A Comparative Analysis of Defamation Law in the United States and Thailand’s Lèse–Majesté Law: Lessons from the Land of Smiles (But Where the King Never Smiles)

Abstract

The United States’ free speech regime, as codified in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution, comes with obvious contrasts to Thailand’s ill-famed lèse–majesté law—Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code—which prohibits defamation or even truthful degradation of the Thai King and Royal Family. Recent scholarship has focused on such differences and has largely depicted the two regimes as diametric opposites. When viewing the First Amendment and Thailand’s lèse–majesté law in temporal isolation, the recent scholarly consensus has significant merit. However, by analyzing the two regimes over time, similarities arise suggesting that both regimes represent each respective country’s attempt to accommodate competing and changing values present within the respective countries.

Keywords

• Free speech
• defamation
• First Amendment
• Lèse–Majesté
• Section 112
• United States
• Thailand.