Faustian Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Cheers CTO, it's off to Tops I will go! Damn hard to find good bread products here... I think CTO's post was apt chuckwoww...but then so is yours... Hyperbole, maybe, a useful analogy...certainly. Faustian "read my lips", the silver tongued (or is that slimy?)... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Cop out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CTO Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Certainly I am not saying there are Nazi's here - rather what is a possability in any country that doesn;t allow free speach. Interesting no one picked up on what I said before - the law also defines FOREIGN head's of state - didn;t see anyone get charged for having a go at Cambodia's PM! <> DAM - EXACTLY what I order! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mentors Posted January 22, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Australia asks govt to pardon jailed writer The Australian government has asked Thailand to pardon a writer jailed for insulting the royal family, Foreign Minister Stephen Smith said. Australian Harry Nicolaides, 41, was sentenced to three years in jail by a Bangkok court Monday after pleading guilty to lese majeste, or slandering the monarchy. Smith told reporters late Tuesday that he had written to Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya to express the government's "strong support" for Nicolaides' request for a royal pardon. He said he had also taken up the writer's case at an Asia-Pacific summit meeting last year. "I raised Mr Nicolaides' case with then Thai foreign minister Sompong (Amornviwat) when we met at APEC in November last year," Smith said. The Australian, who had previously worked as a university lecturer in Thailand, has already been in custody for about five months after being detained at Bangkok airport's departure lounge on August 31. http://www.bangkokpost.com/breakingnews/135967/australia-asks-govt-to-pardon-jailed-writer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadfly Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Well I don't like to generalize like that about Thais but... ...when it suits your position, you will do so. And your generalization is both insulting to Thais and wrong. Consider this:: Sulak Sivaraksa, a Bangkok-based social activist, said many people were critical of the strict monarchy laws in private... "The lese majeste laws have mostly been used by politicians to get rid of or to silence the opposition," he told Al Jazeera, adding that even the king had a few years ago said that the law was harmful to him and detrimental to the monarchy. "I think we should be brave to do something to have this law changed," Sulak said. And you said I was missing the point? It's insulting to Thais and Thailand when Farangs claim that Thais really don't mind when their basic civil rights are denied because it's a "Western" concept and really doesn't matter to them. It plays right into the hands, as Khun Sivaraksa would say, of politicians to get rid of or to silence the opposition. Do you want more cites from Thais who think your position is absoulte nonsense? At this point, I would hope that would not be necessary. There are real people here with real lives and real interets at stakes, and I find it absolutely disgusting when my fellow Westerners dismiss those interests in such a patronizing manner. It's an insult to everyone. But don't worry, I won't press any charges. Pig-headedness is not a crime. :smirk: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 22, 2009 Report Share Posted January 22, 2009 Not sure what your problem is. Perhaps you need to look at the title of the thread. I totally agree with Sulak Sivaraksa. The law is archaic, repressive and gets abused. Go back through the thread and you'll see that I've said that several times. I'm sure many Thais are critical of the law in private. And some of them are doing something to get the law changed. Hopefully this can be accomplished without major social upheaval or malicious insults from self-serving farang who treat Thailand like a joke. In the meantime the law is enforced and if you think Harry's noble efforts are helpful I think you're wrong. If Sulak Sivaraksa takes him a food parcel I will change my mind. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 One newspaper report says the arrest warrant on Harry was issued TWO AND A HALF YEARS AGO. One can't say the police were very anxious to track him down. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 There's some background to this story that we aren't getting. He bragged about teaching illegally. Apparently he changed his plea to guilty just before the hearing too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 No one in their right mind prints just 20 copies of a book. The expense is in setting up a book to print. After that, it's not much more expensive to print say 1,000 than 20. Plus if you are not worried about what you have written, you don't send copies to the Thai authorities to find out if you have broke the law. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 I can sort of understand just printing a few. He maybe just wanted some feedback from friends etc. And there's a storage problem with 500-1000. I know. It took me 2 years to move the first run of mine. I'm pretty sure he realized he was breaking the law. If you read the book it's basically a guy meets girl story but he obviously thought it needed beefing it up with some political controversy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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