10 years for spraying few portraits of king.

[thc]

Swiss jailed 10 years for insulting Thai royalty - Boston.com

Oliver Rudolf Jufer, 57, received 20 years for five acts of lese-majeste, but the judge reduced the term to take into account Jufer's guilty plea. He had faced a maximum of 75 years in jail.

Jufer, a longtime resident of Thailand, was arrested in the northern city of Chiang Mai after black paint was sprayed on several portraits of 79-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej, whom many Thais revere as semi-divine, and Queen Sirikit.

wtf ?

[Holic]

The thais don't mess about when it comes to crime.
They just dish out the jail sentence like theres no tomorrow.

The swiss was right to be jailed because he should respect the country he is living in, (I wouldn't like it if someone dissed The queen of england- I'm not loyal to her but thats not the point).

The jail sentence seems harsh but thats the thai law.

[cowfez]

Sweden should request extradition on his behalf.

[thc]

well, he was pardoned (by king) and deported (I think), the point is 75 years max for spraying few (five I think) portraits is kindof strange. That's like if I said Klaus or Topolánek (our prezident and prime minister) are idiots (and I say that a lot) and go to jail for that. wtf.

[shafeen]

we are living in 2007 and kings/queens have no place in this era

[Samor]

indeed, this is the age of corrupt governments instead. =P

[shafeen]

lol but thats the dark truth

[Player-X]

Then again it is Thailand and they recently had a coup.

[Holic]

you make it sound as though its an unstable country,
The coup was just silly and lasted like a day or so.

[S.SubZero]

Originally Posted by shafeen

we are living in 2007 and kings/queens have no place in this era

England still has a monarchy, symbolic as it may be. Many countries do.

It's amazing that in this era of instant international communication and the breaking down of distance as a barrier to progress, that any country with internet access can still have such draconian beliefs.

[Holic]

I'm actually proud england still has a monarchy, its symbolic as you said,
Buckingham palace attracts lots of tourists. Plus if there were no king/queen in our country, the national anthem would change.

As for the thais, they are very proud of their royal family and don't mess about when some one disses them.

[Player-X]

Thailand takes it's king very seriously.

[thc]

apparently Thailand royal family is smarter than Thailand justice (seeing how They pardon almost anyone)

[Anti_jsdk]

Here in Canada we still have the Governer General AKA the queens representative...a completely useless position with no real point.

Monarchies are just the old bits of society that have ceased to be needed.