Activist gets 15-year jail for insulting Thai monarchy

Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul

15 December 2011
BBC News

A political activist has been sentenced to 15 years in prison in Thailand for insulting the monarchy.

Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul was found guilty of violating strict lese majeste laws that seek to protect the king, queen and heir to the throne.

She was convicted on three counts of defaming the monarchy at political rallies in 2008.

Hers is the latest in a series of high-profile cases to be brought under the lese majeste laws.

Thailand sentences American to prison for insulting king

Lerpong Wichaikhammat arrives in court in Bangkok, Thailand. He plans to seek a royal pardon in a month, his lawyer said. (Narong Sangnak, European Pressphoto Agency / December 8, 2011)

American citizen Lerpong Wichaikhammat, aka Joe Gordon, gets a 30-month sentence for insulting Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The U.S. criticizes the ruling.

December 9, 2011

Mark Magnier

Los Angeles Times

Reporting from Bangkok, Thailand, and New Delhi—

A U.S. citizen Thursday received a 30-month prison sentence in Thailand for insulting the king, the latest punishment handed down under a law critics see as archaic, prompting the U.S. government to denounce the ruling as excessive and a violation of free speech.

The case, filed under Thailand's lese-majeste, or "injured majesty," laws, also involves issues of citizenship and jurisdiction. Thai-born Lerpong Wichaikhammat, 55, a U.S. resident for the last three decades, was convicted of posting online a Thai translation of "The King Never Smiles," an unofficial biography, several years ago while living in Colorado.

Lerpong, whose American name is Joe Gordon, was arrested in May during a visit to Thailand to seek treatment for arthritis and high blood pressure. He pleaded guilty in October. The Bangkok criminal court halved his original five-year term, citing his confession.

Man sentenced to 20 years for insulting Thai queen

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

BANGKOK (AP) — Thailand's criminal court sentenced a 61-year-old man to 20 years in prison Wednesday for sending text messages deemed offensive to the country's queen.

The court found Amphon Tangnoppaku guilty on four counts under the country's lese majeste and computer crime laws, sentencing him to five years imprisonment for each charge.

Lese majeste is the crime of insulting a monarch, and Thailand's laws against it are the most severe in the world. Even repeating the details of an alleged offense is illegal.

[Thailand's] Slow move for lese majeste law, experts say

Sep 21, 2011
By Ansley Ng
Today Online (Singapore)

SINGAPORE - In recent years, there has been a spike in the number of people charged with lese majeste, or insulting the monarchy, in Thailand.

Many of the cases happened during the tenure of the Democrat-led administration, a government with ties to the military, which, in turn, has a close relationship with the monarchy.

Some activists and rights organisations, however, allege that the law was used to stifle political opposition and suppress freedom of speech. Now that the Democrats have been toppled by the Puea Thai party, led by fugitive former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's sister Yingluck, will there be an easing of the law?

Experts say any change will happen slowly and Ms Yingluck's new government will not want to risk angering the monarch or the military. Independent scholar David Streckfuss, who recently wrote a paper on the topic, said it remained to be seen if the Yingluck administration will pursue lese majeste cases as vigilantly as her predecessor. Thailand's lese majeste law, also known as Article 112, attracts a jail term of up to 15 years.

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Lèse-Majesté

New Thai govt vows crackdown on insulting royals

Thai "DEMI-GOD" King Bhumibol Adulyadej (AFP/File, Pornchai Kittiwongsakul)

Friday, August 26, 2011
AFP

BANGKOK — Thailand's new government on Friday vowed to crack down on what it described as online insults against the revered monarchy, despite widespread criticism of the country's strict lese majeste rules.

Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung said insulting Thailand's royals was "unacceptable" and identified an online campaign as an immediate priority.

"The first thing I must tackle as a matter of urgency are those lese majeste websites. They are not allowed during this government," he told reporters in comments that come within weeks of the new Thai government's taking power.

The danger of a Thai civil war

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Photo, of the King of Thailand superimposed on a building in Bangkok, by Flickr user neilalderney123.

5 July 2011
By Graeme Dobell
The Interpreter
(Lowry Institute for International Policy)

The depressing reality is that a clear-cut election victory in Thailand may not settle anything. The people have voted decisively but the popular voice is far from decisive.

Politicians still tear at each other, the King totters slowly towards his grave, the military and the elite agonise, and Thailand still confronts the danger of a civil war. After five years of commotion and sometimes bloody contest, Thailand's nightmare is that the election result merely hits the reset button to restart the same cycle of conflict.

The previous two parties expressing Thaksin Shinawatra's political mastery have been outlawed. Will this third manifestation, led by his sister, be able to avoid the same fate?

This is the great curse of Thailand's distorted democratic deadlock: 'The election winners can't rule and the rulers can't win elections.'

Sacrava's Political Cartoon: Thailand Curse

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Andrew MacGregor Marshall: "Thailand's Moment of Truth - A Secret History of 21st Century Siam"

Warning: This book is deadly for anyone in Thailand to even be around it.

Note: If you click on the citations in blue, it will lead to you US confidential cables.

THAILAND’S MOMENT OF TRUTH (Part 1)
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/58949963?access_key=key-21kklow8zaxz8i55i27x

THAILAND’S MOMENT OF TRUTH (Part 2)
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/58950116?access_key=key-2byuiisqebbh4xpd8erm

Thai army SHENANIGANS

Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha (AP Photo)

BREAKING: Thai Army begin legal harassment of Thai historian

May 08, 2011
By Andrew Spooner
AsianCorrespondent.com

The latest wave of Thai repression is now continuing apace as it has been announced (see below) that well-known Thai academic, Dr. Somsak Jeamteerasakul, is being formally investigated under Thailand’s draconian “lese majeste” law. What is extraordinary about this investigation is that it was begun by the incredibly politicised Thai Army. Of course, it was only last year (and in 1973, 1976, 1992 and 2004) that the US-trained and equipped Thai Army were shooting unarmed Thai civilians on Bangkok’s streets (it was also only a month ago that the same army were firing cluster munitions into Cambodian villages). That they now feel that academics and historians should be imprisoned for expressing their views is hardly a portent of better things to come.

This “charging”of Somsak also comes during the week that Freedom House marked down Thailand’s press from “partly free” to “not free”, joining the likes of Burma, Syria and China in the global gallery of oppressive regimes. With dissolution of the Thai parliament very likely occurring this week and an election mooted for July 3rd, the beginning of a formal investigation into Somsak couldn’t have happened at better moment if you wanted to send a message that debate can by stymied and crushed. The generals have sent their clearest and starkest message yet – step out of line on the streets and you be shot & step out of line in the universities and you will be imprisoned.

It seems like darker days lay ahead for Thailand.

Dear colleagues and journalist friends, ,

According to the Thanapol Eawsakul, an editor from Fah Diew Gun magazine, Dr. Somsak Jeamteerasakul, a prominent historian from Thammasat University, is another victim of lese majeste law. The Thai army has officially filed a complaint against Dr. Somsak and he is due to hear the detail of the charge at Nang Lerg Police Station in Bangkok this coming Wednesday at 10am. [This is not a "charge" from Thailand's state prosecution but directly from the Thai Army that Somsak committed lese majeste. The appearance at the police station is to inform Somsak that the police believe there is enough evidence in the Army's claims for a formal investigation to commence. Official charges may materialise from this.]

This is the most recent case of attack on freedom of expression on Thai scholar and activist. Dr. Somsak was a student leader during the 1976 massacre and was incarcerated as a political prisoner for two years.

For background of the case, please check out: http://www.prachatai3.info/english/category/somsak-jeamtheerasakul (in English)

As election looms, Thai generals go on offensive

Thu Apr 28, 2011
By Martin Petty

PHANOM DONG RAK, Thailand (Reuters) - Thailand's military is on the offensive -- and not just in its deadly border skirmishes with Cambodia.

For decades, the country's history has been shaped by the balance of power between three institutions -- the monarchy, the military, and parliament. With elections looming that could upset this fragile balance once again, Thailand's generals have come out fighting.

For investors, the risks are rising. The last time the military grabbed a dominant role in politics, following a coup in 2006, the stock market collapsed following disastrous use of capital controls that took months to unwind.

There is also no guarantee that another bid by the military to reassert a dominant role would be as bloodless as in 2006.

Sacrava's Thai Toon: Welcome to Thailand

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

Sacrava's Thailand Political Cartoon: Long Life the King

Click on the cartoon to zoom in

Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com)

God Save the King of Thailand - ABC Australia

Part 1 of 3

Part 2 of 3

Part 3 of 3

Australian documentary on Thai royals sparks outrage

This 2007 picture released by the Thai Royal Bureau shows His Majesty the King waving to the crowds during his 80th birthday celebrations at the Grand Palace in Bangkok. Thailand has protested to the Australian government over the airing of a documentary critical of the Thai royal family and warned that the broadcast could affect ties between the nations.

16/04/2010
AFP News agency

Thailand has protested to the Australian government over the airing of a documentary critical of the Thai royal family and warned that the broadcast could affect ties between the nations.

A senior representative from the Thai embassy met with officials from Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday to express his concern at the programme aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).

"The concern is that it might affect the good relations between Thailand and Australia, especially the people to people relations," Saksee Phromyothi, minister-counsellor at the Royal Thai Embassy, said.

"We consider this an issue matter of national security... because the royal family, the monarchy, in our constitution is above politics."

Thailand's ambassador designate Kriangsak Kittichaisaree has also written to ABC managing director Mark Scott to complain about the programme which could breach Thailand's lese-majeste laws which prohibit criticism of the royals.

"I regret that an organisation of the ABC's stature has lowered its own standard by airing the said documentary which is presented in a manner no different from tabloid journalism," he wrote.

The programme, which aired late Tuesday, was broadcast on the state-funded station only in Australia and cannot be viewed over the Internet outside the country.

But Thailand's diplomatic missions in Australia say they have received complaints about the programme on the monarchy -- which Kittichaisaree said was "the soul" of the nation and cherished by Thais from all walks of life.

"I presume that once you have decided to put this hyper-sensitive programme on air, a protest letter like mine, which I hope you will seriously heed, should come as no surprise," Kittichaisaree wrote to Scott.

"I strongly express both resentment and disappointment with the poor decision you have made."

The ABC could not immediately be reached for comment. But a report in the Australian newspaper said the ABC had effectively shut down its Bangkok office, sending its local staff home until further notice.

A spokesman for Australia's Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that Thai embassy officials had complained about the ABC programme and noted that the Thai monarchy was a much revered institution.

"However, the Australian government does not and cannot control content run by Australian media organisations," he told AFP.

Breaking Thailand's rules on the monarchy have seen prison sentences of up to 18 years handed down, and Australian writer Harry Nicolaides was in 2009 sentenced to three years in jail under the law over a self-published novel.

Thai woman jailed for 18 years over royal slur

Saturday, August 29, 2009
AFP

BANGKOK — A Thai court Friday convicted and sentenced a female "Red Shirt" protester to 18 years in prison for insulting the country's revered monarchy during anti-government rallies, an official said.

Daranee Charncherngsilapakul, 46, a hardcore supporter of Thailand's ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, was found guilty of making speeches that were insulting to the Thai royal family.

The judge at Bangkok's main criminal court said her speeches at Sanam Luang park in the capital during three pro-Thaksin rallies in June and July last year were against the law of lese majeste, the court official told AFP.

"The court convicted the defendant on three counts and sentenced her for six years on each count," she said.

"Although the defendant testified that she did not intend to insult the monarchy or make the public believe her, she could not escape her wrongdoing," the verdict said.

Lese majeste -- insulting the monarchy -- is a serious charge in Thailand. Anyone can file a complaint, and police are duty-bound to investigate it in a country where the king is treated with almost religious adulation.

Media watchdogs have criticised increased use of the law in recent months, with crackdowns on Internet freedoms leading to more than 4,800 web pages being blocked under the law since March last year, according to officials.

In April a 34-year-old Thai engineer was jailed for ten years for posting a doctored clip on the Internet.

Daranee is better known as Da Torpedo because of her hard-hitting speeches at political protests.

Her fellow "Red Shirt" demonstrators are planning a mass rally on Sunday but the government has said it will use a harsh internal security law to prevent the gathering.