Topic: Absolutely ridiculous...

[Pugnate]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/7836854.stm

[Xessive]

That is pretty fucked up man.

Truly stranger than fiction.

[sirean_syan]

They love their king in Thailand something fierce, or at least act like they love him. It seemed like whenever I traveled around I would see some sort of parade or something with children honoring him and, or course, there are pictures everywhere. At the time, there were rumors that he was sick, but apparently that was something that you couldn't talk about openly. My brother even told me to keep not ask about it when we were walking around cities and such, maybe because of stuff like this.

[Pugnate]

You are right. I noticed the same thing. Their love for their king was pretty hardcore, and I am not going to go further because I plan to go back there anyway.

[Xessive]

Can we really call it "love?"

[Cobra951]

If you're there, you'd better.  It's good to be the king.

[Xessive]

If you're there, you'd better.  It's good to be the king.

Hehe yeah. I generally prefer to avoid unnecessary trouble

I'm naturally rebellious, so the only way I can approve of any authority over me is if I wholeheartedly agree with it. Otherwise I prefer to let people rule however they see fit, I'm not one to judge hastily, so long as they don't impose anything on me. As far as I'm concerned I'm just passing by and no one has any right to impose anything on me without incurring some serious karmic consequences.

Coming back to the main topic; I feel for this guy. Going to jail for having an opinion is pretty farked.

[Cobra951]

Oh I agree completely with the subject line.  I'm strongly against anyone's loss of liberty for anything less than intentional crimes.  Even the US doesn't meet that ideal (and if anything, it's getting worse).  It's jarring to see someone jailed for publishing a book in the 21st century.  Shame on Thailand.

[Ghandi]

What's the big deal? This guy is lucky he still has his head. The king is merciful. Long live the king!

[gpw11]

I just find it funny that his shitty book only sold 7 copies.  Oh well, at least he got to molest a lot of young boys while he was there.

[W7RE]

I just find it funny that his shitty book only sold 7 copies.  Oh well, at least he got to molest a lot of young boys while he was there.

not only did his book only sell 7 copies, but 1 of those 7 just happened to end up where it would get him arrested.

[Pugnate]

Oh well, at least he got to molest a lot of young boys while he was there.

Let's just hope it wasn't for research for his book.

[Pugnate]

http://edition.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/02/20/thailand.author/index.html

Well the guy was pardoned...

But I find this quote interesting:

The book includes a paragraph about the king and crown prince that authorities deemed a violation of a law that makes it illegal to defame, insult or threaten the crown. CNN has chosen not to repeat the language because it could result in CNN staff being prosecuted in Thailand.

[W7RE]

According to this blog, he lived in Thailand for several years, self-published the book IN THAILAND, and even sent copies to various government departments.

I assumed it was a case where he mentioned the king of Thailand and it was misconcieved as negative or threatening, then he just happened to visit there and get nabbed. No, he lived there and was poking a stick at the king for exiling his wife and children. Yea, the law seems very stupid in this situation, but so does the author.