15 Years In Jail For Clicking 'Like'

patiwat writes "Thailand has warned Facebook users that they could face 3 to 15 years in jail if they press 'share' or 'like' on images or articles considered unflattering to the Thai monarchy. And it doesn't just apply to Thai subjects: a U.S. citizen was arrested and convicted while visiting Thailand for posting a link to an unauthorized biography of King Bhumibol on his blog. Convictions for virtual lese majeste have sky-rocketed in recent years as efforts to defend the widely revered royal family from criticism have ramped up."

Revered?

[Anonymous Coward]

as efforts to defend the widely reviled royal family from criticism have ramped up

FTFY

Re:Revered?

[Anonymous Coward]

    And how would you know that, if it is illegal to say otherwise?

    That said, the king is an old man in poor health. His son is the worst kind of corrupt playboy who deserves to be criticised for many things.

    All these prosecutions are meant to terrorize the population so there will be no dissent when the old king goes.

Re:democracy

[S.O.B.]

The King isn't responsible for the law or how it is used/abused by the government. He is a constitutional monarch and has no more control over the laws of Thailand than Queen Elizabeth has over the laws of Britain.

The King has even stated that he is not above criticism and usually pardons people after they have been sentenced which is the first point in the process where he has any constitutional power that he can exercise.

Re:Who is "they"

[martin-boundary]

Just to expand on this slightly: The Napoleon in your link is Napoleon III [wikipedia.org], the bumbling fool who fancied himself a military genius but pretty much lost all his major war adventures. He was nothing like Napoleon I [wikipedia.org], who lived 50 years earlier, and brought the ideals of the French revolution to all of Europe.

Re:Bullshit Laws!

[jklovanc]

Joe Gordon is a dual Thai/US citizen. He was born in Thailand and never renounced his citizenship. So Mr Gordon is not "from a country not their own".

I am not saying that the law is not BS but that Thailand is applying their laws to their citizens.

Re:democracy

[artor3]

Nonsense.

We have two political parties because our election system -- with its winner-take-all, no run-off rules -- naturally gravitates towards a two party system.

We have a free press. Just because you don't like what some branches of the press report doesn't mean they aren't free.

And you're claiming that books and music are censored? Have you even been to America, or do you base all your opinions off the crap you read on Slashdot? Your English makes it clear that you aren't an American, and based on how distorted your view is, I'd guess that you have absolutely no first hand knowledge of the country.

Time article on Thailand's lese majeste law

[Dahan]

FYI, here's an informative/interesting article from Time magazine: What's Behind Thailand's Lèse Majesté Crackdown? [time.com]

tl;dr: it's used as a political tool to silence/jail one's enemies--while the law has been around forever, prosecutions skyrocketed after the 2006 coup that ousted the prime minister as the different political parties fight for power. The king himself has publically stated that he doesn't support the lese majeste law, and no member of the royal family has ever filed a lese majeste charge.

Re:Why indulge?

[mellon]

Nope, sorry, they were doing that to alien visitors when I entered at Chicago last week on the way back from Japan. The Japanese government is doing it too. I got photographed at Heathrow a while back, but I'm not entirely sure what they were doing—it wasn't at immigration, so it seemed like some sort of airport security measure.

Re:Why indulge?

[Adriax]

Except that's not the same thing.
If the US had the same laws as tailand, anyone even remotely related to fox news would be shipped off to Guantanamo for the crap they make up about the president on a daily basis.

You can walk around america with a t-shirt that says "Obama sucks donkey balls!" all you want, you can't in tailand with a comparable shirt about the king.

Re:Fuck the king

[CmdrPony]

That law isn't made by the king or royal family, it's made by the government (and in turn, people). He himself has said that he shouldn't be above criticism, and does parole people punished for that law.

Re:Why indulge?

[CmdrPony]

Having the law but not enforcing it is actually worse. It means it can be selectively enforced if someone doesn't like some guy. Either have the law or not, but don't make it random.

The king has no control

[AlecC]

Precisely - he is, and knows he is, a figurehead, and he should not interfere in the democratic process. His only interventions have been calmly to ask the politicians to get their act together and stop behaving like spoiled children (free translation). It is one faction of politicians who build him up for their own purposes. He cannot interfere with the law without interfering with democracy. He can then pardon those convicted. It is one of the problems of a constitutional monarchy that things done in the monarch's name are actually totally, out of the control of the monarch. His function is roughly the same as the flag in the US - something to salute, and produce prominently on state occasions, but not as functional part of the legislations. These laws are roughly like the rules, which some consider laws, about respectful treatment of the Stars and Stripes.