Thai court jails U.S. citizen for royal insult

A Thailand is the so called land of smiles??

I'm this idiot American ain't smiling none too much behind them Thai jail bars!!

Time to repeal those stupid laws.

"A U.S. official said Gordon should not have been jailed at all."

I'll take it a step further and say that before he should not have been jailed, he should have thought about abiding by Thai laws and not being an idiot. Surely he knew what he was doing, and he may have thought it would be funny at the time -- it's not now. He may get a pardon, but as much as this may be construed as going against free speech, it is the law of the land. I'm not going to shoplift in Saudi Arabia just because I think it's barbaric and wrong to chop off the hand(s) of those caught, or commit a crime in Singapore because I disagree with cain lashings or the major fines.

He is a Thai emigrant and should have known better.

When in Thai... know the rules of the land, dude...

My problem with this is that he published the material while he was in the US, not in Thailand. Thailand is perfectly free to do what they want in their own country and people are perfectly free to comment about it, as they are doing here. However, he did this in the US and he is a US citizen and Thailand should draw the line at its own borders with this. At least they did not add 500 lashings to the sentence.

Having said the above, unless he was trying to get arrested, it seems he should have known better.

talking about drawing the line at the border-what gets me about the Thais speech rule is when a Thai hooker hits Japan and they cop the same attitude about the Japanese language and speaking, as if there is some level.

Applying national laws extra-terratorially to other countries should be banned by the U.N. across the board. I may be American, but I sure don't need to consider if I am breaking U.S. laws while I am considering if I may be breaking Japanese laws. Japanese laws are quite enough here in Japan and what happens here should stay here. So should what happens outside of Thailand stay outside of Thailand. So that is silly number one.

Silly number two is that you will notice that he has been jailed for insulting the King. Yet, it is not said what exactly he said that was insulting to the King. That is because it simply appears that he did not insult the King. A biography is not an insult. The truth is not an insult. Construing it as such is quite simply a political ploy used by Rightist Royalist forces to arrest anyone who opposes them, because if you cannot say anything about the monarchy or anything about it, it becomes difficult to criticize the Rightist Royalists. In fact, the premier who made these laws so insanely unfair is now protected from criticism by those laws as he sits on the privy council. If you criticize the law, you criticize him, and criticism becomes an insult and you go jail. Its pure insanity, like something you might have come across during the Spanish Inquistion.

BenJackinoff (what a name )...You took the words right out of my mouth! Well said!!! I agree 100%. Time for these "school-age acting-like nations to grow up"!

It is a Thai law but it seems like an insult for backers of free thought and voice.

The Thai feel very strongly about their royalty. Or at least the government does. In free democratic societies, e.g. the United States of America, freedom of expression is guaranteed by the constitution. Not so in the Kingdom of Thailand and Gordon must have known. It seems galling to be punished for an offense committed outside the borders of said kingdom, but that is the way these countries work. Their tolerance level is different. Gordon is plain stupid or he wanted attention focused on undemocratic, outdated medieval rules.

Well said Ben.

Thailand needs a grow up and get rid of these laws. The royal family reminds me of Crazy Kim in North Korea. Heaven forbid you say anything. Head there anytime and see all the yellow shirts.

It's like insulting the Prophet Muhammed, like that foreigner guy did during the hajj in Saudi Arabia and got arrested too.

How does this compare with burning the Stars and Stripes in the U.S.? Is that still against the law or has it been updated?

In this country people don't often openly criticise the Emperor. Even if it is not against any law, people seem afraid to do it.

Gee whiz - this so called "King" of Thailand sounds like an awfully precious bloke. Let the American go, you silly old man! I mean, you can get jailed in that joint for treading on a coin (which bears the king's mug). If I had a Thai coin right now I'd gladly step on it! LOL

Ben makes a good point, which I missed earlier -- I did not realize that the man posted what he did in the US, not Thailand, which makes the issue thornier and harder to judge. I think he'll be pardoned and let off with timed served.

BurakuminDes: Before you go dissing the King (and be careful! haha), you should keep in mind that he's not the one who put this guy in prison, and is in fact the person who usually let's people go in such cases. And he IS a very previous bloke -- to the Thai people.

tmarie:

" The royal family reminds me of Crazy Kim in North Korea. "

That is totally unfair. The Thai royalty looks back at a long history, is generally revered among the population, and does not run the country like an oversized concentration camp.

To even make that comparison is in bad taste.

From the sounds of things, unless you are a supporter or neutral on the topic of "should there even be a monarch" or related topics you ought to stay out of Thailand.

If I write what I think about a person which needs a minimum of 2.5 years of jail time as a means to protect his reputation, then I will not be able to visit Thailand any more...

@ Gaijintraveller

There has never been law in the US banning the burning of the flag. You are free to do so as long as you're not breaking any fire safety laws. It come under freedom of expression guaranteed under the US constitution. Every so often some right wingers want to add a constitutional amendment to ban the burning of the flag but it never gets very far.

However, you may get punched in the nose by some less tolerant individuals. ;)

How does this compare with burning the Stars and Stripes in the U.S.? Is that still against the law or has it been updated?

There is no law against flag burning in the united states. Like it or not, it is a constitutionally protected form of free speech in the united states, you can also burn copies of the constitution, declaration of independence etc if you wanted too. You can say "I hate bush" or "I hate Obama" or "Republicans/Democrats stink" and not have to worry about getting arrested. Though if you threaten to kill then that's another crime in itself.

As mentioned, its legal as long as you aren't in violation of fire laws/zones /doing arson etc.

In this country people don't often openly criticise the Emperor. Even if it is not against any law, people seem afraid to do it.

But if someone did in Japan, they might be shamed or shunned by some people, but they won't be tossed in Jail for six years either.

He was born and grew up there, he should have known better.

Tmarie and others: Stop blaming the King! He himself is against this law! He did not make it, he has no power to erase it and he generally pardons people who break it. Its all he can do.

Notice that Joe is not planning to appeal but is going to wait for the pardon from the King. I wish him luck, as the King is not well.

Tmarie and others: Stop blaming the King! He himself is against this law! He did not make it, he has no power to erase it and he generally pardons people who break it. Its all he can do.

Wrong. He can change the law.

Anyone remember the moving "Coming to America", there was a scene where the King was arguing with his wife about tradition, and the King said "Who am I to change it?".... summed it up right there.

That is totally unfair. The Thai royalty looks back at a long history, is generally revered among the population, and does not run the country like an oversized concentration camp.

No, it is fair. Perhaps you should look a little more into what has been going on in Thailand in recent years. The people aren't exactly "free" as they if that can be jailed for not supporting the King. You might want to look at what is going on in the south, the recent demonstrations and political issues.

Stop blaming the King! He himself is against this law! He did not make it, he has no power to erase it and he generally pardons people who break it. Its all he can do. Are you kidding me?? He can do a lot. But as usual, he does nothing. This isn't the first time a foreigner has been arrested for this. You might also want to think about how many Thais get arrested for this and how they get treated. I don't see the king speaking out about it, do you?

Are you kidding me?? He can do a lot. But as usual, he does nothing.

No. I am not kidding you. In fact, there is no need for such a rude question. Wiki says:

The king still retains many powers such as: being head of the Royal Thai Armed Forces, the prerogative of royal assent and the power of pardon.

Now, it was you who said there is a lot he could do. So you could you just give us 3 examples? Of course, you may feel free to be as unrealistic and impractical as you like. If you have him sparking a full fledged civil war just to change this one law, be my guest.

Well it isn't like the locals aren't sick and tired and haven't tried to spark a civil now, have they?

Has this guy spoken out about this? Nope. So... he's done nothing. We he easily could. He also wouldn't spark a war about ending this law. Those who don't like him would be happy to hear it and love who follow would accept his opinion. Thailand hasn't exactly been doing great on the PR scene. This is just another blow to them. Why not change it?