Lese majeste cases pile up

The Bangkok Post’s tech pages have a story that has it lined up with the censors. (Fortunateky, there are two other articles in the section suggesting ways to beat the same censors.) PPT quotes:

“All too often, on social networking sites such as Facebook, suspects deny actions and claim that their account was stolen or hacked, blaming the crime on others. A recent high profile case concerned Wipas Raksakulthai, who was arrested and accused of violating the country’s lese majesty legislation with a posting on Facebook. Wipas was reported to have posted inappropriate messages and compromised national security by insulting the monarchy. He accepted that it was his name on Facebook, but denied the allegation and claimed that his password was hacked during the time the postings occurred.”

Then this tidbit:

“Another egregious case concerns the nefarious activities of Thanapol Bumrungsri, aged 31, who used the names of several innocent Facebook users. The DSI has issued a warrant for his arrest, but so far he remains at large.”

The police called for more help from cyber vigilantes: “The important thing is for witnesses to help by collecting evidence such as screenshots and related content to help officers identify and catch the suspect…”. All the cases mentioned relate to lese majeste. How many more will be arrested?

Remember when Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said that they would stop the political use of lese majeste? He meant only the political use that is not by his regime.

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