Nicolaides Freed From Thai Prison

[mc2]

Now, we have the new, improved version: "it comes down between he was deliberate in his action or extremely stupid". I guess the last three words got accidentally left out of the first version?

not at all... just didn't really think that level of stupidity could possibly occur, but upon further reflection during my reply, I could see that it is within the realm of possibilities that someone could actually be that moronic.

gosh... I might have to reflect even more now... as that realm is getting more and more possible.

"A few hours before that I was informed I had a royal pardon... A few hours before that I was climbing out of a sewerage tank that I fell into in the prison," AP quotes him as saying.

shit happens eh ?

ill get my coat

[skettios]

So who ratted him out?

Think it was the BG he led on for months on end?

"I promise baby, when this book gets published, you and me will hit the bigtime!"

[dee123]

I think the Thaivisa readers must be getting fed up with me,steve2uk,plus and of course srirachajohn for hogging the boared,......what you say guys lets give the others a chance!

Perish the thought that I should ever want to hit that kind of "keyboard diarrhoea" posting volume. Simple questions, long prevaricating answers - apologies if I am to blame for triggering those. I find that these things usually reach the point where TV members are entirely capable of reaching their own conclusions for themselves without me needing to hammer every nail - let alone repeatedly; that was already my view here and before seeing your post.

A different point (not worth the space of a separate post): I disagree with mc2 that Nicolaides was "forsaken by his government". It seems clear that at high levels (appropriately more behind the scenes than in public) they were bringing strong pressure to reach the pardon stage sooner rather than later (and this one has come sooner than others). This has been discussed previously - as well as the competence of the lawyer.

Apology's steve2UK I didn't mean to have a go at you(I agree with most you say) but the table tennis back and fourth between srirachajohn and whoever he is debating with distracts from the point of thread sometimes.......Anyway if you lot are not gonna have a break ,....well neither am I

[jtp]

Lets hope this serves as a lesson on stupidity.I am glad he is out and ok,but man,use your brain just once,you had to have known you were treading a fine line.

[sriracha john]

I think the Thaivisa readers must be getting fed up with me,steve2uk,plus and of course srirachajohn for hogging the boared,......what you say guys lets give the others a chance!

Perish the thought that I should ever want to hit that kind of "keyboard diarrhoea" posting volume. Simple questions, long prevaricating answers - apologies if I am to blame for triggering those. I find that these things usually reach the point where TV members are entirely capable of reaching their own conclusions for themselves without me needing to hammer every nail - let alone repeatedly; that was already my view here and before seeing your post.

A different point (not worth the space of a separate post): I disagree with mc2 that Nicolaides was "forsaken by his government". It seems clear that at high levels (appropriately more behind the scenes than in public) they were bringing strong pressure to reach the pardon stage sooner rather than later (and this one has come sooner than others). This has been discussed previously - as well as the competence of the lawyer.

Apology's steve2UK I didn't mean to have a go at you(I agree with most you say) but the table tennis back and fourth between srirachajohn and whoever he is debating with

Thank you.

.......Anyway if you lot are not gonna have a break ,....well neither am I

ditto...

[Scott]

I am happy for him and his family.

[jdinasia]

and then explain WHY this case moved along so rapidly (conviction Jan 19th? pardon and home on the 20th of Feb?)

cos hes a foreigner.

Sure didn't move that fast for other foreigners that have been convicted of L.M. ... but then again a 'phD' in Thai cultural studies would know that!

Tell us about that 'phD' in the UK please

[mc2]

and then explain WHY this case moved along so rapidly (conviction Jan 19th? pardon and home on the 20th of Feb?)

cos hes a foreigner.

Sure didn't move that fast for other foreigners that have been convicted of L.M. ... but then again a 'phD' in Thai cultural studies would know that!

Tell us about that 'phD' in the UK please

that question is off topic. I refuse to answer it.

however, I will reveal that it was a highly prestigious university.

[jdinasia]

and then explain WHY this case moved along so rapidly (conviction Jan 19th? pardon and home on the 20th of Feb?)

cos hes a foreigner.

Sure didn't move that fast for other foreigners that have been convicted of L.M. ... but then again a 'phD' in Thai cultural studies would know that!

Tell us about that 'phD' in the UK please

that question is off topic. I refuse to answer it.

however, I will reveal that it was a highly prestigious university.

You used it as a reason that you made (erroneous) claims to having a clue as to what was going on (then copped out on THAT answer too!)

Edited February 21, 2009 by jdinasia

[mc2]

and then explain WHY this case moved along so rapidly (conviction Jan 19th? pardon and home on the 20th of Feb?)

cos hes a foreigner.

Sure didn't move that fast for other foreigners that have been convicted of L.M. ... but then again a 'phD' in Thai cultural studies would know that!

Tell us about that 'phD' in the UK please

that question is off topic. I refuse to answer it.

however, I will reveal that it was a highly prestigious university.

You used it as an reason that you (erroneously) made claims to having a clue as to what was going on (then copped out on THAT answer too!)

enough of your nonsense.

please stay on topic.

[jdinasia]

and then explain WHY this case moved along so rapidly (conviction Jan 19th? pardon and home on the 20th of Feb?)

cos hes a foreigner.

Sure didn't move that fast for other foreigners that have been convicted of L.M. ... but then again a 'phD' in Thai cultural studies would know that!

Tell us about that 'phD' in the UK please

that question is off topic. I refuse to answer it.

however, I will reveal that it was a highly prestigious university.

You used it as an reason that you (erroneously) made claims to having a clue as to what was going on (then copped out on THAT answer too!)

enough of your nonsense.

please stay on topic.

It is directly related to both the topic and your claims of greater understanding (as erroneous as they are!)

[tw25rw]

I just read the offending paragraph and can see why it fell foul of the law, in particular the first sentence.

[jtp]

I also read the offending paragraph and all i can say is:Idiot,you got off lightly.

[spongeman]

More importantly are the sewage tanks in Thai jails at ground level ?

Whoops there I go again , falling into those pesky tanks. Silly me.

[thaiwanderer]

Doubt there will be a pardon for Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul.

[wozza]

Only thing i don,t understand was , why no bail ?,

Three reasons why he was denied bail

1 he could skip bail (he had already surrendered his passport)

2 He could interfere with witnesses ( who could they be, seeing it was a fictitional novel?)

3 He could re offend (would he write a sequel to the first?)

These were the official reasons in every bail denial

Edited February 21, 2009 by wozza

[PeaceBlondie]

Well, gosh darn, Here I thought I had been writing a novel about he constitutional democracy between Myanmar and Laos, for the last 4.5 years. Nope, no way. It is about

Country: Xanta; where the Xantese people speak Xantese

Capital: Xantara (Prabatap)

Province 1: Shana Chang – (surely not Mae Hong Son)

Province 2: Thrama Chang – (surely not Chiang Mai)

Province 3: Lamma Dahm – (Shirley, not Chiang Rai)

Dynasty: Brathu

I think it is a shame, too. I really wanted to write about Thailand, but considering the incredibly draconian laws, Xanta it is.

As the Xantese people say, my pan wry.

[aussiestyle1983]

The entire book is downloadable because it is scanned on the net; just google it if you want to read it.

In regards to the author, if you do the crime, you do the time. However, that does not mean that the law was not written by idiots. This case is a good example of the truth hurts...

[Briggsy]

Respect the laws of the country you go to.

Sometimes people have to learn the hard way.

Perhaps this member will confirm to us whether or not it is his intention to now portray Nicolaides as having deliberately set out to "go through the ordeal" in order to reach a point of being "a lot more famous now". Yes or no?

It's very suspicious.

S

not at all... just didn't really think that level of stupidity could possibly occur, but upon further reflection during my reply, I could see that it is within the realm of possibilities that someone could actually be that moronic.

There can be few who don't question the wisdom - rather different from effectively saying that there was ulterior motive.

It's a distinct possibility. He's certainly played it up enough rather than seem genuinely repentant for his actions.

His actions over the coming weeks will help to determine his motivations. If he "goes Hollywood" over this it would indicate one path. If he quietly shows humility and true repentance and makes an effort to prevent anyone else from getting themselves in the same situation, it would indicate another path. While he's certainly entitled to earn a living in his chosen profession... how he specifically goes about it will help to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Gosh. You guys have worked yourself up into a smug set of posters. Maybe it's the mob mentality. I don't know. I think when you have endured 5 and a half months in a Thai prison for less than the criminal equivalent of dropping a sweet wrapper, I think you would be qualified to post your comments. I mean, really, think it through.

[SoMeOnEnUlL]

@mc2 - You must be new here. Sometime, you just have to press ignore button.

[hazz]

Having discussed the thai LM law with some thai lawyers I know, there are no geographical limits on LM. Commit LM anywhere in the world and you can be charged for doing in. Whilst LM might have a lot of support in thailand, overseas the very act of charging someone under this law causes a lot of LM just look at the international coverage of this case.

As a result I cannot see how you can file a complaint of LM against someone without committing it yourself. Cannot be too hard to find out who filed the original complaint; anyone out there stupid enough to try this out?

I think thailand are about to learn the lessons Britain learnt with the spycatcher case and the Muslim world with satanic verses, telling people not to read something only encourages them.

[Hardback]

<br />Good news<br />

<br /><br /><br />

Great news, I really felt for that guy, the shackles and the humiliation..it's been a hel_l of an ordeal for him.

[geriatrickid]

Factor in;

1. Growing protests by PEN and news & journalist interest groups upset by the autor and free lance magazine contributor's persecution and,

2. Lots of pressure placed through diplomatic channels. Ambassadors from western nations adopted a common front on this. Today it was an Australian, tomorrow it could be any other nationality, so there was reason for common cause.

Thailand has several issues for which it needs international support. Think fishing fleets and exports as well as support from western funded sources such as the IMF, World Bank and ADB. A country that is ostracized receives stiffer terms than one where there is transparency and a positive image.

With the looming protectionist positions being considered in the west, Thailand needs all the friends it can get. Sure, such sentiment doesn't matter when it comes to the export of rice to countries where civil liberties don't matter, but there is an international economic crisis right now and Thailand doesn't need to be marginalized. Overall, the increasing bad press on Thailand had to be countered. Incidents like this combined with the removal of editions of the Economist have harmed Thailand's image. Not that the Thais care, but everytime there is a negative article in the western press, it is a strike against Thailand's prestige and business interests. It's bad enough a week doesn't go by when there isn't a negative article on corruption or crime in Thailand in some tourist market's major news outlet, but having a marginal author imprisoned doesn't help. Right now, with the scandal over the boat refugees from Burma, there's a sack of burning smelly embarrassment on Thailand's doorstep.

[GungaDin]

there's a sack of burning smelly embarrassment on Thailand's doorstep.

And the smell has spread world wide.

Every time the LM law is used, it brings the country into disrepute, but the bankers in government can't see it or smell it.

[mc2]

@mc2 - You must be new here. Sometime, you just have to press ignore button.

yes I am relatively new here, I signed up 3 months ago.

The ignore button is a good idea. Its unfortunalte that some posters use this forum to BS and bicker all over the place.

[mc2]

Australian, in Jail for Insulting Thai Monarchy, Receives Royal Pardon

By Ron Corben

Bangkok

21 February 2009

Nicolaides, upon returning to Melbourne on Saturday, told reporters he was still "bewildered" and "dazed" from the experience and had a deeply emotional journey back to Australia. He said he had been skeptical over earlier reports a pardon had been recommended by prison authorities.

http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-02-21-voa8.cfm

[mc2]

actually i was taking the piss out of sriracha johns crappy tag for those who didnt get it.

so u going to delete that crappy tag too or what ?

Good that you have at least decided to admit to the truth for once instead of your previous dishonest reply; now if you could only work on that posting without flaming aspect.

Now then, as for the tag...

Was he guilty? Yes. He confessed and pleaded guilty.

Was he released? Yes. He's in Melbourne now.

Was it benevolent? Yes, I think pardoning him 3 years early was an act of benevolence.

So then, what's the problem with the tag?

it sounds too pompous. "benevolent release of the guilty"

but thats just my opinion. readers of this thread can make up their own mind.

[binnsy]

It is good that he has been freed,But i suppose he is getting a large payment for his story from some Assuie Sunday rag and then he will then have an account of the time spent in a Thai jail and make himself a bucket full of Aussie dollars.

[Briggsy]

It is good that he has been freed,But i suppose he is getting a large payment for his story from some Assuie Sunday rag and then he will then have an account of the time spent in a Thai jail and make himself a bucket full of Aussie dollars.

I can't believe the sneering and sniping that is going on here. What is this? The envious cynic's thread? Is it just me who can see he has been through a terrible ordeal which may have left him with permanent health problems?

[mc2]

The other thing that concerns me is that his mother was admitted to hospital for a stroke, highly possibley brought on by the stress over her son. She is elderly and I hope she makes a full recovery.

It would be a terrible burden , on top of what harry has already endured . I hope he doesnt feel personally responsible for his mothers sickness .

I wish him all the best for his future.