This is disgraceful: a Melbourne man, Harry Nicolaides, has been jailed in Thailand for three years for insulting the Thai royal family in a novel he has apparently written. The conviction is a result of Thailand’s anachronistic “lese majeste” laws, which make insulting the royals an offence punishable by 3-15 years prison. As this website shows, lese majeste appears to be a tool of choice for the current Thai regime for suppressing dissent and anything else they don’t like. The BBC helpfully gives us the current law:
Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of 3 to 15 years.
It seems like a fairly straightforward case of a backwards country applying antiquated laws to impose a harsh penalty for something which would not raise an eyebrow in any modern and progressive society. Pen UK has taken up the cause. Harry himself says:
This is an ‘Alice in Wonderland’ experience. I really believe that I am going to wake up and all of you will be gone. [...] I would like to apologize. This can’t be real. It feels like a bad dream. I respect the king of Thailand. I was aware there were obscure laws (about the monarchy) but I didn’t think they would apply to me.
However, there’s something a little odd about it. Specifically, that the book in question doesn’t seem to be available anywhere [Edit: ok, it's here, online, but it doesn't seem to be available for purchase anywhere, and seems to be self-published]. It appears that Harry himself has done a bit of self-promoting: here, and here, for instance, wherein his novel is described as:
a trenchant commentary on the political and social life of contemporary Thailand. It is an uncompromising assault on the patrician values of the monarchy, the insidious infiltration of religious missionaries in the education system and the intimate relationship between American foreign policy and Thailand’s battle against Muslim insurrections in the south.
Furthermore, Harry seems to be somethign of a self-styled gonzo journalist – see for example this. Misinformation and taking advantage of foreign cultural mores seem to be ‘educational’ techniques in his eyes.
Further digging turns up this blog. Some posts there seem to be suggesting that Nicolaides may have intentionally brought his book to the attention of Thai authorities as a kind of publicity stunt (or perhaps political protest?). Foreigners have been sentenced and then pardoned in Thailand for this very “crime” before. Is the whole thing simply a case of appallingly bad timing, given the current upheaval in Thailand, combined with appallingly bad judgment? I personally know nothing about Nicolaides – is it conceivable that a struggling author with a gonzo bent might tip off the Thai authorities in an ill-conceived attempt to get arrested, convicted, pardoned (or otherwise diplomatically rescued), and then take advantage of the resulting publicity?
Yet more digging shows pre-arrest discussions of Harry’s novel and the likelihood that it would get him into trouble if published in Thailand: here, and here. For example, from the first link, on 15 June 2005 it was remarked that:
With comments on royalty like that I presume it isnt being printed in Thailand ???
to which a source allegedly in contact with Harry says:
He told me the book may be little controversial, but yes, it is being printed in Thailand.
The second link also allegedly gives us a taste of Harry’s writing, which is, er, interesting (again, please note that I cannot be 100% sure that this is his writing, as the relevant Thai websites have rapidly removed anything relating to him [Edit: see update at the end, it's real]):
June is a bargirl who works in Patong’s Soi Eric. I met her at her bar and have seen her several times over the last month…
June could have walked out of the pages of Nabocov’s salacious and controversial book “Lolita”. She was young, playful and sexually alluring. She aroused prurient thoughts of the illicit defilement of a minor.
She was petite and graceful in proportions, fleet of movement and radiated the innocent charms of a 12 year old girl.
The night of unbridled sexual passion between June and me was as cataclysmic as a tropical storm. Torrid thrusts and tussles of sweaty lovemaking ended in almost complete physical exhaustion. Breathless and sated we embraced. I wiped June’s forehead of perspiration while the small beads of sweat that formed on her upper lip belied a salty hunger for more. Her appetite for sexual fulfillment was insatiable.
The second link also suggests that Harry had plenty of critics in the expat community in Thailand – some of the discussion is downright vitriolic, and there is talk of tipping off his employer as to the anti-royal flavour of his new novel.
In the end it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t matter if he is a good writer or not, it doesn’t matter what kind of guy he is, it doesn’t even matter whether he deliberately or recklessly got himself into this mess. What matters at the moment is that a man is in prison for nothing more than exercising free speech and making a poor choice of travel destination, and at the moment he seems to be getting less help from our government than a certain group of convicted drug traffickers in Indonesia.
So please, consider doing what you can to bring attention to his cause – and if you’re Australian, it might (yet again) be time for an email to your local MP or Senator to try to provoke some significant government action.
Update: Wayback machine to the rescue, here are some examples of Harry’s writing:
- Love Under the Tamarind Tree
- Western Union Love (warning: descriptions of torrid and seedy tropical sex within)
Update 2: Thanks to Robert Merkel at Larvartus Prodeo for the link.
Thank you for your trenchant sleuthing and political insight (do I sound too much like Harry?). I agree that it doesn’t matter what kind of an idiot Harry has been, the punishment is all out of proportion and in Thailand the truth is no defense against lese-majeste. The facts are that the statement that got him in trouble is only a mere tip of the iceberg of what is rumored about all over Thailand. He was just too brazen to realize what punishment would be in store for him for writing what he did, publishing it in Thailand, bringing it to the attention of the authorities, and then returning to Thailand when there was an arrest warrant out for him. This will be a true test of whether Thailand can make it as a democracy that respects free speech, or is actually just another despotic authoritarian regime. The lese-majeste laws will eventually have to be abolished, or at least pared down to actual direct threats of bodily harm against the royal family. I’m not optimistic, but watch to see if there is a royal pardon in about a month. If not, then that will mean that repression here has taken a dangerous turn for the worse.
To me it’s a significant sign of whether the conditions for genuine democracy have been met that the abhorrent notion that certain individuals are beyond reproach by birthright is abolished. The UK of course became a true democracy when parliament seized any real power away from the monarchy, and the US and France did so by more drastic means and never looked back (and even now, the US grapples, with varying success, with attempts by its Presidents to become new ‘kings’).
It should be unacceptable to any intelligent person that in the 21st century the words written in a book – whether true or not – can lead to actual jail time. Sticks and stones…
It’s also a continuing worry that twisted notions of ‘defamation’ and the like are persistently abused in South East Asia by governments to suppress open discussion of political matters. Singapore is another prime example. Funny how in a country like Australia, our only real guarantee of free speech under the constitution protects political speech – almost the exact opposite.
What a terrible case. As you say, it doesn’t matter whether Nicolaides’ book is good or bad, or whether he recklessly put himself at risk to publicise it; no one should be imprisoned on the basis that they “offend” a member of the royal family.
I’m sure I read a case of an African man getting in trouble in Thailand because a bank note blew out of his hand, and in an effort to stop it blowing away, he put his foot on the note. This was disrespect to the King, because he’d put his foot on an image of the King (on the banknote).
Interestingly, I understand that the King has criticised the lese-majeste laws and said that he should not be above criticism because he is human. However, this has not had much impact.
Yes, I have certainly read of similar episodes – I think a Swiss tourist was imprisoned (then pardoned, eventually) for drawing on a picture of the King when he was drunk. I must confess I don’t fully understand the dynamic between the ‘elected’ government and the royals – they seem less passive than (say) the British royals, but not actually in command of the country at the same time.
What bothered me much more is that a number of news sources didn’t report what Nicolaides had said that triggered the law. See for example this CNN article where they explicitly say that they are too chicken to report the details:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/WORLD/asiapcf/01/19/thai.jail/index.html
The Thai larges aren’t just causing censorship in Thailand. They are censoring international news coverage.
I can understand why CNN was too chicken to publish or report on the offending extract (it’s only a paragraph long) because in the present political climate it looks like any news organization that does will have its representative arrested. BBC already has a reporter who has been charged with lese-majeste, but fortunately he is not in the country. Keep in mind the number of blocked websites is now well above the 4,000 mark. When The Economist published a very good article on the Thai monarchy in an issue last December, the magazine’s distributor (AsiaBooks) pulled all copies from the newstands, thus saving the government the embarassing task of actually having to ban the magazine. Right now you can’t write ANYTHING about the royals in Thailand, other than fawning praise. Expect the number of lese-majeste arrests to climb in the weeks ahead, because the anti-government protestors are turning up the heat on the royalist and military-backed government.
That’s the dilemma from a practical perspective, even if there’s no real question of what is right from a philosophical perspective. I have been to Thailand and I would like to be able to go back one day. I suppose you could argue that this is the price Thailand will pay if it doesn’t sort out its laws and political situation – decreased tourism, which accounts for about 6% of Thailand’s GDP: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Economy_of_Thailand
I agree that this is a problem. If we always accommodate the laws of other nations (e.g. Google and Yahoo in China) then by default we will end up being de facto governed by the most restrictive of them rather than the most liberal of them.
If every Western diplomat, news outlet, public figure and so on read the relevant passage from this novel out loud, Thailand would have no choice but to stop prosecuting people (unless it wants to cut itself off from the outside world entirely).
Of many who blogg I am probably one of few who knows the Nicolaidis family. His father came from paphos Cyprus where i live and practice. Nicoloaidis family are highly respected. His uncle established a radio station during the Cyprus invasion by Turkey(1974) to support President Makarios and tell the world that the President was alive and well. The Nicolaidis family are non conformists. But they are honest and hard working. His cousins run their own T.V and independent radio stations.
On a more mutual base it would be useful for our Thai friends to know that over the last 30 years scores of Thai men and womwn have found jobs in Cyprus and scores of Cypriot tourists visit Thailand every year bringing back only admiration for that country. I hope His majesty the King of Thailand will grant pardon to Harry Nicolaidis soon. May God bless him and his family
Dr. John Taliotis.
We would like the Roytal family and the Government of Thailand to know that the detention of Harry has created a lot of anguish sadness and acute embarassment to a lot of people in the small town where his father was born before emigtating to Australia. Everywhere one goes in this town the Harry Nicolaidis story is first story. Lots of people who visted Thailand on holiday say that they did not think that the Thai Royal Family were such a popular and such hgihly revered institution. Now they realise that the king in Thailand is tantamaount to Buddha or better Buddha’s representative on earth. If Harry had thought on those lines we are more certain that he would never have insulted any member of the Royal family. That is why His Majesty and the Crown Prince should demonstrate maganimity, allowing our compatriot to return to his parents native land, where his whole family is praying for his rerlease and the welfare of his captoes. We are a Christian nation. We do not wish evil to anybody. Certainly to none in the Royal Household of the Kingdom of Thailand. The King has the cpacity, if he chose, to find out from scores of his copmatriots who lived and worked in our homes, bringing up our children and looking after our old parents. A simple announcement will bring scores of his subjects to talk of the welcoming nature of the place where Harry;s parenatage came from
Dr. John C. Taliotis.
Paphos.
It is interesting to read in a comment above that Asia Books Limited is the distributor of the Economist magazine, in which a recent Feb 2009 edition was banned and a December 2008 edition severly critisised for its content on Lese Majesty. Harry’s book Verisimilitude (published in 2005) was also distributed by Asia Books. Why haven’t the Thai Police looked into how this distributor is able to continually allow the release of offensive material to the Thai Monarchy? One would think they should be experts right? And if they don’t know and continually get it wrong, how is everyone else supposed to know??