Thailand blocks slur on king

2007-04-04 15:38

Bangkok - Thailand on Wednesday blocked the popular video-sharing website YouTube after it carried a clip seen as insulting the country's revered king, a government official said.

Vissanu Meeyoo, spokesperson at Thailand's communications ministry, said they had asked YouTube to remove a video clip considered offensive to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, but no action had been taken.

"We have been blocking the website since this morning, after we found that it was very insulting to His Majesty the King," Vissanu told AFP.

"We have asked YouTube to remove the clip, but we have had no cooperation. If they remove the clip, we will consider lifting the ban," he added.

The move comes a week after Thailand jailed a Swiss citizen for 10 years for insulting the king by vandalising his portraits during a drunken spree.

The 44-second YouTube clip shows images of the king, crudely altered on a graphics program, which flash on the screen to the tune of the Thai national anthem.

One image shows the monarch next to a photograph of feet, which are considered the lowest part of the body in Buddhism. Such juxtaposition would be hugely offensive in Thailand, a mainly Buddhist country.

The profile of the YouTube user who posted the clip lists his location as the United States.

YouTube is owned by internet giant Google, and has a monthly audience of more than 70 million viewers.

Any insult to the royal family prohibited

Thailand's king, almost universally adored by Thais, is the world's longest-reigning monarch, and one of the few who is still protected by tough laws that prohibit any insult to the royal family.

Portraits of the monarch, who will be 80 this December, hang in every public building and shrines to him dot the sidewalks in major cities.

Oliver Jufer, 57, of Switzerland, pleaded guilty to five counts of lese majeste - the crime of offending the dignity of a sovereign - last Thursday for defacing several portraits of the king in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

The nation's censors routinely block websites that contain foreign news reports or online discussions about the monarchy.

Foreign books and movies seen as critical of the king are also banned here.

Vissanu said the information ministry was considering taking action against other websites that carried links to the video clip.

- AFP