This week a 61 year old Thai man, Ampon Tangnoppakul has been jailed to 20 years in prison for allegedly sending four SMS messages to the secretary of the former PM in which he is said to have broken Thailands strict Lese Majeste rules.
Lese Majeste is a law designed to protect the Thai royal family from critism and abuse. In itself that is maybe not a bad thing. Some of the things that are said about our royal family really gets on my nerves sometimes. However if the critism is deserved, then an adult discussion is a good thing.
Unfortunately, in Thailand, a group of elite, ultra royalist who run the country have taken the law to its enth degree. Anything negative or not towing the official line will see you in court. It is used as a political football and every party has to be seen to be cracking down on any one that breaks the law.
In the Bangkok Post today, it was reported that anyone who puts anything on Facebook or likes anything that is considered to be a Lese Majeste offence on facebook will be tracked down and prosecuted.
It seems that in this present world of instant news and social networks, I can only see Thai jails becoming full of people who have broken the law, maybe even people who weren't even aware that they had broken the law.
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