Australian gets 3 years in jail for insulting Thai monarchy

Monday 19th January, 05:29 PM JST

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SuperLib at 05:57 PM JST - 19th January

It's barbaric.
smithinjapan at 06:55 PM JST - 19th January

wuzzademcrat: "LOL. Throw a shoe at a man who liberated 25 million and the Left worships you."

I realize you just came/come on here to troll and post inflammatory remarks, but I feel this one should be addressed for the outright moronic comparison it is. For one thing, the man in Iraq did not throw the shoe at the Iraqi president (not King, just to note the technical differences as well). For another the King of Thailand has been revered since the times I mentioned before, and perhaps longer, with the current king HELPING TO BRING PEOPLE TOGETHER and saving the country in a number of ways. GWB is very, very far from being or having been revered for a long time, and is only revered by about 5% of the AMERICAN population, and mildly liked by a few percentage points more. He helped in the slaughter of hundreds of thousands of Iraqis, and pretty near single-handedly destabilized the region more than it was.

You're actually comparing the King of Thailand to GWB? As likeitis says, you better not go over THERE and do that! hahaha.

Finally, I haven't seen one single person on this thread who condones what's going on, my friend, and pretty much EVERYONE has stated the punishment is too strict. Geez, though, your comparison is something I'm going to be laughing at for days!
wuzzademcrat at 07:01 PM JST - 19th January

"We are not all on the same page, and due to the fact that many cultures are on higher pages than my own in many respects,"

Have you ever even been to Thailand?
Triumvere at 07:01 PM JST - 19th January

As absurd a violation of human rights as the Thai anti-defamation laws are (not even the King agrees with them), you have to be amazingly stupid to publish a book which insults the King while your ass is still living in Thailand.

Way to go, guy.
Nessie at 07:30 PM JST - 19th January

The king went too lightly on him. Not that I would criticize him, of course.
likeitis at 09:42 PM JST - 19th January

you have to be amazingly stupid to publish a book which insults the King while your ass is still living in Thailand.

Well, in the book it was a fictional prince that committed a vague abuse of power, or so it says in the article. I don't think the guy had any intention whatsoever of insulting the King or his family. The article does even say if the story even happens in Thailand. It might be too early to call him stupid.

But his book will probably sell a little better now. When we get our copies, it will be easier to judge.
USARonin at 09:53 PM JST - 19th January

-And that's one example of why we stopped bowin' to 'royalty'.
medievaltimes at 10:49 PM JST - 19th January

Thailand is free to do what they want, but this sure makes them look archaic on the international stage.
jeancolmar at 11:32 PM JST - 19th January

A human rights violation is a human rights violation, "culture" be damned. Excuse this outrage and you might as well excuse the outrages against freedom of speech and expression in every other authoritarian country.

The idea that Thailand does not look to the West, etc., etc. is bunk. A huge part of the national income depends upon tourism. That means a lot of tourists who come from "the West," which might as well include Japan. Thailand has covered huge areas of wilderness into tourists resorts and huge swaths of their populated areas into bordellos to get money out of "the West."

If the tourist trade suffered thanks to cases like this the Thai government and the Monarchy would think twice about abusing people like this poor naive author.
PepinGalarga at 01:06 AM JST - 20th January

the recent strike and takeover of the airport hurt tourism badly. this will not have a significant impact on tourism. only a few people will have problems with these laws.

if you tend to act stupid when drunk, then dont go to Thailand or Singapore...
Taka313 at 02:28 AM JST - 20th January

Wow.

How the heck did the Thai monarchy find out about it? The book only sold 7 copies!

Here's hoping for a full pardon and a big up-tick in sales.

Taka
Wolfpack at 07:05 AM JST - 20th January

I can see such laws as this becoming more common as freedom and liberty recede under leaders like Obama on the world stage. Europe/Canada also have stiffling laws against free speech whereby a charge of libel can land a political opponent in jail - though their laws are not as draconian as Thailand and most Muslim countries.
toguro at 07:44 AM JST - 20th January

Well, I guess if you play with fire, you stand the chance to gt burned. I agree with sme of the other posters on here. It makes absolutely no sense to go to another country and criticize their Head of State, Monarch, etc. whether it was intentional or otherwise. Just leave it alone, and wait until you get back home.
kinniku at 10:39 AM JST - 20th January

toguro,

I agree with sme of the other posters on here. It makes absolutely no sense to go to another country and criticize their Head of State, Monarch, etc. whether it was intentional or otherwise. Just leave it alone, and wait until you get back home.

Exactly. This is not a matter of opinion as to whether the law is just or not. That is for each Thai person to decide for themselves. However, the fact is that the law is well-known and cases of prosecution as also well-known. Why go looking for trouble?
unscrejects at 09:11 PM JST - 20th January

They should give this guy sixty years - what an arrogant git!