re: "Don't silence deep thinkers" (BP, Editorial, April 22, 2021)
Dear editor,
The Bangkok Post is to be congratulated for writing an editorial that directly addresses a major stumbling block to progress for the Thai people in many aspects of the nation's life: political, social, and certainly moral. However, the identified assault on academic freedom is but one of the major problems with the existing lese majeste law, section 112 of the Criminal Code.
The very real harm done by them is not merely that the feudal lese majeste laws reject the principle that Thai people have basic human rights to hold and express opinions. This is indeed a serious moral failure in the lese majeste law: Thai people, and others, do have a moral right to discuss matters that interest them, especially matters of national significance. Presumably those intent on enforcing ignorance of the topic do not also hold that the topics covered by the repressive lese majeste law are of no significance: did they think any such thing, their eagerness to press lese majeste charges to silence the voices that might speak truth to Thainess would be inexplicable. All agree that the matters being suppressed really do matter.
But a harm from the lese majeste law at least as great as the violation of a basic moral right to free speech is that the lese majeste law makes it logically impossible for any law abiding Thai citizen to have a well-informed opinion about the censored topic. This guaranteed ignorance is a logical consequence of all such censorship. Consider an example: it is illegal to say anything critical of the officially sanctioned view that Kim Jong-un, the supremely admired leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, is the world's wisest, most benevolent, most perfectly righteous elected ruler, the world's greatest pianist, a superb horseman, a man of great athletic prowess, and a noble leader who sets the perfect example of a simple, selfless life. The world outside the jurisdiction of that law might hold very different opinions about North Korea's leader, but within the coconut shell bounded by the censoring law, law abiding citizens will have had none of those false beliefs corrected by contact with reality. They will sincerely believe every false opinion pushed by the system that viciously punishes any hint of dissent. Their opinions about their wondrous leader are sincere. Those sincere, lifelong beliefs are also largely false and worthless.
Basic critical thinking will take us a little further: we do not need to actually have evidence to the contrary to be deeply suspicious of any belief propped up by censorship. The fact that critical, dissenting opinion is criminalized is already a sufficient reason to suspect that the popular opinion that accords with what the law permits is very likely false in significant articles of the dogmatic faith legally dictated. The logically certain consequence of Thailand's lese majeste law is that whatever beliefs and attitudes law abiding Thais sincerely hold regarding the institution that is so protected from reality must lack solid foundation.
Those who truly value Thai institutions must oppose the lese majeste law precisely because they are both confident of the genuine worth of those institutions and because they will desire that the Thai people have the freedom to hold informed, solidly founded opinions about such important Thai matters.
Felix Qui
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The above letter to the editor is the text as submitted by Felix Qui to the Bangkok Post.
The text as edited was published in PostBag on April 24, 2021, under the title "Ignorance is bliss" at https://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/postbag/2104751/jakarta-junket
