State censorship is practised by both military and civilian governments. But since the 2014 coup, the rise in "political art" in Thailand means that the axe has fallen more on content critical of the regime. Sometimes it goes beyond censorship and intimidation into criminal charges and detention. Following are some of the well-known cases.
May 12, 2018
Several Thai punk bands held an anti-coup concert -- called "It's Almost Four Years, Damn It!" -- at the Oct 14 Memorial, sending a clear message about their frustration over the four-year rule of the regime. Late that night, members of one of the bands, called Blood Soak, were taken to Chanasongkram police station for inquiry. The band sang strong lyrics denouncing the prime minister and burnt a poster bearing the PM's image. The lead singer later put a message on his Facebook page asking if music could cause an uprising. The police released the band members after hours of questioning.
March 2018
The graffiti artist Headache Stencil sprayed a Banksy-style image of an alarm clock with the face of Gen Prawit Wongsuwon on the side of a footbridge. The work was a critique of the luxury-watch scandal that engulfed Gen Prawit late last year. As quick as a fox, unknown authorities painted over the image after the photo spread online.
January 2018
The case of online satire cartoonist Khai Maew was curious. His popular Facebook page, known for its four-panel, caption-less comics that take jabs at the junta on a daily basis mysteriously went offline in January, causing concern and panic among fans. The sudden closure of Khai Maew was similar to the plug-pulling of other political satire pages, such as KuKult and We Love PM Prayut -- in the latter case, the administrators of the funny, meme-making page were detained at a military barracks in April 2016. One of the admins later went in exile in the US, fearing intimidation and aborted justice.
The Khai Maew page, however, came back online in February in a modified version, called Khai Maew X.
June 2017
In a high-profile case from last year, a group of soldiers inspected Gallery Ver and Cartel Artspace on Sathon and left a trail of blank spaces behind them.
The soldiers came to "look at" Tada Hengsapkul's exhibition "The Shards Would Shatter At Touch", which featured illusive photographs of political prisoners and dissidents. But the gallery was closed when the officers arrived. While the staff were busy fetching the keys to the building, the soldiers wandered off next door and into Harit Srikhao's exhibition "Whitewash", featuring hallucinatory photographs dealing with the concealment and distortion of truth regarding the May 2010 protests.
Harit was asked to remove his exhibition, even though he wasn't even the prime target of the inspection. Tada, meanwhile, chose to tear down his entire display before the military returned the same day to check on his work.
May 2015
In a well-known case of self-censorship, filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul decided not to screen his acclaimed Rak Ti Khon Kaen (Cemetery Of Splendour) in Thailand. The film premiered to a rousing reception at Cannes Film Festival in May 2015, and although the film has since been screened around the world, including in Singapore, Laos and even as an in-flight movie for certain airlines, the director has never shown it in Thailand.
Cemetery Of Splendour concerns a group of soldiers suffering an epidemic of sleeping sickness. The film's grand metaphor is about how the prescribed ideology of the state has turned people, and soldiers, into somnambulists who can't open their eyes to see the truth.
February 2015
Ornanong Thaisriwong in Bang La Merd.
The severest fate befell theatre performers Pornthip Munkong and Patiwat Saraiyaem, who were both sentenced to five years in prison for lèse-majesté but whose reduced terms were reduced by half after they confessed. The charge was brought against them for the play The Wolf Bride, which they performed in October 2013 -- before the coup took place -- though the court reached a verdict in February 2015, or eight months after the 2014 coup. Pornthip and Patiwat were released last August.
January 2015
In an early case of official intimidation that attracted much coverage, soldiers attended a performance Bang La-Merd by Ornanong Sriwong, sitting down in the room at Thong Lor Art Space in uniform and recording the entire show without any attempt to hide their intentions.
A mixture of monologues, physical movement and audience interaction, Bang La-Merd tackles the sensitive issue of people's rights, freedom and violation. La-merd is Thai for "to violate", while bang can be roughly translated to mean an area or neighbourhood. This experimental theatre piece was first premiered in 2012, but Ornanong restaged it in 2015 as a response to the post-coup political climate.
The soldiers actually phoned the theatre to inquire about the show before they showed up. In the performance attended by the officers, Ornanong improvised a prologue and re-enacted her phone conversation with the soldiers -- a funny payback which turned the intimidators into clowns. Still, they would return and sat there among the audience for the next few shows.
