As more Thais have opened OnlyFans accounts to support themselves during the pandemic, legal experts in the Southeast Asian kingdom are warning about the uncertain status of the content produced given the country's notoriously harsh obscenity laws. The Bangkok Post recently published a profile of local people who had entered sex work for the first time during the pandemic, after opening an account on the popular premium service.
But in Thailand, the report explained, publishing obscene content online is punishable by up to five years imprisonment, a B100,000 (£2500) fine, or both. Furthermore, as pornography is considered by law to be a disruption to peace in society,
anyone can file a complaint to snitch on or settle scores with people they don't like. The newspaper spoke with legal expert Natchapol Jittirat, a lecturer at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Law, who said adult content creators cannot demand
protection under the law when their photos and videos are unlawfully disseminated by others, as under Thai laws, the content is considered 'obscene' material. And although some people may consider OnlyFans a private space, Jittirat opined that the
courts will still consider it to be a public space, as the platform can be easily accessible by anyone with access to the internet. If they want to be safe from legal action, they will have to do it outside the Thai courts' jurisdiction and the content
must not have any consequences in the kingdom. |