Letter of Lee Jones

Dear Sir Michael,

I am writing to express my very deep concern about reports that St John's has invited Prime Minister Ahbisit of Thailand to speak at the college on 14 March.

Although it is understandable given his education at St John's, I do not believe it is appropriate to ask someone like him to address the Oxford community on the subject of 'democracy'. As you may be aware, the Abhisit administration has only come to power in Thailand following a period of naked manipulation of Thai politics by cynical political elites, including the leadership of Abhisit's own 'Democrat' Party. The coruts have clearly been used in a highly political fashion to dismantle the democratically elected government by forcing ministers, including Prime Minister Samak, to resign, to create a lethal confrontation with Cambodia over Preah Vihear temple for purely domestic political reasons, and to disband the People's Power Party, the party of the legitimately elected government.

The 'Democrats' came to power only after threats of another military coup and months of violence on the streets of Bangkok by opponents of the PPP government, the so-called 'People's Alliance for Democracy', which actively campaigned for the suspension of democracy, e.g., by returning to a non-elected senate, a non-elected prime minister, by removing universal suffrage, etc. PAD members openly bore arms on the streets and shot several people. One of the leaders of the PAD, which attacked and captured Bangkok's main international airport, is now Abhisit's foreign minister. Finally, the 'Democrats' came to power only with the support of a PPP splinter group led by Chidchob Newin, one of Thailand's most notoriously corrupt political godfathers.

Since attaining power, the Abhisit government has clamped down on political opponents by charging them with lese majeste, which carries a jail term of 15 years. Australian author Harry Nicolaides was sentenced under this law for writing a book that sold only seven copies which allegedly insulted the king. Professor Giles Ungpakorn has had to flee Thailand in order to escape persecution for his critical book on the 2006 coup d'etat, and is now resident in Oxford. Hundreds of other political prisoners are languishing in prison. Just this morning I have received news that the offices of Prachatai, one of Thailand's few remaining critical news websites, has been raided by the police and its coordinator arrested under the 'Computer and IT Act' which allows the government to silence subversive websites. Besides all that, the government has also treated Rohingya refugees from Burma with remarkable brutality, as you have probably seen recently on the news, with soldiers abusing the refugees before towing their vessels out to sea, stealing their supplies and cutting them adrift with no means of propulsion. This has drawn condemnation from the UN and various human rights groups.

In short, St John's may feel proud to have one of its alumni serving as Thailand's prime minister, but it can only embarrass itself by inviting such a figure to speak on the subject of 'democracy'. In reality there is neither freedom of speech nor academic freedom nor democracy in Thailand today.

Yours sincerely,

Lee Jones

Lee Jones

Rose Research Fellow in International Relations

Lady Margaret Hall, Oxford, OX2 6QA

07854 211353 • lee.jones@politics.ox.ac.uk • www.leejones.tk