Subversion of transitional justice in Thailand: transitional injustice in the case of the ‘Red Shirts’

Abstract

ABSTRACTThe concept of transitional justice (TJ) was widely discussed in Thailand following the massacre of ‘Red Shirt’ protesters in 2010. While TJ is generally conceptualised as a set of internationally recognised and promoted approaches to overcome intra-societal conflict and pursue reconciliation, the current article builds on recent research that finds TJ can be subverted by holders of institutional power to become transitional injustice (TiJ) [Cyanne E. Loyle and Christian Davenport, ‘Transitional Injustice: Subverting Justice in Transition and Postconflict Societies’, Journal of Human Rights 15, no. 1 (2016): 126–49; Sidney Leclercq, ‘Injustice through Transitional Justice? Subversion Strategies in Burundi’s Peace Process and Postconflict Developments’, The International Journal of Transitional Justice [TIJTJ] 11, no.3 (2017): 525–44]. The article argues that TJ concepts have successfully been subverted in Thailand by the nation’s controlling ‘social cage’ to silence and neutralise its political opponents. This study applies Loyle and Davenport’s analytic frame, supported by Leclercq’s consideration of how TJ is normalised in local contexts, to identify how TJ is subverted into TiJ in a non-transitional authoritarian regime. The Thai experience adds substantive evidence that support Hansen’s argument [Thomas Obel Hansen, ‘Transitional Justice: Toward a Differentiated Theory’, Oregon Review of International Law 13, no.1 (2011): 1–46; Thomas Obel Hansen, ‘The Vertical and Horizontal Expansion of Transitional Justice: Explanations and Implications for a Contested Field’, in Transitional Justice Theories, eds. S. Buckley-Zistel, T.K. Beck, C. Braun and F. Mieth (New York City: Routledge, 2014): 105–22] that how TJ is applied in non-transitional regime settings should be included in TJ discourse.