In that case, nullify all coups
A group of legal scholars, known as the Nitirat, want to restore our country as if the 2006 coup had never happened.
That’s fine. The perpetrators of a coup must always be held accountable for their acts, and in each case, the culprits, if successful, have been careful to make their acts lawful in arrears. As Abraham Lincoln noted, “You must remember that some things that are ‘legally’ right are not ‘morally’ right”.
Also, if potential coup-makers knew that their acts against king and country could not be legally justified, this in and of itself would help prevent future attempts.
But, the law cannot discriminate. We cannot nullify the effects of one coup just because we disagree with its effects, and leave the effects of another intact. Thus, if we restore Thailand as if the 2006 event never happened, including nullifying all decrees and actions taken by the coup-makers and revoking all court decisions originating from post-coup decrees, we must do so for all such events.
Let PM Yingluck start from the beginning, with the coups of 1912, 1917, 1932, 1933, 1939, 1947, 1948, 1949, 1951 (twice), 1957, 1958, 1971, 1976, 1977 (twice), 1981, 1985, 1991, and ending with the one of 2006. Court-martial the masterminds, if alive; if dead, at least strip them of their military honours and confiscate their assets from their heirs if that’s what a court martial would have done. Compensate all those jailed/killed, at the rate used for those harmed by the 2010 political unrest, for example, the Bt10 million each that MP Jatuporn Promphan proposed for wrongful deaths.
Nullify the effects of all coups, not just the one you dislike.
Burin Kantabutra
Bangkok
