THAILAND: MPs Want Stiffer 'Lese Majeste' Law for Cyberspace

Some members of Thailand's Democratic Party are proposing a draft legislation that would penalise people spreading defamatory remarks or contemptuous tones against the monarchy on the Internet or via computers, the Thai English-language daily 'The Nation' reported Nov 19.

Thailand's draconian 'lese majeste' law has been the subject of heated debates in the past. Included in the Thai Penal Code, the said law punishes those who are found guilty of offending the dignity or insulting the reigning monarchy by a 13- to 15-year jail term.

The proposed law would also punish those who wrongly accuse or attempt to frame up others of such a wrongdoing.

According to the proponents, there is no law at present that deals with offenders of lese majeste through modern electronic means, such as on Internet websites and in computer systems.

In April 2007, the government banned YouTube in Thailand after a video clip perceived by many as insulting to Thailand's revered monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej. The ban was lifted in June of the same year.

The country's Cyber Crime Act took effect on July 2007.

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