# The Thai Government, Lese Majeste, and Foreigners
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 29, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339 "2014-07-29T17:41:45Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2014, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/1 "2014-07-29T17:41:45Z")
[John Oliver has run afoul of the Thai junta](http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jul/29/thai-junta-comedian-john-oliver-royal-jibes).
Is it outside the realm of possibility that Thai agents would come to the US to abduct and rendition him back to Thailand? Has the Thai government ever gone after a foreigner for Lese Majeste?
Aside: Obviously, John Oliver would be a fool to ever set foot in Thailand, but is he safe in the US?
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### Author:  [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2014, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/2 "2014-07-29T17:50:04Z")
> [@Extradition treaty between Thailand and USA](#):
>
> (1) An offense shall be an extraditable offense for prosecution or for the imposition of a penalty or detention order only if it is punishable under the laws of both Contracting Parties by imprisonment or other form of detention for a period of more than one year or by any greater punishment.
I think he’ll be fine.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2014, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/3 "2014-07-29T18:16:46Z")
Agreed. We’ve been insulting crowned idjits with impunity since, oh, 1776 or so.
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### Author:  [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/4 "2014-07-29T19:10:35Z")
You know, I was completely unaware of the Wikileaks video until I opened this thread.
If the Thai royals had not made a fuss about it, I would never have seen the royal breasts.
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### Author:  [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2014, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/5 "2014-07-29T21:16:08Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> Agreed. We’ve been insulting crowned idjits with impunity since, oh, 1776 or so.
Actually, the Royal at the time got a little pissy about it, IIRC.
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### Author:  [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2014, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/6 "2014-07-29T22:33:12Z")
Monarchies around the world have very thin skin about things like that. When I was working as a news editor for the media in Jordan, there was one very hard and fast rule: There was a list of countries that were monarchies, and absolutely nothing negative could ever be said about the government or policy of any of them. The Monarchies of the world are a sort of a fraternity, who see lnothing but threats to the stability of monarchy, and they are all very supportive of each other.
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### Author:  [@Malden\_Capell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malden_Capell)
#### Post date: [July 29, 2014, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/7 "2014-07-29T22:56:30Z")
Insulting the monarchy in the UK falls under free speech, but it would likely be unpopular anyway, especially if done in bad taste.
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### Author:  [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2014, 12:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/8 "2014-07-30T00:35:17Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> Is it outside the realm of possibility that Thai agents would come to the US to abduct and rendition him back to Thailand?
Yes, it is. It’s only countries like the US and North Korea who send agents to kidnap people in other countries and subject them to “rendition”.
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> Has the Thai government ever gone after a foreigner for Lese Majeste?
Yes, but only in Thailand.
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### Author:  [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2014, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/9 "2014-07-30T01:42:05Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> Actually, the Royal at the time got a little pissy about it, IIRC.
And you see how well that worked out for him.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2014, 2:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/10 "2014-07-30T02:26:16Z")
> [@HeyHomie](#):
>
> [John Oliver has run afoul of the Thai junta](http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jul/29/thai-junta-comedian-john-oliver-royal-jibes).
>
> Is it outside the realm of possibility that Thai agents would come to the US to abduct and rendition him back to Thailand? Has the Thai government ever gone after a foreigner for Lese Majeste?
>
> Aside: Obviously, John Oliver would be a fool to ever set foot in Thailand, but is he safe in the US?
For obvious reasons regarding my own safety, I cannot comment on this in depth and will answer no one’s questions. This will be my only post in this thread.
Many, many foreigners who have committed lese majeste, even unintentionally, have been prosecuted and jailed in Thailand for the offense throughout the years, Westerners and Asians alike, regardless of the government in power. Lese majeste is not tolerated in the least, not at all, not by any government and not by any Thai citizen. Thailand has no agents to send abroad to capture anyone, this has never happened, and it is outside the realm of possibility. John Oliver most certainly would be arrested upon arrival in Thailand if he ever came here and could expect a sentence of 15 years in a Thai prison. If he were lucky, he might get the sentence commuted after a few months or a year in jail, by royal pardon, but this practice has not happened for a while now that I can tell, and anyone so imprisoned is generally just out of luck these days.
And that is all I’m saying on the subject.
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### Author:  [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2014, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/11 "2014-07-30T05:59:08Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#):
>
> And you see how well that worked out for him.
Yeah, he managed to get one up on Perfidious Albion, something that his country rarely did.
Vive la France!!!
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### Author:  [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2014, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/12 "2014-07-30T06:49:23Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#):
>
> Insulting the monarchy in the UK falls under free speech, but it would likely be unpopular anyway, especially if done in bad taste.
Then again monarchies like Britain and Spain have learned (mostly the hard way) that when the royals earn for themselves deserved mockery, you just sit there and take it, thankful that it’s just that and not getting run out of town or put on the axman’s block like some of their ancestors or neighbors.
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### Author:  [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2014, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/13 "2014-07-30T07:33:26Z")
Just to put this in some kind of context, Thailand is the only country in its region never to have been occupied or governed by a colonial power, and the Thais are intensely proud of this fact. The point about an attack on the Thai monarchy - especially an attack by a foreigner - is that its an attack on the indigenous political institutions which are seen as having preserved the integrity and independence on the country; it’s an attack on national self-respect. That’s not to defend the Thai legal restrictions on lese-majeste, but it’s completely wrong to see it as motivated by an attachment to the institution of monarchy as such, or the hereditary privileged position of certain individuals that monarchy entails. You can criticise any _other_ monarchy in Thailand; just not the Thai monarchy.
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### Author:  [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2014, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/14 "2014-07-30T08:17:27Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#):
>
> Insulting the monarchy in the UK falls under free speech, but it would likely be unpopular anyway, especially if done in bad taste.
It happens all the time, in private and on national television. Almost every time a British comedian mentions the royal family, some sort of insult to them is involved. It is not unpopular at all.
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### Author:  [@Donnerwetter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Donnerwetter)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2014, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/15 "2014-07-30T08:23:34Z")
> [@njtt](#):
>
> It happens all the time, in private and on national television. Almost every time a British comedian mentions the royal family, some sort of insult to them is involved. It is not unpopular at all.
[Spitting Image: Royal Family lose fortune in recession & move to council flat](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xujHlWzWW98)
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### Author:  [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2014, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/16 "2014-07-30T08:58:40Z")
[There’s nothing new about the British criticizing their royalty, either.](http://goodcomics.comicbookresources.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/10/cruikshank7.jpg)
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### Author:  [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)
#### Post date: [July 30, 2014, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-thai-government-lese-majeste-and-foreigners/694339/17 "2014-07-30T13:04:11Z")
I knew of someone who is distantly related to the Thai royal family and who avoids talking about them because of this. They evidently take this pretty seriously.