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       Thai Court Rules Progressive Party’s Reform Push Violated Constitution

       Critics call the verdict against the popular Move Forward Party, which hoped to scale back a royal defamation law, another blatant attempt to block the people’s will.

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       Pita Limjaroenrat, center, of the Move Forward Party at the Thai Parliament in Bangkok on Wednesday. Credit...Jack Taylor/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

       By Sui-Lee Wee and Muktita Suhartono

       Reporting from Bangkok

       Jan. 31, 2024Updated 5:53 a.m. ET

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       The most popular political party in Thailand won its following last year, and the ire of the conservative establishment, by campaigning to end military rule and to weaken the draconian law that prohibits criticism of the country’s monarchy.

       But on Wednesday the Move Forward Party and its push for change were dealt a severe blow. Thailand’s Constitutional Court ruled that the party’s proposal to scale back the royal defamation law violated the Constitution because it was an attempt to overthrow the monarchy. It ordered Move Forward to stop all activities related to amending the law.

       The verdict, in effect, lays out explicitly that the royal defamation law is sacrosanct for Thailand’s conservative establishment, a nexus of royalists, military officials and wealthy elites. Their motives were already clear last year, when they moved quickly to block Move Forward’s leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, from becoming prime minister, pushed the party into the opposition even though it won the general election and installed a coalition of allies into power.

       Wednesday’s ruling leaves Move Forward vulnerable to more legal challenges, which could pave the way for its eventual disbandment. It could also set the stage for a showdown between Thailand’s progressive opposition and the establishment. Move Forward and its supporters argue that the royal defamation law — known as Article 112 — needs to be amended because it is being used as a political weapon, while the establishment says that any change to the law could lead to abolishing the monarchy altogether.

       These faultlines were exposed in 2020 when tens of thousands of people took to the streets after the Constitutional Court disbanded the Future Forward Party, the predecessor of Move Forward. Protesters called for checks on the king’s power, breaking a social taboo in a country where the monarch has always been revered.

       The court ruled that the pledge to change the law made by Mr. Pita and Move Forward during last year’s election campaign was a move designed to overthrow Thailand’s political system “with the king as a head of state.”

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       Sui-Lee Wee is the Southeast Asia bureau chief for The Times, overseeing coverage of 11 countries in the region. More about Sui-Lee Wee

       Muktita Suhartono reports on Thailand and Indonesia. He is based in Bangkok. More about Muktita Suhartono

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