Crime

Monarchy satire Facebook group under government scrutiny

Published

9 months ago

Monday, June 1, 2020

Caitlin Ashworth

Monarchy satire Facebook group under government scrutiny | The Thaiger

PHOTO: Khaosod

Police are investigating a popular Facebook group that posts satirical commentary about the Thai royal family. One man was even detained and questioned about his posts on the satire group page, Thai media reports. There was also talk about a few other members questioned, but that has not been confirmed.

The group dubbed “Royalist Marketplace” (in Thai) is run by Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a popular critic who lives in Japan, according to a screenshot of the page taken by Khaosod. There was 430,015 members at the time of the screenshot with hundreds of posts each day. It’s now up to 452,000 as of Monday morning. The page was created about a month ago.

We can’t even post the full content of the Facebook front page.

Whilst the site was originally intended to be a broader marketplace to help Thailand’s struggling SMEs, it’s quickly morphed into politically charged commentary and satire, with plenty of ‘Royal’ content as well, that is considered highly offensive by a coterie of Thai society, as well as the current government.

Pavin Chachavalpongpun is associate professor at the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University in Japan.

“A week ago, I set up another Facebook group, the Royalists Marketplace, as a platform for discussion on all things monarchy. Content is mixed, ranging from business advertisements, serious discussion on the monarchy, to parody and sarcasm. It is the latter which brightens up the Royalists Marketplace.”

Discussions of the Thai monarchy remain a taboo subject in the country. An anti-cybercrime police spokesperson said the agency is constantly working with the digital economy ministry to monitor and suppress any content deemed inappropriate, but he did not confirm if people were detained and questioned over the content on this page.

While Western countries can usually speak freely about those in power, it is a criminal act to make negative comments about members of the Royal Family in Thailand. Under Thailand’s Lese-majeste laws, you can be arrested and prosecuted and end up with a 15 year prison sentence.

Last month, a man was fired from Krispy Kreme Thailand after he made remarks about the former King of Thailand. The doughnut chain said the man did not pass the employment probation period, but most people with knowledge of the matter say the Facebook post led to the man’s dismissal. In the post the man alleged some of the former King’s musical pieces were lifted from Western songs.

Monarchy satire Facebook group under government scrutiny | News by The Thaiger

SOURCES: K haosod English| Khaosod English

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News Categories: Crime Thailand

2 Comments

ken jones

Monday, June 1, 2020 at 10:28 am

Well I think a lot of pro demorcracy meaning liberties and freedom of choice have questions. Their have been 8+ duly elected by the people the populist that have been exiled from their home Thailand since the 1970’s. All based on the charge of corruption. Well Thailand has an Constituitional document. What really does that meen? That ll people who get elected by the people are corrupt? Who in fact is in control of Thailand? Who oreders the military to roll tanks into Bangkok? A lot of questions have never been answered.

Reply
TOM TONES

Monday, June 1, 2020 at 2:01 pm

stop asking questions, lol. this is Thailand.

Reply

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Caitlin Ashworth

Caitlin Ashworth is a writer from the United States who has lived in Thailand since 2018. She graduated from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and media studies in 2016. She was a reporter for the Daily Hampshire Gazette In Massachusetts. She also interned at the Richmond Times-Dispatch in Virginia and Sarasota Herald-Tribune in Florida.

Crime

Another drug bust near the Mekong River, 500 kilograms of cannabis seized

Published

15 hours ago

Monday, March 1, 2021

Caitlin Ashworth

Another drug bust near the Mekong River, 500 kilograms of cannabis seized | The Thaiger

PHOTO: MGR Online

In another drug bust in Northeastern province Nakhon Phanom, police arrested a man and seized 500 kilograms of compressed cannabis. Just yesterday, border patrol police in the province seized 920 kilograms of compressed cannabis from a boat on the Mekong River. In both cases, police suspect the cannabis came from Laos, just across the river.

Police say they searched a black Nissan Navara pickup around 1am in the province’s Na Kae district. Police opened the truck’s bed cover and found 12 sacks with 500 packages of dried, compacted cannabis. Each package of cannabis weighed 1 kilogram, similar to the previous bust on the river.

28 year old Saravut Butngam was arrested. Saravut previously worked in construction, but has recently been unemployed. He allegedly told police that a man called him with an opportunity to make 50,000 baht. He was told to drive the pickup truck from a petrol station in the Na Kae district to a specified location in the neighbouring province Sakon Nakhon, police say. From there, another driver would take over.

Border police commander Sippanan Sornkhunkaew says he suspects the cannabis seized in the province was trafficked from Laos across the Mekong River. He says he believes the cannabis was planned to be trafficked to Southern Thailand and then smuggled across the border, possibly to Malaysia.

On Sunday morning, police confiscated 920 kilograms of cannabis from a boat on the Mekong River. When police approached the boat, men jumped off onto a smaller boat and fled the scene. The dried, compacted cannabis was wrapped in 1 kilogram packages.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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Drugs

Police seize 920 kilograms of cannabis smuggled across the Mekong River

Published

20 hours ago

Monday, March 1, 2021

Caitlin Ashworth

Police seize 920 kilograms of cannabis smuggled across the Mekong River | The Thaiger

PHOTO: Thairath

In a major bust on the Mekong River, notorious for drug smuggling, border patrol police seized 920 kilograms of dried, compacted cannabis from a boat along the Nakhon Pathom riverbank, bordering Laos.

Police were tipped off about a large shipment of drugs being trafficked across the Thai-Laos border. Police spotted a boat around 4am yesterday. When police moved in, men onboard the boat jumped onto a smaller boat and sped off. Police found 23 sacks filled with 1-kilogram packages of compressed cannabis.

Police seize 920 kilograms of cannabis smuggled across the Mekong River | News by The Thaiger

PHOTO: MGR Online

In the recent months, police have seized more than 5 tonnes of cannabis. While the Thai government has been loosening measures on cannabis, allowing parts of the plant with low traces of the psychoactive component tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, to be used in food and medicinal products, trafficking cannabis is still illegal. Cannabis with high amounts of THC is still classified as a Category 5 narcotic.

SOURCE: Bangkok Post

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Bangkok

Royal Thai Police accused of “ticket” promotion system to buy senior positions

Published

2 days ago

Sunday, February 28, 2021

Caitlin Ashworth

Royal Thai Police accused of “ticket” promotion system to buy senior positions | The Thaiger

PHOTO: Nation Thailand

The Royal Thai Police are being accused of using so-called “elephant tickets” to buy their way into promotions and pay their way up the police force’s chain of command. The corruption among the police force and the buying of positions without meeting the requirements for a promotion has been a longtime problem, according to the Bangkok Post.

The “elephant ticket” issue was recently brought to light by an opposition MP at a censure debate who said it fast tracked the promotion system and allowed some people who were unqualified and undeserving to raise their rank. Some Thais have protested the “elephant ticket.” Many gathered in front of the Royal Thai Police headquarters in Bangkok last week, including one person who dressed up as an elephant.

At the censure debate on February 19, Move Forward Party MP Rangsiman Rome called out PM Prayut Chan-o-cha, who chairs the Police Commission overseeing the Royal Thai Police, and said the prime minister allowed the “elephant ticket” promotions. Prayut later said there were problems within the police force and that he would handle it.

Police who want a promotion need a ticket, which is basically just a reference or a stamp of approval from a senior officer or even a politician or business person. To get an “elephant ticket,” some can pay for the ticket. A source told the Post that positions for police superintendents cost between 5 to 10 million baht.

Others can get a ticket by doing favours for their superior or even just serving their superior for a long time, sources told the Bangkok Post. The higher the position a senior officer has, the more tickets they have to give out.

To read the full special report by the Bangkok Post, click HERE.

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