[Thailand] Swiss man jailed for 10 years for insulting Thai king

[lblackvelvet]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/6505237.stm



Curious what everyone's take on this is.

Personally... I figure... if you're dumb enough to do something like this in a country where it's about as high on the list of taboo's you can get... then you gotta lay in the bed you made.

But I'd be curious what others think about this.

 

[Jsmooth46675]

Seems a little harsh!

it made me laugh to think of a 57 year old pissed up going tagging!

hes been in thailand for 10 years so i guess he should know how they feel about this so i guess he was a little stupid....but aint we all done stupid things when drunk!

 

[Tamitay]

I agree with what you said.

I think that having a King in this day and age is pretty backward - but it's their country and their laws, so if you choose to live there then you've got to obey the law same as everyone else.

 

[boxfervor]

Having been to Thailand and witnessing the reverence towards the king, I wonder how stupid this guy is in other aspects of his life? He's 57....perhaps a little old for grafitti?

Yes, people do stupid things when drunk but there's all sorts of better stupid things to do in Thailand, no? What part of his brain decided defacing portraits of the king was a good idea?

 

[RoxyQueen]

the drunken part!?

I can think of better stupid drunk things to do in thailand...

 

[shirleyv]

I think the law is harsh, but it is what it is, and old dude should have known.

 

[Trepidation]

the law is harsh but 10 years is actually quite leniant, since he is a foreigner I dont think a royal pardon would be that surprising,

 

[MCMcSquealer]

Wonder if his home country will try to make a pardon happen. Clinton managed to keep that kid from getting caned by crying about it...

 

[munchkin]

As I also live in a constitutional monarchy I have some sympathy, I feel it is my inalienable right to call the queen any name I feel and do what I wish to her images, because, lets face it, the whole concept of monarchy is stupid.

If the thai legal system feels they have to take this action it shows there is something deeply wrong with democracy in Thailand, which is why the Thai military conducted yet another coup recently..

Is it reverence the Thai people have .. or is it fear? I suspect like people in England there is a mixture of reverence, indifference and active dislike as they are people the same as us and being Asian does not mean they are genetically programmned to kow tow to which ever muppet wears the crown that decade.

 

[RiverEuphrates]

Assuming you are talking about the UK, it is totally wrong to compare the two countries, in Thailand the word of the king has huge influence, in the UK the queen is not supposed to interfere with political occurences in any way. If in the Uk you decide to insult the Queen, you can do so and most people wouldn't give you a second glance.

 

[MelbourneBoy]

If this was to happen to me i would expect my country to intervene on my behalf. But this is Switzerland we are talking about.

I think he should have been deported. Why wasn't he in this case?

 

[jedi]

Some guy gets wasted, but wants to get more wasted but can't because it's the king's birthday. SO he defaces a picture.

Does that warrant 10 years in prison?

But, if you choose to live somewhere with laws which dictate this, then you're aware of the consequences. No excuses I'm afraid, even though the law is clearly nonsense.

Seems there may be some benefits to living in a western democracy after all...

Mitch

 

[Ghost101]

why? you broke the law, you take the punishment.

 

[neniaf]

Do you mean why should he have been deported or why should my country intervene?

 

[warmfuzzies]

Apparently: spray paint + south east asia == harsh punishment.

iirc, the kid in Singapore (Michael Fay)spray painted several cars (amongst a long list of vandalism and other offenses). They reduced the number of strikes from 6 to 4 in response to Clinton's appeal.

If you live somewhere they still go by the code of Hammurabi make sure you know what is and is not legal. Common sense would have prevailed in both of these cases.

 

[NewFather]

regardless of deportation (mainly because I dont know much abut Thai immigration laws), why should your country get involved when you have broken their laws.

 

[jdelforge_pcpro]

Yer I know, my point is that any country that rates itself as democratic should not impose limits on freedom of speech especially against the rulers.

To imprison someone for 10 years for what is basically just drunken criminal damage (a fine and community service in any other democratic country) exposes the totalitarian heart of a cosmetically democratic country.

 

[TimsonA]

you cant judge the validity of a democracy based on those kind of laws. I dont hear about people protesting in the streets against that law. I'm sure to many countries the idea that you can go to jail in the UK for mistreating an animal seems crazy.

 

[Discovery]

Of course democracy can be judged on these sort of laws. Freedom of speech is a fundamental corner stone of democracy, if people do not even have the freedom to openly criticise the gouverment (constitutional monarchy is part of the gouverment) without harsh repraisals, then what chance do they have in having a say in how their county is governed?

And let's put this into context, the military coup was supported by the monarch - therefore any criticism aginst the monarch equals criticism aginst the military by default, which they will not tolerate as the miltaries legitamacy comes from the monarchy. Without that conferred legitamacy they are just a bunch of guys with guns and smart uniforms overthrowing the elected goverment..

Laws aginst cruelty to animals on other hand are the result of values, and these laws are put into place by a democratically elected parliament. Though you would not be put in prison for saying these laws are wrong, that is the major difference.

 

[dulce_candygirl]

Because its not my king?

If a British woman was about to get stoned to death in some backwards Islamic country for violation of some sharia law like not covering her face, wouldn't you expect Britain to intervene?