Author jailed for insulting Thailand's royal family

An Australian author has been sentenced in Thailand to three years in jail after he pleaded guilty to charges of insulting the country's royal family.

The author, Harry Nicolaides, 41, fell foul of Thailand's draconian lèse majesté laws which is designed to protect King Bhumibol Aduladej, and his family. Mr. Nicolaides self-published 50 copies if his novel Verisimilitude four years ago and only sold seven copies. There was a short passage deep within the plot, set in Thailand, that portrayed the private life of an unnamed crown prince in unflattering terms. Back in August the author was arrested and has spent five months on remand in Bangkok. He did not contest the charges but in previous cases that are similar to this the king has pardon culprits. The king has talked about the lèse majesté laws publicly and he has said that he does not need it but they have proved too useful to be discarded by opportunistic politicians for whom they serve both as political tool to prove their loyalty and as a weapon against their opponents. King Bhumibol and his family are above the country's partisan politics but last year the king was dragged into the political debate by protesters who besieged government offices and Bangkok's two airports. The protesters said that they were just taking aim to protect the king, while seeking the resignation of the then ruling party. Last month the new justice minister and other members of the Democratic party took power and they want strengthen the lèse majesté laws. They want to see the maximum penalty rise from 15 years to 25 years and make the filing of complaints alot easier. Authorities in Thailand had blocked 2,300 websites last year, mostly for insulting the king, according to recent figures released by a local anti-censorship organisation.