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Comment by kordless | Hacker News Reader

> She responded to comments the police say are defamatory with the Thai word "ja", which translates as "I see", or "ok". The police say she should have condemned the comments.

The definition of a dictatorship is they dictate what you should say. That's how they keep control.

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These laws have been on the books well before the junta seized power.

It's a criminal offense to criticize monarchs both living and dead in Thailand. A lot of people found guilty are pardoned, but a lot are not.

This event seems not to fall under these laws - it has not been shown that she has criticized the monarch, and "should have condemned the criticism" is an entirely different issue, these laws do not state that failing to condemn criticism is a criminal offense.

From the article: "She is accused of insulting the monarchy - a charge that can lead to jail sentences of up to 15 years."

Except this isn't "criticizing the monarch". This is making a case out of basically nothing against the mother of a "student activist".

I think that this point is easy to miss, since it's practically a throwaway remark in the article: this does not appear to be in any direct sense about the woman's Facebook comment; rather, it is an intentionally overzealous application of a law to a situation where it applies only tenuously at best, in order to silence someone else's dissenting voice.

oh the rich rich irony of your comment here, you silencer of dissenting opinions you.

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