Summary
Thai police arrested US academic Paul Chambers on charges of insulting the monarchy and violating computer crime laws, linked to remarks made during an online seminar.
Chambers, a political science professor at Naresuan University, was summoned after a complaint by the Thai Army.
He denied the charges and was denied bail, with no trial date set. Thailand enforces strict lèse-majesté laws under Article 112, carrying up to 15 years in prison.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.
Thailand’s lèse majesté laws are very strict. The government treats insults to the monarchy as a harm to the entire country.
Just don’t do it! If you’re not a Thai person then what business do you have with the monarchy anyway?
Thats a dumb line. You should be able to criticize anyone, especially those in power
Sure but if you go to Thailand and do it you’ll go to jail. It’s well known. If you don’t like it don’t go to Thailand.
Also, while I’m not defending the law, Thais are extremely reverent to their royal family. It’s part of their cultural identity. It’s not like Britain or something where the royals are merely tolerated.
It’s such a shame when people downvote factual things, simply because they don’t like to hear them.
In this case it’s especially poignant, since the topic is about a person that censors and/or punishes people who say things they don’t like.
Meh. I think I have a personal downvoter that downvotes everything I say on principle. No biggie.
I’ve heard that from others (and thought that) before, too. But I’ve come to believe there are simply some sad, little trolls on here that are either too cowardly or lazy to comment. It’s pathetic.
Not being invested enough to engage isn’t pathetic, it’s the normal response. It’s not pathetic to not be chronically online my dude
I don’t doubt op has a stalker, but not commenting everywhere isn’t what makes them pathetic. It’s all the times when the stalker is engaging that are pathetic, not the times when they aren’t
It’s all pathetic. Devoting one’s time to following someone around just to downvote them is a pathetic way to live. It’s not less pathetic if they comment - the lack of comments is just something I’ve observed.
It seems like every 10 years or so a story like this comes up.
I remember in the 90s there was a case of a teenager who vandalized or put graffiti on a building in some place like Singapore and was sentenced to caning. There was this huge outcry about how cruel it was and such, and I remember (I was in high school) thinking that the guy was an idiot who made how own bed.
Then you get Otto Warmbier who somehow was allowed into North Korea and then decided it was a good idea to rip a post of the country’s founder off the wall.
The lesson? Know where you are. When you’re not in Kansas, then don’t do Kansas things. Consequences are different in different parts of the world. It’s really easy to be a respectful traveler.
Yeah. Sometimes I think people are so used to media (TV, movies, video games) and the distancing effect of being in a vehicle (looking out a window at people) that they’re actually capable of travelling to another country without actually believing that they are there in person.
Apart from stories like this, there are countless other stories of clueless travellers who walk around treating locals like NPCs, not really realizing how annoying and offensive they are. These big blowback stories are just the tip of the iceberg on that whole genre of stupidity.
Someone else in this thread said he’s basically been set up / framed because he fell out of favour with the police. Another well established no-no in Thailand.
What if you’re part Thai, or specifically, one part of you is Thai? 😆
I’m imagining a scenario like with Ray Gillette from Archer, where a non-Thai person gets a robotic hand prosthesis that uses skin from a Thai person, making only that specific part of them “Thai.”
Sorry. Just some shitpost trans humor. One part of me is Thai! Well, made in Thailand at least.
No need to apologize! That’s a cool self-fact. :)
Americans get really upset when people go to the US and do things like they do in their home country, but also expect to be able to act like Americans in other countries. It’s a little arrogant or ignorant. Some people who who were even invited to study in the US have been deported for doing things that Americans do themselves, like protesting.
Whittle this story down to its core and you have, “guest in country breaks law and gets punished”. Is that really surprising? How about, “guest in country exercises rights of citizens and gets punished?”