Thailand

[bgmnts]

To add to the glorious cocktail that is 2020, there have been protests for the past day in Thailand, to which the government responded with a certain zeal, creating a severe state of emergency.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/oct/15/thailand-uses-emergency-decree-to-ban-gatherings-after-bangkok-protests

Lots of stuff on twitter about the scuffers beating the shit out of protestors etc.

Absolute cracker of a year, this.

[Shit Good Nose]

Absolute cracker of a year, this.

I don't think for one second we've experienced the worst of it yet...

[Polymorphia]

In 2030 we'll be writhing in our beds dreaming how good it used to be, in 2020

[Shit Good Nose]

beds

Optimistic.

[Pinball]

War with China next year.

[wooders1978]

Remember when cardboard straws were the biggest affront to our civil liberties in modern memory?

[Twit 2]

No.

[QDRPHNC]

Cofevfe remember that?

[Paul Calf]

The significance of this is that the protestors are criticising the royal family, which is socially and legally a HUGE red flag in Thailand. You can get 15 years for even the mildest criticism, so directly protesting royal presence is likely to get you the paedo treatment at the Bangkok Hilton.

[BlodwynPig]

In 2020 we'll be writhing in our beds dreaming how good it used to be, in 2010

[Cold Meat Platter]

You can get 15 years for even the mildest criticism.

How mild are we talking? Stuff like "not really a fan" or "looks like a nonce"?

[Butchers Blind]

He does like a crop top and a mistress.

[Alberon]

I'm not surprised they're rioting. The king doesn't even bother with the most basic bits of ruling. He spends most of the year living in Bavaria of all places with his harem which is partly what sparked the troubles.

The guy is a fucking arse (there goes my holiday to Thailand) and the sooner he is stripped of his money and power and kicked out in the street the better.

[Cold Meat Platter]

He looks like Theresa May's husbandoid in that photo.

[Paul Calf]

How mild are we talking? Stuff like "not really a fan" or "looks like a nonce"?

Yes. In 2007 a Swiss man was arrested Chiang Mai went round defacing photos of the king by spraying them with black paint. He was given 10 years but was pardoned after two.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-thailand-lesemajeste-idUSBKK7698820070329

Recently, a woman was given 60 years for critical Facebook posts and a 90-year-old man was jailed for forwarding text message jokes.

You've got to be really fucking careful there.

[Paul Calf]

I'm not surprised they're rioting. The king doesn't even bother with the most basic bits of ruling. He spends most of the year living in Bavaria of all places with his harem which is partly what sparked the troubles.

The guy is a fucking arse (there goes my holiday to Thailand) and the sooner he is stripped of his money and power and kicked out in the street the better.

Not to mention the leaked video of the million-baht birthday party for his pet poodle at which his then-fiancée was forced to wait his table naked.

Vajiralongkorn is a boorish fucking oaf.

[Cold Meat Platter]

*leans in*
I mean this guy sounds like a real jerk.

[Urinal Cake]

But if he ran for President he'd probably get it.

[bgmnts]

Not to mention the leaked video of the million-baht birthday party for his pet poodle at which his then-fiancée was forced to wait his table naked.

Vajiralongkorn is a boorish fucking oaf.

So far have the Thai people been thick royalist cunts like us or is it pure deference like these prison sentences suggest?

[touchingcloth]

Is the Thailands like the K Pops where they behead you if you say they're crap? If so THE THAILANDS IS CRAP.

[Urinal Cake]

So far have the Thai people been thick royalist cunts like us or is it pure deference like these prison sentences suggest?

The previous king was pretty popular because of helping transitions to democracy and keeping relative peace through multiple military coups/dictatorships.