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Censorship Government The Internet Politics

Thailand Bans YouTube 377

Posted by Zonk from the getting-to-be-popular dept.
An anonymous reader writes "The new government of Thailand that forced its way into power last year has banned the website YouTube after a 44 second clip was found of someone spray painting on a picture of Thailand's king. When Google refused to remove the 'offending' clip the website was redirected to a different page. This comes days after a Swiss man was jailed 10 years for spray painting on pictures of the king while drunk, and is the same government that earlier this year slammed open source software for being useless and buggy."
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Thailand Bans YouTube More

Thailand Bans YouTube

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  • Comment removed (Score:5, Insightful)

    by account_deleted ( 4530225 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @09:59AM (#18619867)
    Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re:Now if only... (Score:5, Informative)

      by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:05AM (#18619963)
      A lot of people seem to be unaware of how medeival Thailand is when it comes to morality. Why, just recently a beautiful Thai college student and actress got in a lot of trouble [nationmultimedia.com] because the dress she wore was too revealing! (obligatory hot pix here [blogspot.com])

      • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

        by xerxesVII ( 707232 )
        w00t! That dress IS an outrage. She'd look even better without it.

      • Re:Now if only... (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Tom ( 822 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:38AM (#18621577) Homepage Journal
        Thailand isn't "medieval" when it comes to morality - it is thai. Why do you think it is proper to judge a foreign country in terms of our history? They have a different morale, yeah. Now lets hear your objective definition of what makes "better" morales.

        According to Thai standards, that dress is considerably worse than that superbowl nipple flash you americans got. And if you read the page you linked to, you'd have seen that the punishment wasn't a hundred million bucks, but reading to blind children for a few days. For me, I consider that a lot more enlightened than a few millions because the chiiiildren will be soooo damaged by seing a picture of something they sucked on a few years ago.

        • Re:Now if only... (Score:4, Insightful)

          by pla ( 258480 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @12:02PM (#18621967) Journal
          Thailand isn't "medieval" when it comes to morality - it is thai.

          Whatever you want to call it, "Ass-Backwards" looks the same in any culture.

          • Re:Now if only... (Score:5, Insightful)

            by curecollector ( 957211 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @01:07PM (#18622903)
            Alright, this is a day when I wish I had some mod points kicking around. Insightful + 1.

            If there's one thing that always drive me up a wall, it's all of this relativism when it comes to matters of culture. At least in America. For some strange reason, it's become taboo to flat out say, "in my eyes, this culture is fucking insane".

            I mean, think about it: there are parts of the world where they believe that the grain that America gives them is giving them AIDS. There are parts of the world where people believe that raping a virgin (babies included) can cure AIDS. There are parts of the world where they execute/impose life sentences on drug dealers (of those who they believe to be drug dealers), yet child prostitution runs rampant, in a semi-open manner. The list goes on. I'll be honest, as far as I'm concerned, it's all fucking backwards.

            (PS - I'm not saying America is above reproach, either. Not for a second. Hell, the rest of the world has no problem pointing out what they perceive to be our flaws. Why is it that we can never point out theirs?)

            • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

              by Tom ( 822 )
              Do you spot the difference? If you say "in my eyes", that changes your statement. It leaves room for other opinions. If you say - like someone else in this thread - "any system that does this is BROKEN" - that's a statement of a different quality. Yeah, call it semantics, but semantics is important (see Whorf, Korzybski, et al).

            • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

              by Plutonite ( 999141 )
              It is not as simple as you think, even though every single one of your examples happens to be universally valid and not related to what I am about to say:

              Using materialism/utilitarianism to judge what "backwards" means in terms of moral code is nonsense. We in the West have become habituated to certain phenomenae that were simply unthinkable to us before, and which, after years of religion losing its meaning, are perfectly acceptable to us now. I have Eastern-European friends who have lived in the middle ea

          • Re: (Score:3)

            by Tom ( 822 )
            Weird, there are several cultures on this planet that consider american culture "ass-backwards". How do you parse that?

        • Re:Now if only... (Score:5, Insightful)

          by exp(pi*sqrt(163)) ( 613870 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @01:11PM (#18622945) Journal
          > Why do you think it is proper to judge a foreign country in terms of our history?

          Because that's the nature of making a judgement. If my neighbour thinks it's fine to have sex with children and I don't I'll judge them by my standards. You don't give up making ethical judgements about someone simply because they have different standards. Similarly it seems entirely reasonable to me for people of one culture to critique the ethics of another. And it seems entirely reasonable for people of a culture to use convenient landmarks in their own history to express those critiques.

        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          by arevos ( 659374 )

          Thailand isn't "medieval" when it comes to morality - it is thai. Why do you think it is proper to judge a foreign country in terms of our history? They have a different morale, yeah. Now lets hear your objective definition of what makes "better" morales.

          Hold on. The grandparent post didn't say Thai morality was any worse; he said it was medieval. Are you saying that medieval morality is worse than modern western morality? Why do you think it is proper to judge a past time in terms of our modern sensibilities?

          Hypocrisy aside, posts like these are a real source of irritation to me. If the grandparent poster has no right to judge the Thai government on morality, what right does the Thai government have to judge others, even those within its own borders?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by plover ( 150551 ) *
      Just remember the basic difference: Thailand doesn't make any money off of Youtube.
    • "Now if only they put half of that outrage into their domestic problems with child prostitution"

      Depending on who "they" are that you speak of, "they" may not consume YouTube as much as the other thing. Lots of Politicians claim outrage at the very thing they participate in, so only give half hearted effort to "clean up".

    • They put half of that outrage into their domestic problems with child prostitution and pornography creation/distribution.

      Actually, Thailand does take child prostitution seriously. They turn a blind eye to adult prostitution, and Thai women look much younger than they actually are, so I could see why someone might think that they also turn a blind eye to child prostitution.

      If you read the papers there, you will see that they regularly do bust child sex tourists. These folks are spending a long time in Thai

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by EraseEraseMe ( 167638 )
      Having just returned from Thailand and spending time with one of the American ambassadors down there, I think I have a unique viewpoint on these 'domestic problems' you refer to. Prostitution is illegal and it is enforced quite heavily. The problem lay with the police force that can be bought off of charges. I sure as hell wouldn't want to spend any time in a Thai jail. Child prostitution doesn't really happen to the extent that us farangs think, and for the amount of time I spent there, the only boobies I

      • You suppose? (Score:3, Funny)

        by mkcmkc ( 197982 )

        And I suppose my wife's

        Okay, now we're curious:

        • Does your wife have an identical twin?
        • Was she wearing a bag over her head at the time?
        • Do you even know what your wife looks like?

        Enquiring minds must know! :-)

        • I just wanted to make sure if she gets a chance to read this article that I was thinking of her, HONEST!

          One thing about the boobies in Thailand, plastic surgery is incredibly cheap so the boobs tend to be of the California variety, and not the home-grown.

          • Re: (Score:3, Funny)

            by Chris Burke ( 6130 )
            One thing about the boobies in Thailand, plastic surgery is incredibly cheap so the boobs tend to be of the California variety, and not the home-grown.

            Bah! /me closes the travelocity.com tab opened two posts ago

  • ..and... (Score:5, Funny)

    by mapkinase ( 958129 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @09:59AM (#18619875) Homepage Journal
    Ministry of Information of Thailand was effectively slashdotted. Half of me says that was a plan.

  • Lots slam OSS for being useless and buggy (Score:3, Insightful)

    by stratjakt ( 596332 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:00AM (#18619885) Journal
    That really isn't related to this story, is it? It's just there to agitate the average /.'er into blindly raging against Thailand.

    In my day, we called that kind of stuff flamebait.

    You know, like how Apple sucks and everyone who owns a Mac is a faggot.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by east coast ( 590680 )
      In my day, we called that kind of stuff flamebait

      Does this mean that Zonk is going to lose some karma over this?

      Seriously, I agree with you. To include that Thailand (or whomever) is not real OSS friendly on an article about YouTube makes about as much sense as including a budget revision for the VA on a gun ban bill.

      Opps! Did I say that out loud?
    • Well spotted, all part of the loaded statement and (mis)leading headline service offered by Slashdot when someone does not bow before one of their heroes.
    • Who needs shades of grey? With Thailand, you can put pimps pushing 8-year olds, oppressive military dictatorships, and anti-open source people together! Finally, something to hate for everyone!

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by canUbeleiveIT ( 787307 )
      Absolutely. The /. community reaction to Thailand issues:
      child prostitution: yeah, yeah, so what?
      free speech restrictions: yawn...
      censorship: zzzzzzz...
      Thailand says OSS is "useless and buggy": WHAT!!!! Those sons of bitches!!

    • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

      by NayDizz ( 821461 )
      That's exactly what I thought. I was half expecting it to be followed up with "Oh by the way, they said your mom is fat."

    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by Creepy ( 93888 )
      I was going to say about the same - if I called MS software useless and buggy here, I'd get 95% kudos and a few dirty insults. Some OSS is very buggy, other software is not. The biggest issue from a commercial standpoint is there is no accountability with it, so if it is buggy, there is no guarantee it will be fixed. This is why some OSS vendors like MySQL use two licenses - one OSS, one commercial with support and vendors like RedHat sell free software (because they give paid support). Truth be told, I

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by mstahl ( 701501 )

      But they already covered the censorship and freedom of speech hot buttons. The only one remaining was the OSS one. I figure Zonk saw it, saw his opportunity to create the perfect storm of Slashdotter angst, and went for it.

      Can you honestly say you wouldn't do the same, given the chance?

  • Respect and Freedom? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by Tom ( 822 )
    So, how much respect for other cultures do you have? How much freedom do you grant others - to define their own morality?

    I've been to Thailand. It's a great place where the king is held in very high esteem. This isn't a tyranny cracking down on opposition, almost all Thais would be very shocked to see a spray-painted picture of the king. Try a stunt like that and you'll be lucky if the police gets you before the enraged mob does.

    Now let's wait for the trolls to swarm in and claim that any culture that doesn

    • Re:Respect and Freedom? (Score:4, Insightful)

      by BDPrime ( 1012761 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:16AM (#18620107) Homepage
      This is a good question. Should I respect a culture with a different morality than my own? Should I respect cultures that, for example, circumcise women as a regular practice and have been doing it for "a thousand years?" I tend to think this is a case-by-case basis.

      I realize that female circumcision is much different than banning YouTube, but I don't consider people "trolls" if they disagree with the Thai government's decision to try to control the public arena, just as I wouldn't consider people "trolls" if they criticized the current U.S. administration for practices they found offensive.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Otter ( 3800 )
        Should I respect cultures that, for example, circumcise women as a regular practice and have been doing it for "a thousand years?"

        Apparently you should investigate their current government's views on Linux and then decide.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by drinkypoo ( 153816 )
        As an offtopic aside, "Female Circumcision" is a misnomer. That is actually a name for the operation of removing the clitoral hood, which is done in certain cases for valid medical reasons. The term for removal of the clitoris is "clitoridectomy" (although even THAT term is sometimes used for removal of only the hood.) There are also other types [wikipedia.org] of female genital mutilation.
      • <back_at_you>

        Should I respect a cultures that, for example, circumcise men as a regular practice?
        </back_at_you>

        Oh wait, that's what the US are doing. At least the Hebrews have a religious reason for doing it.

    • Re:Respect and Freedom? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by voice_of_all_reason ( 926702 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:19AM (#18620157)
      Try a stunt like that and you'll be lucky if the police gets you before the enraged mob does.

      Any people that would beat or kill you for insulting someone are not enlightened, cultural superiors. They simple zealous lunatics.

      The real test would be their reaction to some Danish cartoons.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Tom ( 822 )

        Any people that would beat or kill you for insulting someone are not enlightened, cultural superiors.
        So judging other people living in another culture according to your local moral standards is "enlightened, cultural superior[...]" ?

        Can there be diversity in your definition of freedom, or am I only free to live what you define as free?

        • Can there be diversity in your definition of freedom, or am I only free to live what you define as free?
          Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.

          Or anyone elses nose for that matter.

          • Re: (Score:2)

            by Tom ( 822 )

            Your right to swing your fist ends where my nose begins.
            And your right to define what's proper ends where?

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by fyoder ( 857358 )

        The real test would be their reaction to some Danish cartoons.

        <|8-p <- Image of the King of Thailand

        Now they can ban slashdot.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Kjella ( 173770 )
      In general, attacking the monarch is usually the stupidest thing you can do in a monarchy. I checked our own laws, and while we're in every way a democratic and free country (we beat the US on the index), we still have the following:

      1. Accessory to attempted murder of the king can give you up to 21 years in prison
      2. Grave violence towards the king can give you up to 21 years in prison
      3. Insulting the majesty can give you up to 5 years in prison

      Actually we have capped our sentences to 21 years max (that's "l

      • while we're in every way a democratic and free country (we beat the US on the index)

        That's quite a bit like saying you're a security-focused company because you beat Microsoft in a study...

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by guanxi ( 216397 )
      Do you have anything to back these ideas up? It's an old canard that freedom is a 'western' value, but it's not, it's universal. It's always easy to write off someone else's freedom with unfounded theories, but very few chose to forgo these rights when the have a choice. They only forgo them when someone else takes them away. If the people in Thailand really agree with you, then no doubt the military dictatorship can hold free, open elections, and they will win. What are they waiting for?

      But even then, mob

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Tom ( 822 )
        Freedom is a more complicated value than that. Even in the west, its meaning has changed over time. During much of the middle ages in Europe, for example, "Freedom" regularily meant "freedom from oppression, freedom from hunger, freedom from misery". The common meaning today is not "freedom from", but "freedom to" - freedom to do what you want, freedom to speak your mind, freedom to choose your wife, job, etc. - that nuance makes for vital differences. Many medieval europeans were quite happy to forego the

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by kamapuaa ( 555446 )
      This isn't a tyranny cracking down on opposition,

      Depends how you view it - I'd argue that the cult of personality he has built around himself is totally fucking crazy, and not at all healthy for the nation. The military coup of the elected leader was headed by the head of the king's private council, while the coup happened it replaced television and radio broadcasting with images and pro-monarchy messages. Later, the king pledged his support to the military coup.

      Also it's hard to support a guy who has m

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Tom ( 822 )
        You been to Thailand? I have, and the love for their king is real and very basic.

        The people of North Korea actually loved their previous leader, his sun is only riding on that wave.

        Do you know anything about what you're saying?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by FuryG3 ( 113706 )

      Uh, when did you go visit? Because (I'm assuming) since you've been there the military has overthrown the government [wikipedia.org] and remains in power.

      While I fully support the right of a group of people to determine how they want to best be governed (say, whether a particular act of defacement is wrong or not), I don't see how this can be achieved when the military is running the country, with no authority given to them by the people, who have no say in a possible referendum of their policy.

      The reason why this is

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by Tom ( 822 )
        The coup was a couple of weeks after I visited. However, I can also see it in perspective. These coups aren't so rare in Thailand - look at the bottom of the page you linked. Most of the times, the military has kicked out a corrupt government and held elections for a new one. May or may not play out that way this time, we'll see.

        The point, however, was a different one. There are no two opinions about the king in Thailand, so much that the coup could not have succeeded had he opposed it. Well, look here, the [wikipedia.org]

    • Re:Respect and Freedom? (Score:4, Interesting)

      by Trailer Trash ( 60756 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:18AM (#18621159) Homepage

      How much freedom do you grant others - to define their own morality?

      You might have missed the news, but Thailand was overtaken by a military coup last year and is now being run as a military dictatorship. "Their own morality" is irrelevent, particularly when the dictator is a Muslim.

      Now let's wait for the trolls to swarm in and claim that any culture that doesn't share their own values of "First Amendment" and "Freedom of Expression" must be evil and bad. Newsflash: The "total freedom or none at all" attitude only applies to western culture. Asian cultures have more than a thousand years of experience in moderation and non-binary thinking.

      We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, and that among these rights are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed...But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same object evinces a design to reduce them under absoltue despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such government, and to provide new guards for their future security.

      There, go argue your bullshit with Jefferson, he'll kick you around the room.

      • Re:Respect and Freedom? (Score:4, Insightful)

        by Tom ( 822 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:41AM (#18621615) Homepage Journal
        Morality doesn't change with government. You know precious little about history if you think that.

        And yes, we hold those things to be self-evident. That doesn't mean others have to as well, does it? Is there a place for diversity in your world of freedom and pursuit of happiness? Or can I only be free and pursue my happiness as long as I follow your code of ethics?
    • Were you there as a tourist or a naturalized citizen? Tourists in Soviet countries thought things there were great too.
  • The new Thiland government is quoted as saying because of all the bugs in open source software they will be installing Vista on all crucial government machines.

  • Touchy (Score:5, Funny)

    by Tx ( 96709 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:08AM (#18620009) Journal
    So am I going to get /. banned from Thailand? If I say "Hey Thailand! Your king is a doody-head!"? Will that do it?

  • Breaking News.. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by madsheep ( 984404 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:09AM (#18620023) Homepage
    WHO CARES?

    Ok so it's censorship and we should all care as we are "free." However, that wasn't really my point. This is hardly news. What do you expect from countries like this. For a place like Thailand banning YouTube is hardly their worst crime. Let's take an example from a week ago that was in the news. Main Jailed for 10 Years for Insulting King [express.co.uk] -- ok and we care about them blocking YouTube? I think there's a tons of worse things they do. Blocking YouTube is probably making them more productive if anything. Not saying it's not wrong or outrageous.. but in comparison to other things that go on there.. it most certainly is.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by otacon ( 445694 )
      I was thinking the exact same thing. Who cares about YouTube...10 YEARS FOR SPRAY PAINTING...are you kidding me...that should be the real topic of discussion whether it's nerd news or not.

  • Fucking monarchies (Score:5, Funny)

    by i_should_be_working ( 720372 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:09AM (#18620031)
    Here [google.co.uk] are assorted images of Thailand's king. Here's [thaigov.go.th] Thailand's government website. (english) [thaigov.go.th]

    Let's show them what we and the Gimp think of them throwing people in prison for 10 years for vandalism.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by dr_dank ( 472072 )
      Let's show them what we and the Gimp think of them throwing people in prison for 10 years for vandalism.

      The Gimp is sleeping.
  • That'll work. Until a rash of sites appear with the same clip. Or worse. Has anyone shat on a portrait of the king yet?

    The best policy is probably to ignore it. If the king is so reveered in Thailand it isn't like many people will want to view the clip anyway.

    • You mean like that time with the brasilian starlet?

      BTW, I saw that clip yesterday, but only because the link was on the headline of another tech blog, and mostly because every download counts when it comes to censorship.

  • Ministry of Truth??? (Score:3, Funny)

    by dasunst3r ( 947970 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:32AM (#18620383) Homepage
    For some reason, Ministry of Information seems 1984-ish, so answer me this: In Thailand, do browsers also keep tabs on you too?

  • Why the archived version? (Score:3, Informative)

    by jginspace ( 678908 ) <.jginspace. .at. .yahoo.com.> on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:37AM (#18620459) Homepage Journal
    Story links to an archived version of the Wikipedia page. What's going on there? Here is the current version [wikipedia.org]

    "When Google refused to remove the 'offending' clip the website was redirected to a different page"

    Oh by the way I'm in Thailand right now and YouTube isn't redirecting anywhere - it's just failing. (ISP is TTTMaxnet.)

  • Thais take this very seriously (Score:5, Informative)

    by Slashdot Parent ( 995749 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:42AM (#18620551)
    Anyone who has been to Thailand can tell you that Thais are some of the most friendly, inviting people on the planet. The country is often dubbed the "Land of Smiles" and isn't even a reference to the sex trade, for which they are also famous. Thailand is called the Land of Smiles because people are always smiling at each other. They could be in the middle of an intense negotiation or even an argument, but they are always smiling.

    However, there is an exception. In Thailand, you do not insult the King. I repeat, you do not insult the King.

    If you do insult the King (yes, spraypainting a mustache on him is insulting), those always-smiling Thais will stop smiling, gouge your eyes out, rip you limb from limb, slit your throat from ear to ear, and rip out all of your internal organs. When the police arrive, they will help the mob, and everyone from the police to the ambulance driver to the attending physician to the coroner to the undertaker will all swear that you died of a sudden heart attack.

    I am not kidding about this. Thais take their King very seriously.

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by EraseEraseMe ( 167638 )
      I found their predilection for smiling the most annoying habit of Thais in general. I don't want you to smile and nod and pretend that you understood what I just said when in fact you're going to walk away muttering something about stupid farangs, I want you to ask questions to show that you DO understand.

  • Forced it's way into power (Score:4, Informative)

    by zoomshorts ( 137587 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:43AM (#18620555)
    I lived in Bangkok , Thailand for 4 years a long time ago.
    Thailand is a Constitutional Monarchy, but it is ruled by
    a Military group. There have been dozens of bloodless coups
    over the years.

    There IS NO FORCING THEIR WAY TO POWER, the various Military
    people take TURNS running the government. Hence the bloodless
    coups. Pull your head out of your asses and learn about what
    you speak about.

    Thailand is always taking the 'conservative' position to help
    impress other countries. Such is life in the real world.
  • I wasn't shocked and appalled until I heard what they said about open source. THAT is what makes this a true injustice, my friends!

  • It's Like Calling Your Sister a Slut... (Score:4, Insightful)

    by Anonymous Coward on Thursday April 05, 2007 @10:49AM (#18620687)
    Here in the US, it's hard for most of us to relate to why the Thai government would take this step. Their king is universally beloved by the people. Here in the West, we're used to the skewering of our political leaders and celebreties in print and on TV, but in Thailand you'd be better off insulting a man's wife than the king or queen! Just because we've arrived at the point where we respect no one and find few things worth fighting for doesn't mean that everyone else has to follow our lead.

    Should a governmental body have the right to censor material that a large majority of its population finds offensive? Should Germany be allowed to block Nazi hate sites? Should China be allowed to block porn sites? Should any country be able to block material that depicts or encourages actions illegal in that country?

    I lived in Thailand for a year and though I have never seen or met the king, I helped teach English at a school he funded and have been on the palace grounds where he lived many times. I can attest that the pride and admiration they have for the king runs deep and this action by the government is the equivalent of punching the guy who called your sister a slut. It may be that the whole episode is forgotten in a few days or it may create a lifelong grudge, but action to defend honor must be taken. And if you don't think defending honor is worth punching someone in the face, you're not going to understand this move by the Thai government.
    • Actually, the best thing to compare it to, for the U. S., is insulting the Pope. Just ask Matt Taibbi [wikipedia.org].

      The King is a spiritual leader with a lot of indirect political power, much like the Pope.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by Rakishi ( 759894 )

      Just because we've arrived at the point where we respect no one and find few things worth fighting for doesn't mean that everyone else has to follow our lead.
      If everyone did we'd have avoided at least one massive war the last century as there'd be no nationalism to fuel certain movements.

      Also just because not everyone in the US blindly respects the same person doesn't mean that each individual doesn't have respect for some figure or another.

    • Re:It's Like Calling Your Sister a Slut... (Score:4, Insightful)

      by Quiet_Desperation ( 858215 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @12:14PM (#18622173)

      Should a governmental body have the right to censor material that a large majority of its population finds offensive?

      No.

      Should Germany be allowed to block Nazi hate sites?

      No.

      Should China be allowed to block porn sites?

      No.

      Should any country be able to block material that depicts or encourages actions illegal in that country?

      No.

      If you need any more clarifications of the concept of self-evident freedoms, just shout out.

      but action to defend honor must be taken.

      Remember that when someone punches *you* in the face.

      Maybe a person's "honor" shouldn't be so fragile, or dependent on the opinion of a drunken man with a can of paint.

      And if you don't think defending honor is worth punching someone in the face

      I guess I don't. I guess I live in the 21st century. But you just keep banging those rocks together, Ugg.

      And your sister is a slut. :)

  • Could jailing someone for a trivial crime be mentioned as being equivelant to the horrors of being anti-open source, when listing the sins of a dictatorship.

    I can only imagine future headlines:
    JUNTA DECLARES VISTA OFFICIAL OS (and also jails thousands of dissidents)
    THAILAND SUPPORTS SCO and oh yeah something about opposition groups banned
  • I suspect the video's finally been removed. Reports say it was uploaded by a user named 'Paddidda' - and that account [youtube.com] seems to have disappeared.
  • I strike a careless pose
    And whistle a happy tune
    And paint right under the nose
    Of the King!

    Apologies to Rodgers and Hammerstein "The King and I" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_King_and_I [wikipedia.org].
    --
    Enjoy the Sun http://mdsolar.blogspot.com/2007/01/slashdot-users -selling-solar.html [blogspot.com]

  • and is the same government that earlier this year slammed open source software for being useless and buggy.
    What, whuh? I realize this is Slashdot and all, but still... I mean, when equating opponents of open source with fascism, try and be a little more subtle next time.

  • A little perspective from an Ex-Pat (Score:5, Informative)

    by johnnywheeze ( 792148 ) on Thursday April 05, 2007 @11:26AM (#18621321)
    I lived in Thailand for seven years, and I'm trying to come up with an analogy for the slashdot crowd, (because that's how slashdotters communicate).

    It's kind of like that a-hole Phelps character with his god-hates-fags rallies at soldier's funerals. Insulting the King in Thailand is that inflammatory. I told my (Thai) wife about this yesterday, and she couldn't sleep that night, and was trying to find this clip on YouTube in a righteous rage. (couldn't find it). It's hard for westerners to grasp the concept of a powerful person who is universally beloved, without cynicism.

    I feel absolutely no sympathy with that Swiss idiot who spray-painted the King's picture. He's 50 years old, lived in Thailand for 10 years. He knew what he was doing. He got drunk, and decided to be 16 again. Imagine if a drunk vandal went around spraypainting the grave stone of your Grandfather.

    In the end this will be a tempest in a tea-pot, as the king will most assuredly pardon the man, and he'll be kicked out of the country to go to back home. The king has publicly come out and said what a silly law the lesse-majesty law is, and how he is not above criticism, and how he welcomes people to tell him what they think.

    However the law stands, because the Thai's they love them some King.

    • Well, as I wrote elsehwere in response to this article, the closest analogy in the U. S. would be the Pope. Matt Taibbi was forced to resign from New York Press for his "50 Funniest Things about the Upcoming Death of the Pope."

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Rakishi ( 759894 )
      If I understand correctly the reason he can't be pardoned right now is because the president (or whomever) got kicked out by the coup is also being charged with lesse-majesty.
  • According to The Register [theregister.co.uk] the video's poster pulled the video. An interesting quote from the article: Sitthichai bemoaned: "We have told them [Google] how deeply offended Thais were by the clip, but they said there was much worse ridicule of President Bush on the site and they kept that there. I don't think they really care how we feel. Thailand is only a tiny market for them."

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