<p>The death of lese majeste detainee Amphon &quot;Akong&quot; Tangnoppakul, also known as &quot;Uncle SMS&quot;, inside Bangkok Remand Prison Hospital on Monday has re-ignited hopes of amending the draconian lese majeste law.</p>

<p>Less than 24 hours after the death while in detention of Lese Majeste convict and prisoner of conscience Amphon &ldquo;Akong&rdquo; Tangnoppakul, better known as Uncle SMS in English, this writer has observed how some ultra-royalists make sense of the first death of Thailand&rsquo;s prisoners of conscience, and it became clear that they will blame it on anything or anyone but the draconian and undemocratic law and themselves.</p>

<p><em>Ruling camp under pressure to change its hands-off stance over lese majeste law</em></p> <p>Lese majeste detainee Amphon &quot;Akong&quot; Tangnoppakul, known as &quot;Uncle SMS&quot;, succumbed to cancer at the Bangkok Remand Prison Hospital yesterday morning.</p>

<p>Soon after Vipar Daomanee, a former Thammasat University lecturer, criticized red-shirt leader Nattawut Sai-gua for his endorsement of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra&rsquo;s decision to pay respect to Privy Council President Gen. Prem Tinsulanond, Vipar received a short note from an audience at a symposium she spoke on lese majeste law and prisoner of conscience Somyos Prueksakasemsuk.</p>

<p>Many ultra-royalists whom I engaged with over the course of many months of twitter exchanges and debates tend to think that something must be wrong with Thais who are against the lese majeste law.</p>

<p>A prosecution witness in the lese majeste trial of Voice of Taksin magazine editor and key red shirt Somyos Prueksakasemsuk testified yesterday that two articles in the magazine allegedly defamatory to the monarchy could be construed as such if the reader is a royalist who - like himself - has &quot;faith&quot; in the monarchy.</p>

<p><em>When it comes to the ongoing political rift, what Thai society is facing is nothing less than mutual political racism.</em></p> <p>By political racism I mean total discrimination against those with differing political views who - once categorised as belonging to the opposite political camp - induce a sense of hatred and discrimination.</p>

<p>The just-released book in Thai language on the impact of the controversial and draconian lese majeste law on Thai society entitled &lsquo;<em>Darkness Under the Sun</em>&rsquo; (ความมืดกลางแสงแดด) by writers and independent journalists Vorapoj Panphong and Thiti Meetaem reflects the Thai mainstream mass media&rsquo;s failure in covering the issue of lese majeste law critically.</p>

<p>Two years on from the fateful events of April 10, 2010, Thais of various political persuasions still hold starkly different versions of history and no one has been held responsible for the deaths.</p>

<p>The draconian and controversial lese majeste law as well as the Computer Crimes Act ensures that freedom of expression regarding anything mildly critical of the monarchy institution could be punishable by heavy jail sentences. Thais who live outside the prison should rethink the nature of their &lsquo;free&rsquo; society, however.</p>

<p>A co-producer of the banned Thai film &quot;Shakespeare Must Die&quot;, which has been construed as a criticism of Thaksin Shinawatra and the red shirts, said he will launch a petition campaign to overturn the Film Board's April 3 decision to outlaw screenings of the work.</p>

<p><em>Many lecturers work extra hours to supplement their meagre salaries</em></p> <p>The sense of unease was palpable when some 200 employees from different state-supervised universities across the country met to air their problems at Chulalongkorn University last week.</p>