A pro-coup Buddhist monk known for leading anti-election mobs prior to the 2014 coup d’état has urged the US and Human Rights Watch, a human rights civil society group, not to touch Thailand’s lèse majesté law or intervene in its domestic affairs.  

On Monday, 28 September 2015, Buddha Issara, a well-known Buddhist monk who was one of the key leaders of the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) and its anti-government and anti-election protests, posted a letter on his Facebook page, addressed to Glyn T. Davies, the US ambassador to Thailand.

In the letter, the PDRC monk urges the US and Human Rights Watch not to intervene in Thai politics and to stop calling on the Thai junta to amend ‘Articles 112 and 116’ of ‘the Constitution’.  He referred to Article 112 as the law to protect the revered Thai monarchy from defamation and insults.

In fact, the Interim Constitution implemented after the 2014 coup only has 48 articles and Articles 112 and 116 of the previous 2007 Constitution have nothing to do with the Thai monarchy, but concern the election process of members of parliament and the prohibition against senators holding other political posts. Therefore, it is likely that the monk is referring to Articles 112 and 116 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté and sedition laws, which have been widely used against political dissidents since the coup.

In his statement, Buddha Issara also calls upon his supporters to gather in front of the US Embassy at 1 pm on 1 October 2015 to submit the letter to the US Embassy in Bangkok.

Buddha Issara (in orange monk robe) surrounded by his personal PDRC guards during negotiations with the authorities at the height of the PDRC protests in early 2014 (file photo)

“We have to show those ‘Farang’ (westerners) that we Thai people will not let anyone insult and intimidate our beloved monarchy. Do not breach diplomatic protocol and intervene in our domestic affairs,” Buddha Issara stated. “This time if something happens, I ‘Phraya Ratchasi (the king of the lions) of Chaengwattana Stage’ (one of the PDRC stages in Bangkok before the coup) will be responsible.”

He added that the reason he will not go to the Human Rights Watch office, which according to him is in the UN Headquarters in Bangkok, is because it is a ‘satun’ (vulgar) organisation established by the US government.

In fact, Human Rights Watch has no office in Bangkok and is an independent civil society organisation, which monitors human rights situations worldwide.   

Buddha Issara is one of the most popular faces of the PDRC, who in early 2014 led the PDRC protesters to camp out and occupy the government complex in the outskirts of Bangkok. The monk was then well known for his daily negotiations with heads of various governmental units, who came to ask him to authorize permission to reclaim their buildings.

The 58-year-old monk stunned the public in February 2014 when he led a group of protesters to SC Park Hotel, owned by the Shinawatra family, and requested the management to pay a “loss of time” fee to the tune of 120,000 baht after the hotel manager refused to let the group stay at the hotel.

In the same month, he led a group of protesters to Voice TV, perceived to be anti-establishment and pro-red shirt, largely because one of its major shareholders is Panthongtae Shinawatra, the son of Thaksin Shinawatra. Once there, they demanded “fair” reporting, citing the now defunct Blue Sky channel, which has close ties with the Democrat party and the PDRC as an example and asking the executive to apologize for distorting the news.