My talk at the conference on "Critique, Democracy and Philosophy," Uppsala University, May 2-4, 2012

1. Facebook and Thai Politics
Struggle between Liberal and Traditional Forces
In Thailand
“Critique, Democracy, and Philosophy in 21st Century Information
Society:
Towards Critical Theories of Social Media”
Uppsala University
May 2 – 4, 2012
So

2. Soraj Hongladarom
Department of Philosophy
Center for Ethics of Science and Technology
Chulalongkorn University

3. Outline
Background of the current political conflict in
Thailand
How Facebook has become a battleground
Clash between values – the lese majeste law in
Thailand
Does FB itself embody certain values? And can they
clash with the traditional values of a local culture?
Implications for democracy in Thailand

4. Background
In September 2006 a coup d’etat toppled the
government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
Since then there has been ongoing political conflicts
between those who support Thaksin and those who
want him out.
This can be seen as an expression of a struggle
between progressive and conservative forces.
The struggle can be viewed through various
interlocking perspectives.

5. Interlocking Perspectives
Personal
Privy Councillor Chief Prem Tinsulanonda vs. Thaksin
Cultural
Traditional vs progressive forces
Political
“Thai style” democracy vs Electoral, representative
democracy

6. Perspectives
Value
“Traditional” Thai value vs. More egalitarian and
“globalized” value
Social
Urban middle class vs. Growing rural middle class
Traditional royalists vs. Those who want to see modern
form of monarchical system
Economical
“Sufficiency economy” vs. more globalized, advanced
form of economy

7. Social Networking Sites
Sites such as FB and Twitter are being used
extensively on both sides.
Usually those who regard themselves as belonging to
one side or the other flock to the places that are
friendly to them.
There are not many debates between the two sides.
This seems to substantiate Sunstein’s claim (2007)
that internet tends to balkanize people.

8. However, SNS’s appear to open up much needed
space in Thailand for possibility of real democratic
deliberation.

9. The Lese-majeste Law
Thailand has the most severe form of lese-majeste law
in the world.
The purpose is to protect the monarchy from criticism
and to uphold a desired image of the monarchy to
the public.
However, SNS’s have done much to puncture this
image, thus opening up much more space for
discussion, as well as increased chances for
persecution.

10. Lese-majeste
The law shows that there are “forbidden areas” that
cannot be touched. It is alleged that the people
around the royal family hide in these areas thus
making themselves immune from being held
accountable.
Moreover, the power of the LM law has been used as
a political tool to silence political opponents.

11. Since the coup in 2006 the number of LM cases has
jumped significantly (Streckfuss).
However, SNS’s appear to open up much needed
space in Thailand for possibility of real democratic
deliberation.
The opening up coincided with the passing of the
Computer Crime Law which gave the authorities jail
anyone who they think are a threat to ‘national
security’.

12. Sunstein
The situation in Thailand seems to belie Sunstein’s
picture. Instead of people splintering into many
small groups, what is happening is that SNS’s are
uniting large number of people together. They
interact and share informaiton together and engage
in thought provoking discussion in such a way
hardly imaginable before the SNS’s.

13. According to Sunstein, people tend to follow their
own narrow interests, but what is happening in
Thailand is that the SNS’s make it possible for
people to form a powerful front against the
entrenched traditional force. The outcome of this
struggle remains to be seen, but the traditional elites
appear to be in full retreat.
So, in the case where there is a strong, sweeping
political transformation, people tend to band
together using these online tools instead of
splintering into many small groups.

14. What Kind of Democracy?
The struggle in Thailand can be seen as one between
the traditional “Thai-style” democracy and the more
liberal and open one.
Even those who advocate the former are using FB
extensively – a shift from reliance on the elites to
more popular representation, but still emphasis on
anti-corruption (but the real motivation is to
preserve the image of the King).
So it appears that FB tends to result in more open kind
of democracy, but much remains to be seen.