Harry Nicolaides screwed up.
Big time.
The former university lecturer in northern Thailand self-published a book called Verisimilitude in 2005.
Bangkok courts have just sentenced him to three years imprisonment.
Not for self-publishing fifty copies of his novel.
For allegedly insulting King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn in it.
And then being in a place where Thai authorities could arrest him.
A Thai website described the book as an "uncompromising assault on the patrician values of the monarchy".
Nicolaides described his novel as a commentary on political and social life of contemporary Thailand.
The book sold seven copies.
At least one of them had to be from the Thai government, I'm guessing.
Thailand has Lèse majesté laws on the books.
Thailand has a throne.
And one is not allowed to insult it.
I went hunting for a copy of the text that was so insulting.
At the moment, I can't find it.
It's supposedly three or four lines of text that deals with certain Thai prince and his....love life.
Or love habits.
I'm not sure, since I can't find the freaking passage.
Seems the prosecutor of the case has warned reporters recently that the law prohibited publication and repetition of the material.
I would guess that when you're a reporter in a Thai courtroom, looking at a shackled and orange-prisonsuit-clad 41 year old author who's been incarcerated for the past six months for writing the passage, you tend to listen to the prosecutor.
Because AP didn't print it.
Neither has anybody else.
I can see where we, as heavy-handed westerners or worse, heavy-handed self-centered Americans, need to respect the legal systems of other countries.
Back off, I'm sure my French readers would tell me.
If I had any French readers.
Lèse majesté laws stifle everyody: Thais and foreigners alike.
And I'm sure if Harry were of Thai descent, I'd have never even heard of him or his plight.
So Harry brings a spotlight onto archaic, backwater laws.
Too bad it wasn't intentional.
I mean, he had been part of Thai life for over four years.
He's an author. A reporter.
He had to know what could happen--he sent passages of his book--including the potentially offensive one-- to the Thai government in advance of his printing.
But nobody answered him.
I guess he figured no news is good news.
Oops.
If I find the passage, I'll be sure to post it, and link to the source.
I'm not going to Thailand any time soon.
Below are my references.
I suspect that Thailand has pretty much banned most of them--they banned YouTube when there was a spate of monarchy-mocking vids in 2006/2007. These days YouTube is available to Thais in a filtered form.
- Australian, Harry Nicolaides, Sentenced For Insulting Thai Monarchy
- Australian jailed for three years for insulting Thai royals
- Lèse majesté and Harry Nicolaides
- The trouble with Harry
- Writer Harry Nicolaides jailed for insulting Thai king
- Australian Harry Nicolaides Arrested in Thailand
- On Thailand, Harry Nicolaides, and Populism
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