For the most part, the kind of Thailand seems like a decent enough person but this is downright silly. When I was there a few years back, I thought people were kidding when they said not to criticize the king in public. They immediately looked around and spoke in hushed voices. Instead of blatant criticism, people would come up with fake names for the king, his unpleasant wife (who nobody likes), his daughter and his allegedly drugged up loon of a son who many say tried to assassinate his father. It's really easy to play the game, so why do they continue with this outdated policy? Even worse, why are they expanding it to cover Facebook as well?
If anything is insulting, it's this policy.
A government minister in Thailand has warned Facebook users that anyone pressing the "like" button on posts that might be offensive to the monarchy could be prosecuted under the country's strict lèse-majesté laws.
The warning was given two days after a Thai criminal court sentenced Amphon Tangnoppaku, 61, to 20 years in prison for sending text messages deemed insulting to the country's queen.
Amphon was found guilty on four counts and sentenced to five years' consecutive jail on each charge.
