Aussie in jail

[barty boy]

i must admit i was more than a little shocked to see the aussie writer get 3 years jail for insulting royalty in Thailand.....Boy the amount of stuff i dish out to politicians here,i should have had the electric chair twice over by now

 

[1eyedtiger]

Australian governments couldn't afford to execute everyone who insulted them. They'd go broke for lack of taxpayers. ;D

 

[Rosy]

Does anyone know what he actually wrote about the royal family in his book?

 

[SfB_AkA._DeLiCiOuS]

Does anyone know what he actually wrote about the royal family in his book?

Thailand won't let it go public.
He knew the laws in countries like that, It's the worst thing you can say in Thailand is to diss the King. :duh
If Infidelity is a crime in countries like Korea, Taiwan & the Philippines more caution should have been taken.
Feel sorry for the bloke but he did get the good end of it, Could have been worse.

 

[Gordietiger]

Did a search and came up with some of the following-----

Harry Nicolaides, 41, of Melbourne was found guilty of slandering 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the Crown Prince, Maha Vajiralongkorn. His book Verisimilitude, which contains a trenchant commentary on the political and social life of contemporary Thailand. His own publisher's press release describes the work as an 'uncompromising assault on the patrician values of the monarchy'

An excerpt of the book--

“From King Rama to the Crown Prince, the nobility was renowned for
their romantic entanglements and intrigues. The Crown Prince had
many wives “major and minor “with a coterie of concubines for
entertainment. One of his recent wives was exiled with her entire
family, including a son they conceived together, for an undisclosed
indiscretion. He subsequently remarried with another woman and
fathered another child. It was rumoured that if the prince fell in
love with one of his minor wives and she betrayed him, she and her
family would disappear with their name, familial lineage and all
vestiges of their existence expunged forever.”

Apparently the offending material is from the above paragraph-----seems like harsh justice!!!

 

[pahoffm]

As I've said before,

Many like to criticise the USA, but it should also be recognised that the US is one of the few placed that you can criticise freely.

In many other countries, people disappear for criticising government.

You can throw a shoe at a US President and get away with it.

 

[AngryAnt]

As I've said before,

Many like to criticise the USA, but it should also be recognised that the US is one of the few placed that you can criticise freely.

In many other countries, people disappear for criticising government.

You can throw a shoe at a US President and get away with it.

That happened in Iraq, not the US. And I wouldn't think being imprisoned, beaten and tortured counts as "getting away with it" really.

 

[AngryAnt]

Did a search and came up with some of the following-----

Harry Nicolaides, 41, of Melbourne was found guilty of slandering 81-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej and the Crown Prince, Maha Vajiralongkorn. His book Verisimilitude, which contains a trenchant commentary on the political and social life of contemporary Thailand. His own publisher's press release describes the work as an 'uncompromising assault on the patrician values of the monarchy'

An excerpt of the book--

“From King Rama to the Crown Prince, the nobility was renowned for
their romantic entanglements and intrigues. The Crown Prince had
many wives “major and minor “with a coterie of concubines for
entertainment. One of his recent wives was exiled with her entire
family, including a son they conceived together, for an undisclosed
indiscretion. He subsequently remarried with another woman and
fathered another child. It was rumoured that if the prince fell in
love with one of his minor wives and she betrayed him, she and her
family would disappear with their name, familial lineage and all
vestiges of their existence expunged forever.”

Apparently the offending material is from the above paragraph-----seems like harsh justice!!!

Possibly, but if you go to Thailand you should know that they treat insults to the Royal family very seriously. Everytime I've been there some drunk tourist is in the clink because they graffitti-d a photo or bad mouthed the King.

 

[Tigers of Old]

It's a risky proposition criticising anything to do with the Royal Family or Thailand in general.

Long live the King.

 

[craig]

:hihi :hihi :hihi

Well played Toots.

 

[kiwitiger]

If you set foot in Thailand, there are two things you must never disrespect, the Royal family, and Budha.

There are other things you should know about as well, but those two are pretty sacred to the thais.

I holiday there alot, well ...once a year, we have a ball there.

But you must learn and obey their rules , otherwise, best to avoid the place.

 

[craig]

If you set foot in Thailand, there are two things you must never disrespect, the Royal family, and Budha.

There are other things you should know about as well, but those two are pretty sacred to the thais.

I holiday there alot, well ...once a year, we have a ball there.

But you must learn and obey their rules , otherwise, best to avoid the place.

See this is what *smile* me about modern Australia, we are so *smile* weak that no one comes here from overseas and respects our way of life or laws especially if they whinge and whine as a minority then they do what they like.

We need to be like the Thais, the Japs, and the Singaporeans, live our way or face the consequences.

 

[Panthera tigris FC]

See this is what sh!ts me about modern Australia, we are so p!ss weak that no one comes here from overseas and respects our way of life or laws especially if they whinge and whine as a minority then they do what they like.

We need to be like the Thais, the Japs, and the Singaporeans, live our way or face the consequences.

What is "our way"?

Those who break the laws of our land face justice. Do you think our laws need tightening? Freedom of speech and the press should be cracked down on a bit?

 

[barty boy]

I try to stick with this ......"I might disagree with what you say ,but I'll fight for your right to say it"

 

[1eyedtiger]

What is "our way"?

Those who break the laws of our land face justice. Do you think our laws need tightening? Freedom of speech and the press should be cracked down on a bit?

we would have to start enforcing our laws before we can decide whether they need tightening or not. As it stands, only those who consider themselves Australian can be prosecuted for racial vilification. Everyone else can do as they please.

After all, it would be against our own racial vilification laws to do anything about them.

 

[evo]

This guy was in my year at high school,and my junior footy team.Bit of a geek,but respekt to him for his complete lack of respect of authority.

What is most bizzare about this I reckon is that he thought it was worth his effort to write and publish a book that only 10 people ended up reading.

Jeebus,even scouser has a bigger readership than that. ;D

 

[mb64]

This guy was in my year at high school,and my junior footy team.Bit of a geek,but respekt to him for his complete lack of respect of authority.

What is most bizzare about this I reckon is that he thought it was worth his effort to write and publish a book that only 10 people ended up reading.

Jeebus,even scouser has a bigger readership than that. ;D

Did he criticise to gain the publicity?If so maybe 10 people bought the book instead of 8.

 

[AngryAnt]

Many many people write books that no-one will read.

The passage that got him in trouble is only a tiny part of his book - I doubt he was trying to trade on the notoriety of this passage to increase book sales.