08 Dec 11 | Index Index, minipost
A blogger has been jailed for two and a half years after posting excerpts of a biography online deemed offensive to the Thai monarchy. Joe Gordon, a Colorado resident who was born in Thailand, translated excerpts of a locally banned biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and posted them on his US blog. Gordon pleaded guilty to disseminating information that insulted the monarchy. In November, government minister’s warned that Thailand’s notoriously tough lese-majeste law could even affect “liking” a page on Facebook.
25 Nov 11 | Asia and Pacific, Index Index, minipost
A Thai Government minister has warned that Facebook users who ‘like’ or ‘share’ pages which denigrate the monarchy could face prosecution. The warning from information technology minister, Anudith Nakornthap, follows the sentencing of a 61 year old man to 20 years in prison for sending text messages deemed insulting to the country’s queen. Ampon Tangnoppakul was accused of sending four text messages deemed insulting to the monarchy in May 2010. The laws against lèse-majesté (insulting a monarch) in Thailand are the most severe in the world – even repeating the details of an alleged offence is illegal.
08 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost
Norawase Yospiyasathien, a university graduate and blogger, was detained on Friday while police investigate allegations of lese majeste — offending the Thai monarchy. According to online newspaper Prachatai police are scrutinising his blog posts. The person who filed the charge was said to be a vice rector for students affairs at Kasetsart University, who reportedly said he was pressed to do so by the University Council in a bid to protect the school’s reputation. The student could be charged under both lese majeste law, which carries a maximum 15-year jail term, and the Computer Crimes Act, which has a punishment of up to five years in jail.
02 Aug 11 | Index Index, minipost, News and features
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a Thai political activist and former editor-in-chief of the Voice of Taksin and Red Power partisan news magazines, was last week charged with two offences of lese majeste for two separate articles deemed critical of the royal family published in his now-defunct Voice of Taksin magazine. Lese majeste charges in Thailand carry up to 15-year jail terms and have been utilised for political purposes during the country’s protracted political conflict. If found guilty of both charges, Somyot, who has first arrested on 30April and held without bail in a Bangkok detention centre for 84 days (the maximum period allowed under Thai law), will face a possible 30 years in prison.
