German claims he was warned off by police from pursuing his political protests against acting PM

[richard_smith237]

On 9/4/2022 at 2:27 PM, SAFETY FIRST said:

I'm normal and like most normal foreigners living in Thailand we keep out of Thai politics. 

I know many many normal foreigners living in Thailand and we often have interesting discussions and debate many topics including Thai Politics amongst ourselves and with our Thai friends when at dinner at either or own homes or their homes as a guest. 

 

Of course, no one needs to make these discussions or opinions public - but I sometimes want to thank those braver than myself who are prepared to. 

 

 

Edited September 5, 2022 by richard_smith237

[Lorry]

BTW ftp's post shows clearly that Thais care a lot about foreigners' opinions. The reactions to this German guy show this too.

 

In places that are not completely globalized (like Pattaya, NYC, Singapore) people care about the opinion of outsiders.  I once was interviewed by the Philadelphia Inquirer about some very minor local stuff.  There were plenty of Americans they could have interviewed, but they printed the comments of me and of my Korean girlfriend.

[NanLaew]

On 9/3/2022 at 12:54 AM, mikebell said:

On 9/2/2022 at 9:27 PM, webfact said:

Mr. Moritz Pfoh, 35, whose nickname is Pumpkin, said he has been in Thailand for eight years now

How is he managing this?  What sort of visa does he have?  Will it be renewed?

...and who really cares anyway?

[ftpjtm]

5 hours ago, Lorry said:

I had the opposite experience. 

I once took part in protests against goverment policies in the US as a foreigner. I even helped the Amrrican activists to organize protests. 

The other protesters didn't care about my nationality.

The police didn't care either. 

There were demonstrators in favor of the government policy and I had some lively discussions with them.  From my accent it was quite clear where I was from.  But I never heard anything like "you are not even American" or  " your own goverment does the same" (true). They didn't care about my nationality either.

There are enough naturalized American citizens and dual citizens in the US that many probably assumed that you were American in spite your accent. Unlike Thailand where it's next to impossible for a foreigner to achieve Thai nationalality so a quick glance at us pretty accurately identifies at least me and the guy mentioned in the OP as a non Thai.

 

Try the same clearly labeling yourself as a non citizen. For example, a group in the US calling themselves "Germans/Chinese/etc for Candidate X" would probably receive more scrutiny than a person with an accent advocating for/against a candidate or policy. And Candidate X would likely downplay or reject an endorsement from a foreign person or group. 

 

I've never heard of a foreign candidate actively pursuing endorsement from Americans, so I assume this to be true in most countries. 

 

And per my experiences above, plus many links posted on this thread, no matter what Americans or Europeans think of foreign involvement in local politics, many Thais and the Thai government are clearly against foreigners publicly expressing opinions on Thai politics. 

[Scott]

Inflammatory posts removed.  Continue with stalking, petty bickering and baiting and you will receive a suspension.  

 

[jacko45k]

7 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Y’know... just like the geniuses do on this forum ???

If you don't like it... you could  go away!

[aussiexpat]

Found an update

 

"Police are under pressure from royalists to prosecute the German activist who staged a one-man protest against the government of Thailand"

 

"Songchai is urging police to take action against the 35 year old German for inciting civil disobedience and interfering in Thai affairs..."

 

https://asiadailydigital.com/royalists-in-thailand-target-one-man-german-activist/

 

Edited September 6, 2022 by aussiexpat

[JayClay]

13 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

Songchai is urging police to take action against the 35 year old German for inciting civil disobedience and interfering in Thai affairs...

Is there actually a criminal offence that covers this???

[aussiexpat]

34 minutes ago, JayClay said:

Is there actually a criminal offence that covers this???

I don't know but there is one for insulting a public official with a one year prison sentence

 

Section 136. Insulting an Official

"Whoever insults an official in the execution of his or her duty shall be imprisoned not more than one year or fined not more than two thousand Baht, or both."

https://library.siam-legal.com/thai-law/criminal-code-offense-against-officials-sections-136-140/

Edited September 6, 2022 by aussiexpat

[Thomas KH]

26 minutes ago, aussiexpat said:

I don't know but there is one for insulting a public official with a one year prison sentence

 

Section 136. Insulting an Official

"Whoever insults an official in the execution of his or her duty shall be imprisoned not more than one year or fined not more than two thousand Baht, or both."

https://library.siam-legal.com/thai-law/criminal-code-offense-against-officials-sections-136-140/

That's the official law. The un-official one reads:

 

Section 136. Insulting an Official

"Whoever insults an official shall first be fined more than two thousand Baht, then executed."

[Lorry]

7 hours ago, ftpjtm said:

many probably assumed that you were American in spite your accent.

Thx for the compliment.

Unfortunately,  in many occasions Americans could tell after just one sentence I was a foreigner. ????

 

But this is really only one personal experience. 

 

As to Thailand,  I didn't say they like it. I said they care. And both your experience and OP show this. 

Some posters think,  Thais don't care  what foreigners think or say. That's not true. They care.

If their views are the same as yours,  they are especially happy,  because you as an outsider confirmed their views.

If not, they are especially angry, that's what you experienced. 

 

Having said all this,  I certainly wouldn't have done what the German guy did.

[richard_smith237]

6 hours ago, jacko45k said:

14 hours ago, richard_smith237 said:

Y’know... just like the geniuses do on this forum ???

If you don't like it... you could  go away!

Making sure I don’t let the door hit my ar$e on the way out of course !!! 

[ftpjtm]

7 hours ago, Lorry said:

Thx for the compliment.

Unfortunately,  in many occasions Americans could tell after just one sentence I was a foreigner. ????

Your written English is far better than that of my naturalized US citizen Thai wife, and many other US citizens I know. 

 

7 hours ago, Lorry said:

Some posters think,  Thais don't care  what foreigners think or say. That's not true. They care.

If their views are the same as yours,  they are especially happy,  because you as an outsider confirmed their views.

If not, they are especially angry, that's what you experienced. 

While that makes sense, when I was near the protest sites I never received any indication that protesters where happy I was there, even from Thai protesters. Then again, just 1 persons experience.

[kwilco]

On 9/5/2022 at 5:05 PM, Lorry said:

No one suggested anything like that.

I was treated on the merits of our case, by the fellow protesters, by the police (I learned the word "state troopers"), by the people supporting the government policy.

"The world will not be destroyed by those who do evil, but by those who watch them without doing anything." A. Einstein