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US Citizen Visiting Thailand Arrested For Blog Posting

Posted by timothy on from the otherwise-I'd-like-to-go dept.

societyofrobots writes "A US citizen, upon visiting Thailand for medical treatment, was arrested for lese majeste (insulting the king) and computer crimes ('entering false information into a computer system'). He is charged for posting a link on his blog to a banned book, The King Never Smiles, and for translating excerpts of it. He made the posting four years ago in 2007, while in the US. Trials for lese majeste are traditionally held in secret, for reasons of 'national security'. AFP has more information."

4 of 456 comments (clear)

  1. "lese majeste" by koreaman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Latin for "law that let's us put whoever the fuck we want in jail"

    --
    Le français vous intéresse?
    1. Re:"lese majeste" by fuzzyfuzzyfungus · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Many Americans do, indeed, believe that there should be some restraint on flag burning. They are goose-stepping pricks. Luckily, the chaps who wrote the constitution we smarter than they are, and those ugly, atavistic, elements of our culture Just Don't Get What They Want. Same for the "I feel strongly about deity X, so all criticism of deity X must be forbidden" crowd.

      To be perfectly honest, I have absolutely no problem applying my standards(some of which are, albeit imperfectly, reasonably close to qualifying as "American") to another culture. If the Thais wish to be self restrained, I wish them all the best. If they wish to restrain the speech of those who they don't think are self restrained enough, fuck them and the horse they rode in on.

      The world over, I respect the right of people to respect whatever they fancy(though I agree with some and mock others for doing so, depending on what they chose). However, I nowhere respect the right of anybody to compel others to display 'respect' for their chosen object, whether it be the flag, the nation, the monarch, the god, the literary masterpiece. If this makes me an insensitive, cultural-imperialist prick, so be it. At least I'm an equal-opportunity bigot.

  2. I have this important message by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The king of Thailand is a dirty bastard who fucked a chicken. On multiple occasions. In the ass.

  3. Re:jurisdiction? by Splab · · Score: 4, Insightful

    "places like that"?

    Like the US? India? UK? All countries currently trying to extract (or recently did) people for committing a crime that didn't break any local laws.