'Liking' political rumours is a crime

[khunken]

My suggestion for Thaivisa is to change the 'like this' button to:

'don't dislike this'.

[Globeman]

Q : Is this rule the same in other countries?

This has nothing to do with foreign countries, because they have different laws. We are taking preventive measures in dealing with this matter. Others may use the principle of law but we use the principle of political science.

Hooray for Thainess!

Note how the stenographer... sorry, reporter... didn't ask him in what way this was based on political science. THis would be tantamount to pressing the "no-like" button on the General's ideas.

[Bluespunk]

"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.

[Bluespunk]

"Do I not like this."

Graham Taylor, English philosopher and coach.

Well, philosopher for sure.

[petedk]

"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?

[Globeman]

Only in Thailand. A sign of things to come.

not only in Thailand, there are more countries where you will be arrested for "liking" and sharing political motivated posts. Face book, emails and for example twitter are great ways for governments to create a profile which later can and will be used against you. Freedom of speech does not exist!

OK, name these countries. You'll be greeted by a common denominator - they do not have freedom of speech (or the press), freedom of (or from) religion and not one is a western nation.

Dear me no... no western nations would ever do that... America is only monitoring everything everyone says and writes via electrioc communication because they are naturally curious... they will never actually use this information against people whose views they don't like.

[scotbeve]

Only in Thailand. A sign of things to come.

Sadly, not only in Thailand.... Big Brother is watching us all now.

[dasy]

Thank you Globeman, the common denominator of not being western countries is unfortunately false

Only in Thailand. A sign of things to come.

not only in Thailand, there are more countries where you will be arrested for "liking" and sharing political motivated posts. Face book, emails and for example twitter are great ways for governments to create a profile which later can and will be used against you. Freedom of speech does not exist!

OK, name these countries. You'll be greeted by a common denominator - they do not have freedom of speech (or the press), freedom of (or from) religion and not one is a western nation.

Dear me no... no western nations would ever do that... America is only monitoring everything everyone says and writes via electrioc communication because they are naturally curious... they will never actually use this information against people whose views they don't like.

[rosst]

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...

Ah, nice one, I am safe in China. Yes, can I help you?? Oh no, it was a joke really....

[slipperylobster]

I am not liking this...

[Skywalker69]

Wow...I hope he never finds the ThaiVisa website.

He may find it but how big is the chans that he can read the comments?

[Commander Tamson]

Was the interviewer only allowed 10 questions? I can't believe this guy is to be taken seriously. Has this gone nationwide? Has there been any television coverage on it? I only ask because if straight-up, this is a very serious issue and could/will ultimately affect us all.

Anyway, if straight up, I think it only adds to the rumor that a coup is in the offing. And if so, and these are the sort of people who will be taking over, then I think a wee vacation from LOS may be called for.

[johntren]

Wow...I hope he never finds the ThaiVisa website.

No problem. They'd have to build a whole new prison, and they're strapped for cash at the moment.

Posted from the (comparative) safety of Sussex (for the moment).

[Commander Tamson]

My suggestion for Thaivisa is to change the 'like this' button to:

'don't dislike this'.

That is seriously good idea!

[rosst]

what i dont understand is if you press the like button you life will change because you are making thailand look bad, so what becomes of the media that brings the thai badness to the public eye?

What I don't understand is that if I am a Farang and I am in China can I be held responsible for LIKE button pushing via my VPN in Miami LOL

Can TV be forced to expose me??

This is a worry.

[Skywalker69]

I would post something negative about this so called general but he would probably have me incarcerated for libel. Use your worst imagination.

Don´t worry, I am 100% sure he can´t read english. Post on.

[Mudcrab]

I think I should comment that George Orwell wrote his book 1984 in 1949....very insightful gentleman way back then

[kirk0233]

I would like to place Pisit's photo on the ground and stand over it.

[chooka]

I am so happy that I no longer live there. I can "like" whatever I want.

Can they apply for extradition for hitting a like button?

[deecee10]

Social media sites are the biggest threat to the stability of regimes which only accept free speech if it is supportive of them.

Opposition groups who use social media as a tool to challenge the status quo are bad news.

However "The Arab Spring" showed that trying control the freedom that comes with technology is impossible to implement.

Indeed, banning social media sites or denouncing behaviour on them is totally counter-productive, especially in a relatively democratic society such as Thailand.

There will be more 'liking' hits than ever.

[johnlandy]

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

I wouldn't give him the credit of ever having the plot and his comment "others may use the principle of law but we use the principle of political science" what a load of absolute shyt.

[MaxLee]

Being a 21st century modern open-minded person is a crime in the draconian Thai(Chinese) mafia society

[Roadman]

When this character is spouting police state garbage like this then how dear Thaksin's puppet sister tell absolute lies on the world stage that Thailand is a democracy. Thailand never has been, is not, and under these corrupt incompetent mafia thugs never will be. And people have the audacity to say the Army control Thailand.

The Shinawatra police state is well on the way.

[tonneke breda]

They send troops to Iraq and Afghanistan to promote "Democracy" and back home in BKK they try to establish a dictatorial climate.

Please do not like this message, you will be arrested!!!!

[mrtoad]

I would like to place Pisit's photo on the ground and stand over it.

I would like to "like" this comment, but I can't a Pissit Pisit might be watching.

[kimamey]

Others may use the principle of law but we use the principle of political science.

So this isn't the law according to this statement.

Under Section 14 of the Computer Crime Act, any person involved in dissemination or forwarding of computer data already known to be against this law shall be subject to imprisonment for not more than five years or a fine of up to Bt100,000, or both.

So the owners and employees of the social network,in this case Facebook will be liable as well. What about the internet provider as well.

I can see the logic of not wanting unfounded rumours being spread but I'm not sure this will help much.

[kimamey]

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?

[chrisartist]

"It will be if you 'like' a message deemed damaging to national security. If you press 'like', it means you are accepting that message, which is tantamount to supporting it."

This answer by (not-elite-but-high-ranked-and-probably-got-a-lot-of-money) Pisit is complete rubbish.

1) It is not universally true that by pressing "like" you accept the message and support it. It is true only if the message contains only one statement or if it contains more than one statement and every statement is dangerous to national security. If the message contains at least one statement that is not dangerous to national security, by clicking "like" the user can be accepting that statement and rejecting all the rest, which means that the user is *not* supporting any claim that is dangerous to national security.

2) In Thailand, what is deemed to be dangerous to national security is, in truth, merely in the service of promoting the interests of those already in power and those who have a lot of money. What about coups? Coups are certainly dangerous to national security, but they seem to occur regularly (by military fellows, such as the interviewee) with impunity.

[chrisartist]

"Others may use the principle of law but we use the principle of political science"

!!!!!!

He just admitted that there is no rule of law in Thailand!!!!!!!!

[chrisartist]

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

On what grounds does he say it is groundless? The history of Thailand wold seem to support the assertion that there is *always* the possibility of a coup. (But perhaps he doesn't mean "possibility", even though he said "possibility", in which case I couldn't possibly comment.)