The King of Thailand, Bhumibol Adulyadej, has pardoned a Swiss national, Oliver Rudolf Juder, who had been sentenced to ten years in jail for spray painting a billboard with the king's image. Such acts of desecration have been illegal since 1908 when the country was still known as Siam. Juder, who could have received as much as seventy-five years, will now be deported.
There's no doubt that Juder broke the law and he was not entitled to any immunity since he's not a diplomat. But mischief of this kind would normally merit a far lesser sentence most other places -- in Canada for instance spray-painting an image of Queen Elizabeth might get say just a couple of months.
It does raise some questions, too, about Thailand's overall political regime especially since there was a coup last year, supported by the king himself. Freedom House last year downgraded the country from "free" to "partly free," giving it scores of 3 on both political rights and civil liberties (a 1 means "free" and 7 means "not free") and this might only downgrade that status further. Which is a shame since the country besides being one of the Asian Tigers also has a very successful birth control program that uses humour and common sense compared to the oppression of China's policies.
If I had money to invest in foreign markets, I would not choose Thailand or would try to stay away from mutual funds that have Thai content. Juder's behaviour was certainly offensive but trying to squat a housefly with a sledgehammer doesn't exactly do wonders for your reputation.
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