Thai Analyst Charged with Insulting King

Giles Ungpakorn is a liberal commentator and academic who works at Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.  Police filed formal charges against him on January 20th.  His crime?  For insulting the king in a 2007 book criticising the previous year's military coup.

Ungpakorn arrived at a Bangkok police station with dozens of supporters to hear the charges. He said the army and Democrat Party-led government were merely using Thailand's draconian lese majeste laws to crush dissent and political opposition.

[Giles Ungpakorn, Political Commentator]: (IN ENGLISH)    "In Western democracy, they have a monarchy, full accountability and transparency is allowed. Therefore, one has to wonder what the purpose of the lese majeste law is. In my view lese majeste laws are there in order to protect the military, protect governments that come to power through military action and so on."

Insulting the monarchy is taken extremely seriously in Thailand, where many people regard King Bhumibol Adulyadej as semi-divine.  It carries up to 15 years in jail. Critics say the law is frequently abused by politicians since a complaint can be filed by anybody  against anybody else, no matter how trivial or tangential the alleged disrespect to the crown.

[Colonel Paisal Luesomboon, Pathumwan Police Station]: "He is charged for lese majeste. Just only one charge."

[Reporter]: "Do you have enough evidence to send him to court?"

[Colonel Paisal Luesomboon]: "We have evidence. The evidence is his book 'The Coup for The Rich' that sold at the Chulalongkorn University Bookstore.  Someone read it and reported it to us."




The books were later withdrawn from the bookstore.

An Australian author was sentenced to three years in jail on January 19 for defaming the crown prince in a 2005 novel that only sold seven copies. Others to have fallen foul of the lese majeste law in the past year include a pro-Thaksin minister, a British correspondent for the BBC and a democracy activist who refused to stand up for the king's anthem at the start of a movie screening.

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[ChaMpaSacC]

this law is bullshit

[SatMaNaHeeChakri]

By the Thai law article 107, Rama IX must be executed for killing a Thai king, doesn't it?

[CreatedOnly4U]

lol dont respect other people cultures, go to hell or go to jail bitch lol

[Yandade]

@ChaMpaSacC then your saying that the Brithish can insult their queen

[KiraYamato636]

lol, in china ppl are brain washed! in thailand*no offence but* peoples' brain are CONTROLLED by the KING!

[KiraYamato636]

usa: hmmm, today we'll talk about HUMAN RIGHT!

china: Guess what?

usa:what?

usa: we have the probably have the most best human right in the world!

china i know and we have the worst!

china but guess what?!

usa:what?! say it!

china: in thailand there's no human right exist!

usa*FACEPALM*

[TheMotherEagle]

This sort of stuff is only tolerated by the international community because Thailand is a key ally in the region. Compared to basket cases such as Burma and Cambodia Thailand is certainly a stable and moderate country. That doesn't excuse the abuse of these kinds of law which as the commentator suggested is rarely about protecting the monarchy but more about using it as a function to bully and suppress political opponents.

[abdeenn3]

AND LET SEE WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO YOU? SO LONG MR. JAI_GILES.

[abdeenn3]

JAI, YOU SHOULD DO THE SAME THING TO THE BRITISH MONARH SINCE YOU WERE FROM THERE.

[MiG359NTF]

Since I'm a child I feels very lucky to born Thai and thinks that Thailand is the best country in the world. But for now I feels so unlucky to born Thai because the best country in the world became shit within 3 years because of the man who talk all days but never do anything. And now the Code 112 raises people's fear.

Democracy? Freedom? I believe that even in communist countries there are no such a law similar to my country's.

[96freedom96]

taking about freedom, this country is SAD

[BBcatlover]

The law is not bullshit.but some people they didnt know how to respect other people culture,or other country law. so accept the punishmen.