'Liking' political rumours is a crime

[Songhua]

So Thailand is starting to look more and more like....China?

In 1972.

[Bluespunk]

Boy oh boy. If you really don't think that Thailand is turning into some kind of dictatorship, your not paying attention. Do have any idea how many people in the US would be arrested for clicking "like" on a impeach Obama facebook post? I clicked like on several posts here and expect the BIB to come tearing up to my door any minute.

my guess is zero people would be arrested for liking an impeach obama page.

[MAJIC]

I had to check the Title of this Topic,to see if it was Satire!

[KuhnPaen]

What are you in for?

Liking a FB comment.

Wow.

How bout you?

Murder.

Oh.

Yeah.

*sips fish head soup*

[Commander Tamson]

Silly me! Here I was thinking that Neanderthal were a thing of the past.

Or perhaps the Missing Link isn't really missing after all, but living, breathing and (very scary thought), breeding in Thailand.

We don't have to go back nearly as far -- this is Stalinism or the teachings of Chairman Moa or [even closer to home & present time] the Khmer Rouge. Now it really is becoming scary!!

[Songhua]

He's lost the plot ..... completely.

I was going to click "Like" on this comment but I am afraid the special operations group will come bursting through my windows and doors. Are thoughts still permitted?

I've liked yours (just to test the waters).

Are you still there?

Hello..

Hello...

Anybody there?

[connda]

You'll know you're about to hear the "Big Flushing Sound" when the folks pulling the strings tell you that "Liking" Political Humor is a crime. You eventually get to the point that everyone is a dissident until proved otherwise. Break out the water boards.

[Noistar]

Not quite sure what benefit is meant to come of this.

If people can't say they DONT like something, the alternative is not that they will say they DO like it.

Perhaps they need to think this through. Facebook is not the only means of expressing opinions.

Will foreign nationals/embassies be thrown out in retaliation for 1st world free-expression being exercised?

Beyond belief.

[kirk0233]

Be careful what you like:

In the United States, a former prison guard is suing the city sheriff, alleging that he was fired because he “liked” the Facebook page of the sheriff’s opponent in a political race.

Two Indian women were arrested last year for “promoting enmity between classes” and “sending offensive messages through [a] communication service” when one posted a politically charged comment on Facebook and the other “liked” it.

http://qz.com/86451/facebooks-like-goes-on-trial-think-twice-before-liking-this-article/

[Skywalker69]

One should consider the fact that ThaiVisa is possibly one of the most famous forums about Thailand on the web.

One might also think about how simply "liking" a page may bring scrutiny.

How many Thai police do you think can read and understand english?

[connda]

One should consider the fact that ThaiVisa is possibly one of the most famous forums about Thailand on the web.

One might also think about how simply "liking" a page may bring scrutiny.

How many Thai police do you think can read and understand english?

It won't be the one's who can't "read and understand english" that you'll have to be worried about.

[Thai at Heart]

"I have a team here [at TCSD] and at the Royal Thai Police HQ. Our team searched the keyword "coup" and we found posts by these four persons. It was not difficult. We didn't have a particular watchlist."

Cutting edge investigative techniques brought to you by courtesy of google.

And how many hundred thousand pages did they find?

Classic statement from the super sleuth. So this means by definition he must have discarded to look at the other thousands of webpages that were up there.

I despair of the lack of base intelligence of so called pooyais in Thailand. At least apparently they know how to spell the word coup,

[wilcopops]

So if he "accepted" a a seditious that means he approves of its content?? How about a suspicious parcel? - them seems to be a flaw in this logic.

[petedk]

Boy oh boy. If you really don't think that Thailand is turning into some kind of dictatorship, your not paying attention. Do have any idea how many people in the US would be arrested for clicking "like" on a impeach Obama facebook post? I clicked like on several posts here and expect the BIB to come tearing up to my door any minute.

I remember reading a few years ago about some kid in USA who loved to play around with graphic software. He made a short video of the president (sorry I can't remember which one) and turned his face into a tomato that exploded. It was just innocent fun but after a few days the FBI came and interrogated him thinking he was some kind of communist.

People always talk about about freedom of speech in USA but in my opinion it's not true. In Europe we had /have much more freedom to express out thoughts.

Yes, Thailand is becoming a dictatorship and I fear what the future may bring as PTP get more and more control of the country.

[wilcopops]

Silly me! Here I was thinking that Neanderthal were a thing of the past.

Or perhaps the Missing Link isn't really missing after all, but living, breathing and (very scary thought), breeding in Thailand.

We don't have to go back nearly as far -- this is Stalinism or the teachings of Chairman Moa or [even closer to home & present time] the Khmer Rouge. Now it really is becoming scary!!

Pleae - don't insult Neanderthals!

[MikeOboe57]

One should consider the fact that ThaiVisa is possibly one of the most famous forums about Thailand on the web.

One might also think about how simply "liking" a page may bring scrutiny.

How many Thai police do you think can read and understand english?

That is why they go after the "likes", not after the comments.

[Thai at Heart]

So if someone sends you snail mail and you copy it and put it into 20 envelopes, and post it to your mates. It is illegal?

Damn, even chain letters are illegal now. Maybe the entire Thai population should post this guy a letter telling him to bogoff.

[thatguyagain]

The more LIKE buttons pressed, the more people will know throughout the World what these so called politicians are up to and how they are filling their own bank accounts up with all these millions from corrupt means .... a simple scare tactic from this guy to keep it as quiet as possible what he and the rest are up to.....do they really think everyone in the World is as gullible as a Thai ...this Counrty has such great potential to me Amazing Thailand , but is being bled dry by one man and his cronies !!!!

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

Basically, they talked about the possibility of a coup, which is groundless and is clearly against the Computer Crime Act.

Talking about "the possibility of a coup" is "groundless" in a country that's had how many dozens of them in its history???

[Amras]

"Q : How did the TCSD go about this case?

I have a team here [at TCSD] and at the Royal Thai Police HQ. Our team searched the keyword "coup" and we found posts by these four persons. It was not difficult. We didn't have a particular watchlist."

This is incorrect. You can't actually search Facebook for content. The ONLY way they will find this (a post) is if a). Someone reports to them that someone has posted (who they are friends with). they are 'friends/connected' with the people in question and hence see their post c) Facebook is bowing to the Thai governments requests for finding content (very unlikely). or d) if goes viral in which case becomes quite public. But then some people re-post without sharing, so may be difficult to track the originator.

If it wasn't an editor that said this, this would have been lost among all the millions of Facebook posts everyday.

"Q : Will this rule be applied to all cases?

We will just focus on cases of political violence. If you don't prevent it, bad news will be covered by foreign media and confidence [in Thailand] will be affected."

This is the ONLY reason they are concerned. Thailand is already facing bad international press with scams, tourists being murdered, robbed and political tensions and on and on. They can't afford any rumors discouraging investments in Thailand, in their current fragile state they are. Hence the scare tactics, which must have been pressed on the BIB by the government.

[Thai at Heart]

Basically, they talked about the possibility of a coup, which is groundless and is clearly against the Computer Crime Act.

Talking about "the possibility of a coup" is "groundless" in a country that's had how many dozens of them in its history???

This is straight out of the "Yes, Minister" script. Honestly, to me this is exactly what it reads like.

It is illegal to "like" something that is in the government's own words "groundless". Why is it clearly against the computer crimes act to "talk" about the possibility of a coup? I really do wish some of these commentators get very well lawyered up, and challenge this fool to take them to court.

If I type "coup in Thailand" into google, I get 15,700,000 page hits. Maybe he should threaten Sergei Brin too. Shall I link a few 100k of them onto my facebook and share them?

[wilcopops]

...if everyone sent an email to the policeman saying they liked him at rthe same time, what effect would that have on his inbox/website?

[wilcopops]

is it OK to press the "like" button on TV?...or is that illegal too?

[Insight]

I blame the coup too.

The coup, which happened in 2006.

Which had a general election about a year after in which a Thaksin-backed party won.

Which has seen numerous Thaksin-funded parties take the helm of Thailand in the 7 YEARS SINCE. Any one of which could have taken significant steps in removing such arcane laws permitting freedom of expression, but didn't. Instead they've typically maximised use of these arcane laws to their own advantage.

But I still blame the coup, because it's there to be blamed.

And who knows? Maybe I've been told to...

[rakman]

So the like button is now like a nuke button?

No, more like the bomb vest button. Depending on message liked, you could implode one's life.

One can still express opinion, but do it peacefully.

[rakman]

is it OK to press the "like" button on TV?...or is that illegal too?

Only if you "Like" a message espousing violence, or rumors of violence.

[PhilipCook]

Karma police, arrest this man, He talks in maths, He buzzes like a fridge

He's like a detuned radio, This is what you get when you mess with us, And for a minute there, I lost myself, I lost myself...Radiohead

[Thai at Heart]

A tourist from the United States of America is at a resturant
in Havana. He tells the waiter that the USA is the best
country in the world because of the freedoms it has. He says,
"Take Freedom of Speech for example. I could stand in front
of the White House in Washington D.C. and yell 'President
Clinton is a bastard!' and nothing would be done to me." The
Cuban waiter replies, "We have that same freedom in Cuba. I
could stand in front of El Capital and yell the same thing and
nothing would be done to me too!"

[kannot]

He's lost the plot ..... completely.

I was going to click "Like" on this comment but I am afraid the special operations group will come bursting through my windows and doors. Are thoughts still permitted?

Use an Apple that way they cant come thru your "windows"

No thoughts permitted except "where the som tam and long live the .....

[unanimosity]

Typically great responses from TV posters.

This man - and those behind him - are very, very dangerous. The quotes below sum up his beliefs and attitude far better than I can ever hope to.

http://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/153313-nineteen-eighty-four

“If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face—for ever.”

― George Orwell, 1984

“But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.”

― George Orwell,1984

“It's a beautiful thing, the destruction of words.”

― George Orwell, 1984

The door is being broken in as I wri...

Let's pause for a moment to remember arthurboy.

Your rumourmate?