Guess which high-profile lese majeste case has been dropped

That’s easy, right? It is the daft action against yellow-shirted, People’s Alliance for Democracy supporting actor Pongpat Wachirabanjong. It was always a daft case.

The Bangkok Post reports that police have decided that they will not take legal action against the actor who made a speech that was supportive of the monarchy while being remarkably intolerant of political dissent (no commentator seems to dwell on this).

The Metropolitan Police Bureau decided this after “consulting linguists and law experts on ways the word ‘father’ might be perceived by the audience listening to Pongpat’s speech at the Nataraj Awards ceremony held on May 16.” Apparently the police were able to determine that the actor was being respectful of the king. Of course he was.

But that’s not the point for PPT. The case has amply demonstrated the abuse of this political law and the double standards involved in lese majeste cases. The point is to get rid of a terrible law, not decide which unfortunate to investigate, prosecute and jail. Drop all cases and release and exonerate all the victims who currently languish in the horrid prison system.

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