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Thailand Bans YouTube

Posted by Zonk on from the getting-to-be-popular dept.

An anonymous reader writes "The new government of Thailand that forced its way into power last year has banned the website YouTube after a 44 second clip was found of someone spray painting on a picture of Thailand's king. When Google refused to remove the 'offending' clip the website was redirected to a different page. This comes days after a Swiss man was jailed 10 years for spray painting on pictures of the king while drunk, and is the same government that earlier this year slammed open source software for being useless and buggy."

8 of 377 comments (clear)

  1. Now if only... by MikeRT · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They put half of that outrage into their domestic problems with child prostitution and pornography creation/distribution. Why, Thailand might make real progress on an issue that actually has a moral component to it.

    1. Re:Now if only... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Informative

      A lot of people seem to be unaware of how medeival Thailand is when it comes to morality. Why, just recently a beautiful Thai college student and actress got in a lot of trouble because the dress she wore was too revealing! (obligatory hot pix here)

    2. Re:Now if only... by vux984 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Any moral system that condones 10 years of prison for spray-painting a picture of a person is B-R-O-K-E-N.

      Probably.

      Then again, the US legal system condones punishments for modifying your own hardware in defiance of the DMCA that exceed what you'd get for assault or auto theft. That same system recently had the potential to lock some guy in prison for 55 years for the crime of 'computer intrusion' -- making it a crime on par with murder.

      More telling perhaps, a big chunk of the US is constantly trying to pass legislation to make burning a particular piece of cloth illegal. Is that any less absurd than a law against spray-painting a picture?

      I'm not saying I think the Thai law is sensible, but you don't have to go to Thailand to see "ass-backwards".

    3. Re:Now if only... by curecollector · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Alright, this is a day when I wish I had some mod points kicking around. Insightful + 1.

      If there's one thing that always drive me up a wall, it's all of this relativism when it comes to matters of culture. At least in America. For some strange reason, it's become taboo to flat out say, "in my eyes, this culture is fucking insane".

      I mean, think about it: there are parts of the world where they believe that the grain that America gives them is giving them AIDS. There are parts of the world where people believe that raping a virgin (babies included) can cure AIDS. There are parts of the world where they execute/impose life sentences on drug dealers (of those who they believe to be drug dealers), yet child prostitution runs rampant, in a semi-open manner. The list goes on. I'll be honest, as far as I'm concerned, it's all fucking backwards.

      (PS - I'm not saying America is above reproach, either. Not for a second. Hell, the rest of the world has no problem pointing out what they perceive to be our flaws. Why is it that we can never point out theirs?)

  2. ..and... by mapkinase · · Score: 5, Funny

    Ministry of Information of Thailand was effectively slashdotted. Half of me says that was a plan.

    --
    I do not believe in karma. "Funny"=-6. Do good and forbid evil. Yours, Oft-Offtopic Flamebaiting Troll.
  3. Fucking monarchies by i_should_be_working · · Score: 5, Funny

    Here are assorted images of Thailand's king. Here's Thailand's government website. (english)

    Let's show them what we and the Gimp think of them throwing people in prison for 10 years for vandalism.

  4. Re:Respect and Freedom? by voice_of_all_reason · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Try a stunt like that and you'll be lucky if the police gets you before the enraged mob does.

    Any people that would beat or kill you for insulting someone are not enlightened, cultural superiors. They simple zealous lunatics.

    The real test would be their reaction to some Danish cartoons.

  5. Thais take this very seriously by Slashdot+Parent · · Score: 5, Informative

    Anyone who has been to Thailand can tell you that Thais are some of the most friendly, inviting people on the planet. The country is often dubbed the "Land of Smiles" and isn't even a reference to the sex trade, for which they are also famous. Thailand is called the Land of Smiles because people are always smiling at each other. They could be in the middle of an intense negotiation or even an argument, but they are always smiling.

    However, there is an exception. In Thailand, you do not insult the King. I repeat, you do not insult the King.

    If you do insult the King (yes, spraypainting a mustache on him is insulting), those always-smiling Thais will stop smiling, gouge your eyes out, rip you limb from limb, slit your throat from ear to ear, and rip out all of your internal organs. When the police arrive, they will help the mob, and everyone from the police to the ambulance driver to the attending physician to the coroner to the undertaker will all swear that you died of a sudden heart attack.

    I am not kidding about this. Thais take their King very seriously.

    --
    They don't grade fathers, but if your daughter's a stripper, you fucked up. --Chris Rock