Cassandra James
Asia Travel Examiner
According to the Bangkok Post, deposed Thai ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra may be charged with lèse majesté (the Thai law that charges people with a crime against the royal family if they say anything against the King of Thailand or any other member of the royal family) for statements he allegedly made in a British newspaper interview. In an interview with the The Times, according to the Bangkok Post, it's claimed that Thaksin made statements calling for reform of the monarch and said that Thailand would have a future "shining" era when HRH Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, the son of His Majesty the King, takes the throne. Thaksin himself denies he said this, saying the interview was a "complete distortion" of what he said.
Thailand is one of only a handful of countries that still charges people with lèse majesté. Thailand has very strict lèse majesté, with several people being put in jail in Thailand over the last two years for making statements against the royal family. Two years ago, a Swiss man, Oliver Jufer, who had lived in Thailand for many years was convicted of lèse majesté for spray painting photographs of the King while drunk. He was convicted and sentenced to serve 10 years in prison, but was subsequently pardoned by the King and then deported back to Switzerland.
In 2009, Harry Nicolaides, an Australian writer was arrested at Bangkok's international airport and charged with lèse majesté for a passage in a fiction book that was about a member of the royal family. He plead guilty and was sentenced to three years in jail, but was then pardoned by the King and released. Nicolaides is now back in Australia. Even a BBC journalist, Jonathan Head, was charged with lèse majesté with no decision having yet been made on that case.
For Thaksin to allegedly make statements about the royal family will cause more negativity against him in Thailand, as well as possibly serious legal problems.
Meanwhile, Thaksin is purportedly to be arriving in Cambodia on Thursday to begin his appointment as political adviser to the Cambodian government. On the charges of lèse majesté, the Thai Justice Minister will be deciding if charges are laid against him or not.
You can also read The Times interview with Thaksin Shinawatra here.
SOURCES: Bangkok Post - Govt: Thaksin interview 'offensive to the monarchy'.
Thailand is one of only a handful of countries that still charges people with lèse majesté. Thailand has very strict lèse majesté, with several people being put in jail in Thailand over the last two years for making statements against the royal family. Two years ago, a Swiss man, Oliver Jufer, who had lived in Thailand for many years was convicted of lèse majesté for spray painting photographs of the King while drunk. He was convicted and sentenced to serve 10 years in prison, but was subsequently pardoned by the King and then deported back to Switzerland.
In 2009, Harry Nicolaides, an Australian writer was arrested at Bangkok's international airport and charged with lèse majesté for a passage in a fiction book that was about a member of the royal family. He plead guilty and was sentenced to three years in jail, but was then pardoned by the King and released. Nicolaides is now back in Australia. Even a BBC journalist, Jonathan Head, was charged with lèse majesté with no decision having yet been made on that case.
For Thaksin to allegedly make statements about the royal family will cause more negativity against him in Thailand, as well as possibly serious legal problems.
Meanwhile, Thaksin is purportedly to be arriving in Cambodia on Thursday to begin his appointment as political adviser to the Cambodian government. On the charges of lèse majesté, the Thai Justice Minister will be deciding if charges are laid against him or not.
You can also read The Times interview with Thaksin Shinawatra here.
SOURCES: Bangkok Post - Govt: Thaksin interview 'offensive to the monarchy'.
5 comments:
Tai's lese majeste codes are primitive and backward. The palace cronies and exploiters us such draconian laws to suppress real human progress and decency.
Thaksin hated his stupid Thai's king anyway.
Several Thai royalists circulate rumor that the King is DEAD...
Coincidentally, the Army Chief General Anupong said: We'll see if Thaksin will be allowed to visit his supporters at the border. Something is really going on in Thailand. May be the rumor is TRUE..
Darn it Sia O will be King?
So how are we going to address his naked wife? Queeny with small tits and big hole. I can't wait to see her naked body across the globe through videos.
To Hun Sen (Leader of the Cambodian People's Party Hun Sen Khmer Rouge Regime)
Since you and the CPP assassinated, executed, killed and murdered jurnalists, political opponents, leaders of the free trade union, innocent men, innocent women and innocent children;
Do you have any plan to assassinate the Thai prime minister (Abhisit Vejjajiva)?
Are you going to send Brigade 70 (Hun Sen's Death Squad Unit) to assassinate the Thai prime minister (Abhisit Vejjajiva)?
Is it true, you only kill your own peoples, you will not kill Thai and Veitnamese peoples that cannot get enough of our land?
Is it true, you only kill innocent Khmer peoples with no weapon in their hands?
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