A Thai man faces up to 37 years in prison for mocking the king’s dog over social media, an apparent violation of Thailand’s stringent laws against insults aimed at the country’s monarchy.
Authorities arrested factory worker Thanakorn Siripaiboon at his home in suburban Bangkok last week and charged him with writing a “sarcastic” Internet post about Tongdaeng, the mongrel owned by King Bhumibol Adulyadej, as well as with sedition and insulting the King, reports the New York Times.
The Thai military, which seized control of the country in a coup last year, did not specify the exact insult Thanakorn used.
Tongdaeng, whose name means copper, is beloved in Thailand, the Timesreports. Last week, the No. 2 film at Thai box offices was Khun Tongdaeng: The Inspirations, an animated picture inspired by a book King Bhumibol wrote in 2002 about his pet.
Thanakorn’s case is the latest concerning a breach of Thailand’s controversial lèse majesté laws, the scope of which, experts say, has broadened considerably in recent years. Last December, two Thai students in their 20s pleaded guilty to insulting the monarchy after staging a play about a fictitious king.
Thailand has one of the world’s harshest royal defamation laws. Anyone convicted of insulting the revered but ailing 88-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, or the queen, heir or regent can face up to 15 years in jail on each count.
Thanakorn, an auto-parts worker, could face up to 37 years in prison.
Bhumibol, the world’s longest-serving monarch, is seen as a unifying figure in the deeply divided nation and his economic and social teachings are relentlessly promoted in Thailand.
Over the last decade his favourite dog, an adopted stray called Tongdaeng (Copper) which is praised for her loyalty and obedience, has been used to outline his vision of how Thais should behave.
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