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Thailand objects to the TV drama Madam Secretary featuring its harsh lese majeste laws in a story line
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19th November 2018
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| See article from
thestar.com.my |
Madam Secretary: Ghosts is a TV drama by Rob Greenlea. Starring Téa Leoni, Tim Daly and Keith Carradine.
While Elizabeth was grooming to annouce her candidacy,
Henry attended a conference organized by his ex-girlfriend in Thailand. She made a patriotic move by questioning the existence of the mornachy and was apprehended immediately. Henry was later put in jail bacause of his attempt to vouch for her. Dalton
signed off on a covert operation to save both American citizens after they were sentenced to death for insulting the monarchy.
Thailand has hit out at the CBS show Madam Secretary on Sunday in response to an episode that
referenced the country's monarchy, claiming it to be misleading. Thailand has some of the world's harshest royal defamation laws and monitors royal criticism both in Thailand and abroad, with critics regularly being imprisoned for massive prison
sentences of up to 15 years (per count). Madam Secretary, came under fire after a character travels to Thailand and presumably criticises the monarchy at a conference before being hauled away by police. Thailand's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs said it had asked its embassy in Washington to convey concern and disappointment to CBS over the November 4 episode. The Thai authorities hold that the harsh sentences are justified by the high esteem in which many Thais hold the royalty.
Ministry spokesperson Busadee Santipitaks claimed that: The episode titled Ghosts presented the Kingdom of Thailand and the Thai monarchy in a misleading manner, leading to grave concern and dismay from many
Thais who have seen it. The episode in question did not take into account the sensitivity of the Thai people in this regard.
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Chiang Mai governor censors protest against air pollution citing lese majeste law
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| 1st
April 2018
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| See article from straitstimes.com
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The governor of Thailand's Chiang Mai province has sued a local magazine in an attempt to silence a protest highlighting dangerous levels of local air pollution. Protestors had contributed pictures of themselves and others wearing pollution
masks to a Facebook campaign. One student had painted a picture of a famous local statue of 3 ancient kings, adding pollution facemasks. The local governor seized on the country's extreme lese majeste laws to put an end to the protest. The
broadly-interpreted crime of lese majeste - which can carry decades-long sentences - has cemented a culture of fear and necessary self-censorship across the kingdom. The governor said: I assigned my official to file a
complaint with police yesterday that the picture may have violated the Computer Crime Act as it's inappropriate. The statues of three kings are very sacred and respected by Chiang Mai residents, they were our ancestors.
In an official
letter to police, the governor said the painting may affect Chiang Mai's image and its tourism, causing the city economic instability. He did not mention how a reputation for repression and extreme punishment for trivial offences may also have a negative
effect on people wanting to visit the country.
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Thai man sentenced to 35 years jail for criticising the monarchy in a Facebook post
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| 12th June 2017
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| See article from
theguardian.com |
A Thai man has been jailed for 35 years for Facebook posts critical of the royal family in one of the most extreme sentences handed down for a crime that insulates Thailand's ultra-rich monarchy from criticism. A Bangkok military court convicted
him of 10 counts of lese-majesty for posting photos and videos of the royal family on a Facebook account that purported to belong to a different user. The man, whose last name was withheld to protect his relatives, was accused of using the account to
slander a former friend, said iLaw, a group that tracks royal defamation cases. The court punished him with seven years per count. Altogether he was given 70 years, but it was reduced in half because he confessed. Later on Friday, a
criminal court sentenced another lese-majesty victim to two and a half years in jail for uploading an audio clip from an underground political radio show that was deemed insulting to the monarchy. The United Nations' rights body has warned that
Thailand's widespread use of the law may constitute crimes against humanity.
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Thai military government tries to get heavy with Facebook over users' criticism of the monarchy
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| 11th
May 2017
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| See article from bbc.co.uk |
Military authorities in Thailand have warned Facebook to take down content criticising the monarchy, or face legal action. Facebook has been given until next Tuesday to remove about 130 items from pages viewable in Thailand. The National Broadcasting
and Telecommunications Commission told the BBC that Facebook had already co-operated in blocking some pages, but that more than 130 judged to be illegal by the authorities remained visible in Thailand. Facebook says it does consider requests from
governments to block material, and will comply if it breaks local laws. Any comment critical of the monarchy can result in prosecution under Thailand's strict lese-majeste law, even if the criticism is justified. Those convicted face extreme
prison sentences. Thailand's military government that seized power in Thailand in 2014 has made great efforts to suppress any criticism of the monarchy. Thousands of websites have been blocked, and people caught sharing, or even liking Facebook
posts deemed unflattering to the monarchy have been prosecuted. |
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Amnesty International slams Thailand for reaching new lows in restricting people's freedom
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| 14th
April 2017
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| See article from
themalaymailonline.com |
Amnesty International (AI) has slammed an unprecedented ban by Thailand's military junta on using the internet to communicate with three critics of the monarchy, noting that authorities had hit new lows in curbing free speech. The new order
makes any online interaction with the trio, including contacting them, and following or sharing their social media posts, a jailable offence under an extreme censorship law titled the Computer Crime Act. The trio are Thai academics Somsak
Jeamteerasakul and Pavin Chachavanpongpun, as well as ex-reporter Andrew MacGregor Marshall. They all onw live outside of Thailand. Josef Benedict, AI's Deputy Director for Southeast Asia said: The Thai
authorities have plunged to new depths in restricting people's freedom of expression. After imprisoning people for what they say both online and offline, and hounding critics into exile, they want to cut people off from each other altogether.
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Myanmar complains that a Thai TV drama insults its historic royalty
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| 14th March
2017
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| See article from bbc.co.uk |
Thailand, who have a repressive lese majeste law, which metes out extreme punishments for minor criticisms of royalty, has been accused of insulting Myanmar's historic royalty. A Thai soap opera that appears to depict Burmese palace intrigue has
angered some in Myanmar including a descendant of Myanmar's last king. Soe Win, the great-grandson of King Thibaw, has called for the show to be cancelled as it is insulting . He told AFP: We have asked Thais
this, would they accept it if one of our companies here did the same thing about their country.
But producers of the historical drama, called Plerng Phra Nang (A Lady's Flames) , have insisted it is purely fictional. The
lady in question is Ananthip, a character who schemes to seize control of the kingdom. Some have observed she closely resembles Hsinbyumashin, a real-life Burmese palace consort who orchestrated the massacre of scores of royals so that Thibaw could
ascend the throne. Thibaw abdicated and the Burmese monarchy was abolished in 1885, when British forces defeated and invaded Burma. |
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| 20th
November 2016
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Thai website shutdowns soar after king's death See article from westmanjournal.com |
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Thailand bans a 6 month old edition of Marie Claire magazine
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| 9th
April 2016
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| See article from reuters.com |
Thailand has banned imports and sales of the November 2015 edition of the French women's magazine Marie Claire over an article it said carried content insulting to its royal family and offensive to its people. Criticism of Thailand's
monarchy is outlawed by draconian lese majeste laws that regularly bring jail sentences of up to 15 years for each perceived insult. An announcement in the Royal Gazette, signed by Thailand's police chief, said the article was defamatory and
malicious to the royal family, affecting national security, peace and order and the morale of the people . The order said any copies found would be confiscated and destroyed.
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Extreme sentences for political criticism handed down in Thailand
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| 12th
August 2015
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| 9th August 2015. See article from
bbc.co.uk |
Two military courts in Thailand have sentenced a man to 30 years in prison and a woman to 28 years for supposedly insulting the monarchy. The sentences are the harshest ever given under Thailand's lese majeste law, which nominally prevents criticism
of the king, Bhumibol Adulyadej, but is widely cast such that criticism of the political system could be construed as an insult to the monarchy. The convictions relate to articles posted on Facebook. Tour operator Pongsak Sriboonpeng was tried in
secret at a court in Bangkok. The judge sentenced him to ten years for each of the six posts he made about the monarch on social media. But the arbitrarily doubled up 60-year term was halved after he pleaded guilty. In a separate case, a
29-year-old hotel worker and mother of two was sentenced to 56 years by a court in the northern city of Chiang Mai. Her sentence was also halved after a guilty plea. Earlier in the week, a man with a history of mental illness was given five years
in jail for tearing a portrait of the king. Jonathan Head, BBC south east Asia correspondent, Bangkok explained that ten years ago, open criticism of the monarchy was almost unknown. But the political polarisation of Thai society since a military
coup nine years ago, which was backed by the palace, has prompted some Thais to challenge the official veneration of the king, especially on social media. Update: UN is appalled by extreme Thai censorship 12th August
2015. See article from ndtv.com
The United Nations has said it was appalled by record jail sentences -- of 30 and 28 years -- handed to two Thais for royal defamation, as prosecutions soar under the military dictatorship. A spokesperson for the UN High Commissioner
for Human Rights said in a statement: We are appalled by the shockingly disproportionate prison terms handed down over the past few months in lese majeste cases in Thailand.
Andrea Giorgetta from
the International Federation for Human Rights, warned of growing cyber-vigilantism and decried the jailing of civilians for merely expressing their opinions. Under the legislation anyone can launch a complaint and the police are
duty-bound to investigate. |
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| 4th
July 2015
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How a Facebook User in Thailand Was Sentenced to 50 Years in Jail for 'Defaming' the Monarchy See
article from advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org |
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Two Thai students jailed for performing a play critical of the monarchy
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23rd February 2015
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| See article from bbc.co.uk
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A Thai court has sentenced a man and a woman to two years and six months in jail each for damaging the monarchy . Patiwat Saraiyaem, 23, and Pornthip Munkong, 26, had pleaded guilty to breaking repressive lese majeste laws which protect the
royals from criticism and insults. The charges related to a play they performed at a university in 2013. The play, called Wolf Bride, was set in a fantasy kingdom and featured a fictional king and his advisor. It marked the 40th anniversary of a
student pro-democracy protest that was crushed by a military regime. The BBC's Jonathan Head, who is at the court in Bangkok, says the two were handcuffed together on arrival, one wearing leg shackles. However, the full details have not
been widely reported because under the laws media coverage which repeat details of the offence is considered the same as the original statement. |
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The book, A Kingdom in Crisis by Andrew MacGregor Marshall
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| 14th
November 2014
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| See article from
bangkokpost.com See article from
asiancorrespondent.com |
Thailand's National police chief Police General Somyot Poompanmuang has banned the ordering and importation of the book A Kingdom in Crisis: Thailand's Struggle for Democracy in the Twenty-First Century , claiming that it contains
anti-monarchist sentiments. The police chief issued the ban under the Printing Act of 2007. The book was written by Scottish journalist Andrew MacGregor Marshall, a former journalist with the Thomson Reuters news agency. The book, which had not gone
on sale in Thailand, was released last week by the British publishing house, Zed Books. Somyot based the decision on articles reviewing the book that were printed in two overseas newspapers in the online edition of the South China Morning Post and
the online edition of UK newspaper The Independent. The police claimed the two articles showed that the book insulted and fomented hatred of Their Majesties the King and the Queen, the heir to the throne, and affected national security, peace and
public morality. Somyot said violators of the ban were liable to a prison term of up to three years and/or a fine of up to 60,000 baht (£1200). He also ordered the seizure and destruction of copies of the book. Formers Reuters
correspondent, Andrew MacGregor Marshall, now a freelance journalist and analyst on Thai culture and politics, expressed his delight that his book was banned. During the last two days, the book has featured in AP , Bangkok Post , Thai PBS
(English version), BBC Thai , Prachatai, and other Thai news sites . The book, which Marshall says was partly based on information from classified US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks, as well as contacts from within the royal establishment,
was already an Amazon bestseller in the Asian History section. Marshall commented: I am fundamentally opposed to the banning of books, and I don't see how Thailand can hope to solve its problems peacefully
unless Thais are allowed to openly discuss and debate all aspects of their politics and history. Censorship and suppression can only make the crisis worse, and increase the risk that there will be more violence. However, I'm personally delighted that the
Thai police have banned my book. I would have been very offended if they hadn't. My book is intended to challenge the myths and fairy tales of the Thai elite, and the ban shows I did my job properly.
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Thai woman prosecuted for stepping on a picture of the king
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| 18th March
2014
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| See article from
prachatai.com |
A Thai Criminal Court began hearing the case of a 65-year-old woman who stepped on a picture of the country's king in July 2012 and was prosecuted for violating the lese majeste law. Thitinan was accused of defaming the King by allegedly stepping on
the King's picture during a pro-establishment rally in front of the Constitutional Court in July 13, 2012. The protesters at the rally brought charges against her with the police and would testify against her in the hearing. |
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Reporters Without Borders asks Thailand to withdraw repressive new internet bill
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16th December 2013
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| See article from
en.rsf.org |
Reporters Without Borders has asked the Thai Ministry of Communications and Internet Technology to change its approach to updating the Computer Crime Act of 2007. The law already authorizes the government to arrest journalists and bloggers for
political reasons. If a newly proposed amendment were adopted, the government would have even more latitude to muzzle the independent and opposition media. Reporters Without Borders said: We support the five
journalists association which have protested the bill. The bill -- in addition to eliminating a requirement for a judicial warrant to block a website -- would allow that action without approval from the Ministry of Communications and Internet Technology,
thereby distancing the law even more from international standards.
The press freedom organization added, We request that the legislation be withdrawn in its entirety. In a joint press release on 24 October, the Thai
Journalists Association, the Thai Broadcasting Journalists Association, Online News Providers Association, Information Technology Reporters and Academic Specialists on Computer Law Group declared that the bill would threaten the very infrastructure of
the internet and would make website operators, internet service providers and users responsible for content. |
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Two more Thais jailed under lese majeste laws
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| 3rd
October 2013
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| See article from
pmnewsnigeria.com
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A Thai court has sentenced a woman to five years in jail for criticising the royal family or Thailand's monarchy system. It is the the second such conviction in recent days. Under repressive lese majeste rules, anyone convicted of insulting
the Thai king, queen, heir or regent faces up to 15 years in prison on each count. However criticism is considered an insult, as is debate about the monarchy system. Nopawan Tangudomsuk was found guilty of lese majeste and breaking computer crime
laws with comments posted on a popular website in 2008, an official from Bangkok's court of appeal told AFP, without giving further details. She was initially acquitted in a 2011 trial when prosecutors failed to prove she was behind the posting on the
Prachatai site, whose editor has been convicted in a separate case of failing to remove a comment critical of the monarchy. The appeal court decided to reverse the ruling in Nopawan's case, a court official said, without giving details.
The ruling comes a day after the founder of the royalist Yellow Shirts was sentenced to two years in prison by the same appeal court under lese majeste laws. Sondhi Limthongkul, one of Thailand's most controversial political figures, was convicted
after prosecutors appealed an earlier acquittal over remarks quoting a speech by a political rival in 2008.
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Thai man jailed for 40 months for selling CD copies of Australian TV documentary about the Thai royal family
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| 29th March 2013
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| See article from
prachatai.com
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A Thai court has sentenced Ekkachai Hongkangwan to five years in prison term and fine of 100,000 baht for selling documentary CDs produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation and copies of wikileaks documents claimed to be defaming to Thailand's Queen
and Crown Prince. Later the court reduced sentence by a third stating that defendant's testimony benefitted the court. The police arrested Ekkachai on March 10, 2011 after enticing him to sell a CD for 20 baht, and seized over 100 CDs, a CD
burner and 10 copies of WikiLeaks materials. The police charged him for violating lese majeste and Film and Video Act. The CDs contained a documentary aired on ABC's Foreign Correspondent program in 2010 which critically discussed
Thailand's monarchy and Maha Vajiralongkorn as the King's successor. The alleged wikileaks documents are US embassy cables from 2008 which indicated that the Queen supported the 2006 coup. Others contained high ranking discussions about the royal
succession. The judges deemed the content of the materials misleading and defamatory to the monarchy.
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| 22nd February 2013
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An editor was last month sentenced to 11 years in prison, for defaming the country's king. Geoffrey Cain reports on how Thailand's lese majeste laws have chilled free speech See
article from indexoncensorship.org |
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Thai magazine editor gets 10 years in jail for lese majeste after calling for the repeal of the same law
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| 24th
January 2013
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| See
article from
dailymail.co.uk
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A magazine editor sentenced to ten years in prison for publishing two negative articles about Thailand's monarchy. Somyot Pruksakasemsuk published the articles in Voice of Taksin . The verdict came despite repeated calls by rights groups to
free Somyot, who has been jailed since 2011. They condemned his imprisonment as the latest affront to freedom of expression in the Southeast Asian country. The articles were published under a pseudonym in Somyot's now-defunct Voice of Taksin
magazine, which he launched in 2009 to compile political news and anti-establishment articles from writers and contributors. Brad Adams, Asia director of Human Rights Watch, explained that the case appears to be more about Somyot's strong
support for amending the lese majeste law than about any harm incurred by the monarchy. Although the articles were published in 2010, Somyot was not arrested until the following year, five days after launching a petition drive to revoke Article 112
of the nation's criminal code. The author of the articles has never been charged with any crimes and is reported to be living in Cambodia. Judges found both articles included content that criticised the royal family and argued that Somyot, as a
veteran editor, was aware of that. The court handed down two five-year jail terms - one for each story. Navi Pillay, the U.N. high commissioner for human rights, said: The harsh sentence sends the wrong signals
on freedom of expression in Thailand. The court's decision is the latest indication of a disturbing trend in which lese majesty charges are used for political purposes. People exercising freedom of expression should not be punished in the first place.
The European Union said: The verdict seriously undermines the right to freedom of expression and press freedom and affects Thailand's image as a free and democratic society.
Somyot said he would appeal the verdict but would not seek a royal pardon.
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Prominent Thai political leader jailed for comments about the monarchy
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| 18th
January 2013
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| See article from
bbc.co.uk
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A prominent member of Thailand's red-shirt political movement has been jailed for two years for comments relating to the monarchy in a 2010 speech. Activist and comedian Yossawaris Chuklom, who uses the stage name Jeng Dokchik, made the
speech at a rally in Bangkok during political protests. People found guilty under Thailand's strict lese majeste laws can face up to 15 years in prison. Critics of the law say it has been used to suppress free speech. For example, calling
for the abolition of the monarchy is considered an insult to the royal family. A lawyer for Yossawaris said he had originally been sentenced to three years but that the judge reduced it to two because he had given useful evidence. He added that
his client intended to appeal against the verdict, and would apply for bail.
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Joe Gordon jailed on lese majeste charges has been freed after a royal pardon
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| 11th July
2012
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| See
article from
washingtonpost.com
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An American Thai sentenced to two and a half years in Thai prison for translating a banned biography about the country's king and posting the content online has been freed by a royal pardon, the U.S. Embassy has announced. Joe Gordon was convicted
in December for translating excerpts of the book into Thai. The punishment was a high-profile example of the severe sentences meted out for criticism of the monarchy. No reason was given for the pardon, but U.S. officials have pressed Thai
authorities to release the Thai-born American since he was first detained in May 2011. US Embassy spokesman Walter Braunohler said. We are pleased that His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej granted Joe Gordon a royal
pardon, which allowed him to be released from prison, Braunohler said. We urge Thai authorities on a regular basis, both privately and publically, in Bangkok and in Washington, to ensure that freedom of expression is protected in accordance with its
international obligations.
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16th January 2012 | |
| UN Special Rapporteur visits Thailand with concerns about freedom of expression
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See article from
nationmultimedia.com
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A senior United Nations expert made a private visit to Bangkok to discuss and monitor restricted freedom of expression in the Kingdom, especially the controversial lese-majeste law. Frank La Rue, the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression, issued a statement last year expressing concern about Thailand's lese-majeste law. He hopes he will be officially invited back later this year to examine the law and issues of
expression. Freedom of expression is a fundamental element of any democratic society, La Rue said, urging Thai authorities to do what they can to promote it. La Rue met with members of the House of Representatives' Committee on Human Rights
and the Senate Committee on Human Rights, as well as with National Human Rights Commissioner Nirand Pitakwatchara. He told a group of reporters that liberation movements around the world, the Arab Spring for example, were a consequence of lack of
freedom of expression. Thai group expresses concerns about freedom of expression See
article from bangkokpost.com A
group of prominent figures with royal lineage have appealed to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to amend the lese majeste law. Eight people with royal lineage signed a letter which they sent to the PM asking the government to change the law. The
letter said the number of lese majeste cases had increased substantially in the span of seven years, from zero in 2002 to 165 in 2009. News about these cases has been reported around the world and resulted in increasingly intense attacks on the
institution of the monarchy, it said. The group cited in support of its move His Majesty King Bhumibol's address on Dec 4, 2005 in which he said putting people who criticised the monarchy in jail only caused trouble to him.
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29th December 2011 | | |
Thais advised about safe web surfing
| From
bangkokpost.com
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The newly opened Centre for Monitoring Lese Majeste Websites is offering advice to Thais on what to do and not to do when browsing the internet:
- The first advice the centre gives the public is: Do not forward, send a link or revisit websites - including Facebook, Twitter or YouTube - with content that is critical of the monarchy. Those who do so can be regarded as supporting such websites.
- Never press 'Like' in Facebook or click 'Follow' on Twitter for sites with content critical of the monarchy.
- If you Google certain key words such as 'King Thailand' and come across indecent content, do not activate
the link because browsing those websites can upgrade the ranking of those lese majeste sites, eventually pushing them to the top of the list.
- It is suggested that the public check in to such websites as www.weloveking.com and
www.welovekingonline.com.
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21st December 2011 | | |
Thai red shirt firebrand sentenced to 15 years in jail for criticising the monarchy
| See
article from asiasentinel.com
See article from bangkokpost.com
Daranee Chamchoengsilpakul, the Thai Red Shirt firebrand known as Da Torpedo, was sentenced to 15 years in prison for violating Thailand's lese-majeste laws criminalising criticism of the monarchy. Daranee received the prison sentence for speeches
she made during 2008 Red Shirt rallies against the previous government. It appears that Thailand is becoming aware of international impact of the stream of repressive jail sentences that have hit the headlines recently. Army chief Prayuth
Chano-cha has now urged the public to refrain from discussing the possibility bombings during the New Year holiday, and the issue of the lese majeste law. Don't start talking about possible bombings and stir up unrest during the New Year,
because it could hurt tourism, Gen Prayuth said. People should not be calling on the authorities to amend Section 112 of the Criminal Procedure Code, the lese majeste law: Personally, I feel we should not talk
about this and I don't want it to go overboard. If people think Thai law is unjust or too harsh, they can go live abroad.
Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung has also voiced opposition to amending the lese majeste law. He said he
had been always clear about his stance on the lese majeste law. Why change Section 112 since it's good already? Don't they [people who want Section 112 amended] have jobs to go to?
Chalerm also said
he would chair a meeting of the committee for dealing with websites with lese majeste content and that a 'war room' would be set up for this committee.
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