“In 2014, just as in the years preceding it, there were train, bus, ferry, speedboat, motorbike and car accidents, murders, knifings, unexplained deaths, numerous suicides, diving accidents, robberies gone wrong, anonymous bodies washing up on the shores and a string of alcohol- and drug-related incidents,” it says.

 

 

As a million fewer tourists were predicted to visit following a military coup and the unsolved murder of two British backpackers in September, there is evidence that political opponents are being silenced in Thailand.

Police have now banned a book entitled “A Kingdom in Crisis: Thailand’s Struggle for Democracy in the Twenty-First Century”, written by Andrew MacGregor Marshall, a British journalist formerly based in Bangkok, as they are furious about claims which they say defame the monarchy.

The royal family are revered in Thailand and public signs of disrespect are a criminal offence. The military government, which took power from an elected administration in May, has made it one of its priorities to protect the monarchy’s reputation.

“The content insults, defames and threatens Thailand’s monarchy,” said Somyot Poompanmoung, the national police chief. “The book is a danger to national security and peaceful and orderly society.” Anyone found breaching the ban could face up to three years in jail and a fine of 60,000 baht ($1,800).

The author said he was painfully aware that the book would provoke a furious reaction. “Open political debate is criminalised via draconian enforcement of thelese majeste law that outlaws any perceived criticism of the royal family,” he said.

“The Thai monarchy controls a fortune of at least £25 billion and Thai royals have frequently intervened in politics, so no sensible analysis of Thailand can afford to ignore their role. It’s also widely recognised that the death of the current king could unleash even greater instability. But saying so is illegal in Thailand — it is, quite literally, a crime to tell the truth.”

He denied that his book defames the royal family, but admitted that, in order to tell the full story he had to break Thai law. “I have a Thai wife and a young son, and I love Thailand, but I can’t ever go back there because I would be jailed.”

As the crackdown against anti-royalist sentiment intensifies, there is a chance that the same fate might befall a second book, written by an Australian author.

“Thailand: Deadly Destination”, which will be out soon, attempts to explain how the country’s tourist industry has gone seriously awry. The book’s publicity statement claims that, on the issue of tourist safety, Thailand scores very badly. “In 2014, just as in the years preceding it, there were train, bus, ferry, speedboat, motorbike and car accidents, murders, knifings, unexplained deaths, numerous suicides, diving accidents, robberies gone wrong, anonymous bodies washing up on the shores and a string of alcohol- and drug-related incidents,” it says.

The book pulls no punches and paints a bleak image of the future, going on to state: “Thailand has a dying king and serious succession problems, weak democratic institutions, an economy slipping into recession. [It] faces issues of corruption across many of its key services and is host to international crime syndicates, awash with despised foreigners and drifting perilously towards civil war.”

The author – John Stapleton – claims that those who know the country well were less surprised by news of the murder of two British tourists. He said: “Theinternational coverage of the brutal killing of two British backpackers on the island of Koh Tao has highlighted what many long-time observers of Thailand already knew, that its tourist industry is poorly managed and the Land of Smiles has come to justifiably be regarded as one of the most dangerous tourist destinations on Earth.”

In September, an Amnesty International report refuted by the Thai government claimed that an investigation had revealed widespread and far-reaching human rights violations perpetrated by the military.

The Foreign Office warns Britons that it is “illegal to criticise the coup and you should be wary of making political statements in public. Over 800,000 British nationals visit Thailand every year. Most visits are trouble-free, but there have been attacks (sometimes violent), particularly on the islands of Samui archipelago.”

Credit: By Natalie Paris