Porn Webmaster Faces Charges For Use Of Thai Flag

[george]

Porn webmaster faces charges for use of Thai flag

Govt bid to prosecute British-based woman

The government is pursuing legal action against a webmaster in Britain who has posted an image of a Thai flag on her pornography site.

PM's office permanent secretary Yongyuth Sarasombat said yesterday the use of the flag at the web site was an insult and tarnished the country's image.

In addition, it was a violation of the National Flag Act and the Criminal Act, he said.

No further details of the website were provided, except that it described Bangkok as a ``city of sex''.

Mr Yongyuth said the case had been forwarded to the Attorney General's Office. The webmaster would face up to one year in prison and a 2,000-baht fine under the National Flag Law, and three years in prison and a 4,000-baht fine under the Criminal Law, he said.

However, legal expert and senator Kaewsan Atipho said he believed the webmaster would evade prosecution, as long as she did not enter Thailand.

He said Britain was unlikely to agree to extradite the suspect on such minor charges.

Women's rights activist Ticha na Nakorn also said the government was over-reacting.

``The government won't clean up the country's image by punishing one woman who runs a pornography site abroad,'' she said.

Ms Ticha said the government should instead focus on tackling domestic problems related to prostitution.

--Bangkok Post 2003-12-05