Write This Down: While in Thailand, Don't Insult the King...

Filed in archive News on January 20, 2009

A number of news sources (Channel News Asia, The Chronicle of Higher Ed, The Huffington Post) are reporting on a case in Thailand in which an Australian citizen has been sentenced to three years in prison for insulting the royal family.

From the Chronicle of Higher Education:

A Thai court today sentenced an Australian lecturer, whose fictional novel depicted a member of the royal family in an unflattering light, to a three-year jail term for insulting the monarchy.

Harry Nicolaides taught English and social science at Mae Fah Luang University in northern Thailand. He self-published a novel in 2005 and sold just seven copies of it. The novel was fiction, but a passage in it suggested that the crown prince, Vajiralongkorn, had abused his mistresses.

"I would like to apologize," Nicolaides told reporters. "This can't be real. This is an Alice in Wonderland experience. I really believe that I'm going to wake up and it will all be gone."

If you travel to Thailand, keep in mind that this is a law Thailand takes seriously.


Photo courtesy of iStockphoto, Image# 7656898