<p>The criminal fraternity of Thailand owe a great debt of gratitude to Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism and Sports under Any Administration, Chumpol Silpa-archa, for his comments on the alleged rape of a 19-year-old Dutch tourist in Krabi earlier this year.</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>In the good old days, when the majority of Thais&nbsp;could be safely kept downtrodden, down at heel and down on the farm, local government was a doddle. &nbsp;</p> <p>To give the appearance of democracy,&nbsp;citizens&nbsp;were allowed to elect their village headman and the&nbsp;‘kamnan’, the&nbsp;leader&nbsp;of the tambon, or subdistrict - the next highest level in the comprehensive and rigid hierarchy of governance in Thailand. &nbsp;</p>

<p dir="ltr" id="internal-source-marker_0.7007046164595222" style="margin-left:-0.05pt;">The Bangkok Post has eventually got round to deciding, in its editorial of 31 October, that it cannot support the call for a coup by Gen Boonlert Kaewprasit, the retired but ever-so-busy leader of the Pitak Siam group. &nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr" style="margin-left:-0.05pt;">It doesn’t go as far as thinking that calling for the violent overthrow of an elected government is a violation of the constitution and the law. &nbsp;It merely notes that a coup is ‘not needed’. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The tension was rising in the investigation room of Dusit Police Station.</p> <p>‘So, Khun Thammanoon, you want to file charges under Article 116 of the Criminal Code.’</p> <p>‘Yes, sir.’</p> <p>‘And you are accusing this, er, Boonlert Kaewprasit.&nbsp; Who is this Boonlert and what has he done?’</p> <p>‘It’s General Boonlert, and he’s ...’</p> <p>‘A general?’</p> <p>A sub-lieutenant suddenly takes an interest in the conversation and starts looking for yesterday’s paper.</p>

<p>In the days before Facebook and their little ‘Like’ button to express the instantaneous (and possibly mindless) whim of the moment, people had to use their voices and actually say what they felt. Or at least makes noises.<br /></p>

<p dir="ltr" id="internal-source-marker_0.11728181895498724" style="margin-left: -0.05pt;margin-right: -0.05pt;text-indent: -0.05pt; margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:15px;font-family:Arial;color:#000000;background-color:transparent;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;font-variant:normal;text-decoration:none;vertical-align:baseline;">Thailand, against the advice of the UN and, many argue, in contravention of its obligations under international law to respect the right to freedom of expression, has a criminal defamation law on its books.</span></p>

<p><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: small; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; ">The attempt by the righteous </span><span lang="en-US" style="font-size: small; font-family: Tahoma, sans-serif; line-height: 100%; ">academics of NIDA to expand the Constitutional Court’s mandate into economic policy (after its recent brave forays into politics and legislating) has apparently stumbled at a fairly petty hurdle.</span></p>

<p>At 39,000 feet somewhere over eastern Europe, my then 3-year-old had had enough of this noisy metal tube that had carried him from Thailand and started trying to pry open the cabin window, muttering ‘Get outside’.</p> <p></p>

<p>Thailand, uniquely among the ASEAN member countries, seems to believe that by the time the ASEAN Economic Community comes into being in 2015, Thais should be fluent in the lingua franca of ASEAN, which, in a triumph of imperialism over demographics, is English, rather than Bahasa. &nbsp;Perhaps the Thais were guided in their thinking by the fact that every citizen in the 27 EU countries speaks, er, German? &nbsp;</p>

<p class="s2" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><span class="s3" style="line-height: 14px; font-size: 12px; ">Opinions on the lèse majesté law (Article 112 of the Criminal Code</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 14px; font-size: 12px; ">)</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 14px; font-size: 12px; ">&nbsp;are split 3 ways,</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 14px; font-size: 12px; ">rather than</span><span class="s3" style="line-height: 14px; font-size: 12px; ">&nbsp;2.</span></p>

<p>The attempt by Pol Lt Col Pannapon Nammuang of Thong Lo Police Station to charge the Yoovidhya family driver Suwes Hom-ubon with the hit-and-run killing of Pol Snr Sgt Maj Wichian Klanprasert is a sad reflection on the nexus of influence and illegality that corrupts what passes for a justice system. <br /> </p>

<p>The bus driver had picked the wrong charter. He hadn&rsquo;t yet pulled out of the parking lot when he flicked on the video for a bit of soft core karaoke porn. For a busload of socially-committed, progressive, activist-type volunteers on a tour of development projects.</p> <p>The smallest, mildest, softest-spoken among them was delegated to go up to the front and make him turn it off.</p> <p>&lsquo;Why?&rsquo; asked the bus driver, in all innocence.</p>