Thailand court rules students’ calls for royal reform sought to overthrow monarchy

Ruling says three anti-government activists violated nation’s constitution with ‘hidden intentions’ to overthrow royal institution

No penalty but order to ‘cease further action in these matters’ in nation where dozens of previous critics of king have been jailed

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Pro-democracy activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul leaves the Constitutional Court in Bangkok where her protest activities came under legal review on November 10. Photo: AP

Published: 10:42pm, 10 Nov 2021Updated: 1:19am, 11 Nov 2021

A Thai court has ruled that three anti-government activists who had called for reform of the country’s powerful monarchy violated the constitution by making what it called a veiled attempt to overthrow the institution.

The Constitutional Court ruling on November 10 in a case brought by a royalist lawyer said a controversial 10-point call for reforms of the institution by three student protest leaders in August last year was designed to topple the monarchy.

“The actions have hidden intentions to overthrow the constitutional monarchy and were not a call for reform,” a court judge said.

Protesters doing the three-finger pro-democracy salute outside Thailand’s Constitutional Court on November 10, after it ruled that three protesters' demands on monarchy reform amounted to calls to overthrow the monarchy. Photo: AFP

The court was ruling on the constitutionality of their reform call and imposed no penalty but ordered them and their groups “to cease further action in these matters”.

The role of the monarchy is a taboo topic in Thailand, where the palace is officially above politics and constitutionally enshrined to be held in “revered worship”.