A Thai court has sentenced a man to 50 years in jail for comments deemed to have defamed the monarchy - the highest ever sentence handed down under the country's notorious lese majeste law.
Thirty-year-old Mongkol Thirakot was originally sentenced to 28 years for posts he made three years ago on Facebook.
But on Thursday an appeals court added an extra 22 years to the sentence.
The lese majeste law criminalises any negative comment about the monarchy.
The law, which has been widely criticised, is still in force despite the election last year of a civilian government for the first time in 10 years.
At the hearing on Thursday, the judge said he had already reduced Mr Thirakot's sentence by a third because of the defendant's co-operative behaviour.
Details of what prompted such a harsh sentence for Mr Thirakot, an online clothing vendor from Chiang Rai province, have not been published. The judge referred to multiple comments on Facebook, and Thai courts typically pile on additional convictions for each individual post.
The lese majeste law was briefly suspended at the start of the reign of King Vajiralongkorn in 2019, but has been revived and used extensively since the outbreak of unprecedented student-led protests three years ago, which called for sweeping reforms to the monarchy.
An activist and lawyer who first called for a public discussion of the monarchy, Arnon Nampa, also had his jail time increased by four years on Wednesday.
Later in January the Constitutional Court will rule on whether to dissolve Move Forward, the youthful party which won the most votes in last year's general election, over its call to amend the lese majeste law, which some Thai conservatives argue amounts to an attempt to overthrow the entire political order.
The US gets really cultist about the flag and such. Some of the UK get really cultist about the monarchy while the rest hate them.
The US gets really cultist about the flag and such. Some of the UK get really cultist about the monarchy while the rest hate them.Weird post
While true, in those places you can criticize those things without going to prison
Imagine getting drunk in Thailand and going to prison for years for something you didn't even realize you said
As somebody who has been drunk in Thailand many times, Im not sure that has ever happened.
While Im not supporting the laws, those that suffer under them are, to my understanding, particularly outspoken about the monarchy on things like social media or in publications. I dont get the impression that youd go to prison for an off the cuff comment in a bar.
Also they will treat foreigners differently to locals
Foreigners 1) prop up the almost entirely tourism-dependent economy, and 2) aren't about to stage a revolution
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-68020494
Thailand does not sound alright.
I dont know whats worse, being imprisoned for insulting literally anything, especially something as fucking moronic as a monarchy in the 21st century, or the idea that an appeals court could add to a prison sentence.You saw that too huh. I was like wtf the appeals court added years? And it's not a dark snl sketch?
Meanwhile you have some people who go online and unironically complain about how terrible the US is for rights. >.>
things being worse in one place does not negate the bad things happening elsewhereEspecially if Slug Virus gets another term.
You saw that too huh. I was like wtf the appeals court added years? And it's not a dark snl sketch?Can't this happen in the US too?
That horrified me more than the actual sentence
Can't this happen in the US too?One of the appeals courts for the Yugoslavia tribunals extended a sentence of 40 years for genocide to life. A rare based moment for The Hague.
As somebody who has been drunk in Thailand many times, Im not sure that has ever happened.Insult the monarchy of Thailand right now then.
While Im not supporting the laws, those that suffer under them are, to my understanding, particularly outspoken about the monarchy on things like social media or in publications. I dont get the impression that youd go to prison for an off the cuff comment in a bar.
Insult the monarchy of Thailand right now then.
Um the monarchy of Thailand is shit.But you said you were. So if you go back you'll be retroactively charged. You're now effectively banned for life. Because we all know damn well the monarchy has nothing better to do then to check the internet history of every person who visits the country.
You realise Im not in Thailand, right?
But you said you were. So if you go back you'll be retroactively charged. You're now effectively banned for life. Because we all know damn well the monarchy has nothing better to do then to check the internet history of every person who visits the country.
</sarcasm>
What point are you trying to make? Because your sarcastic approach doesnt actually go against anything Ive said.So they only care about the criticism while you're in country?
But yes, I expect to be in Thailand several times this year.
Can't this happen in the US too?
Only if the government appeals the sentence, although it seems there's at least one case where a sentence was appealed by the defendant, reduced, then appealed by the defendant again only to have the first sentence reinstated.Well it's not that uncommon outside the US, though of course doubling a sentence to 50 years, regardless of how BS the supposed crime is, to me at least, unheard of.
So they only care about the criticism while you're in country?
If you were to make a YouTube vid that blows up and gets millions of views they wouldn't hold it against you when you came back in?
If it got enough exposure, yeah, theyd probably care. If they werent aware of it, they obviously wouldnt....I want you to do it >_>
Im really not sure where youre going with this. Have you been drinking?
...I want you to do it >_>
I want you to try your damndest to rile up the Thai government for the hell of it from the safety of another country. I want to see what their reaction would be.
Why the fuck would I do that?Because you...have the opportunity to be a hero? IDK I honestly think it's a really interesting thing to contemplate doing. Like a sleeper agent type of thing from the movies.
In August 2008, Australian Harry Nicolaides was arrested at Bangkok airport as he prepared to board a flight. An arrest warrant had been issued concerning a book he self-published in 2005 and which contained references to the Thai monarchy. The Australian man was sentenced to three years in jail, but was pardoned after spending six months in a Thai prison. Nicolaides later said the self-published book which landed him in so much trouble had only sold seven copies.Must have been pirated by a few people. But this is the kind of content I wanted.
https://www.thaizer.com/thailands-lese-majeste-laws/
The crucial part you're missing out here is that if I am critical of the monarchy the absolute worst thing that happens to me is that I don't get invited to my racist uncle's house for parties anymore
In August 2008, Australian Harry Nicolaides was arrested at Bangkok airport as he prepared to board a flight. An arrest warrant had been issued concerning a book he self-published in 2005 and which contained references to the Thai monarchy. The Australian man was sentenced to three years in jail, but was pardoned after spending six months in a Thai prison. Nicolaides later said the self-published book which landed him in so much trouble had only sold seven copies.WTF was that book published in Thailand? If not, then that's absolutely scary that you can be arrested for stuff you did/said/wrote outside of the country in the past.
https://www.thaizer.com/thailands-lese-majeste-laws/
At the hearing on Thursday, the judge said he had already reduced Mr Thirakot's sentence by a third because of the defendant's co-operative behaviour.His sentence was supposed to 150 years or what?