond.
The current situation in Thailand’s politics right now sets an interesting narrative; a scene to see how Thailand’s laws and its politics relate to each other, how one field of study influences another and how the result of the push and pull of law and politics affects the government of a country. This article does not aim to slander nor praise one side nor the other, but rather report on and analyze the happenings within Thailand as of currently. With that, what the future of Thailand's politics looks like is up to what choices and paths this country’s court and its representatives choose to take in the future.
