Thailand blocks site for video of princess topless

Thailand blocks site for video of princess topless

Thailand's military junta has blocked the UK's MailOnline after the site revealed a video of Thailand's Crown Prince and his wife, Princess Srirasmi, partying.

The video appears to show the allegedly topless princess, a former waitress, in a tiny G-string as she feeds her pet dog cake to celebrate its birthday.

The event was shot at the Thai Royal Palace in Bangkok, reported The Daily Mail.

The video emerged as Thailand was being rocked by the military coup.

It is thought publishing the video has breached lèse-majesté laws, which hands down long jail terms to anyone deemed to have insulted the king, queen, heir or regent. The country's new military junta that took power last week is thought to be keen to enforce such laws strictly.

General Prayut Chan-O-Cha, who was on Monday given royal endorsement to govern the country, has swept through orders including curbing media freedoms and banning political gatherings of more than five people, reported AFP.

One user on a Thai visa forum said on the latest move to block the MailOnline: "The site is blocked due to military coup. That's the info that comes up when trying to access the site. Was accessible a few hours ago."

Another asked: "How far will censorship under the coup go?"

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There has been no official statement from Thailand's Information and Communications Technology Ministry and the Royal Thai Embassy in London was not available to comment.

However, the British minister of state responsible for South East Asia, Mr Hugo Swire, told the MailOnline: "I am extremely concerned at the deterioration of the democratic environment in Thailand.

"Arbitrary detentions, restrictions on local and foreign media, and limitations on freedoms of expression and assembly undermine trust in the intentions of the military leaders."

Anyone can file a lèse-majesté complaint, and police are duty-bound to investigate it.

In his first press conference as junta head, the army chief said elections would be held as "soon as possible" but he had no timetable for returning the nation of 67 million people to civilian rule after seizing power last Thursday, reported AFP.

The junta has detained former premier Yingluck Shinawatra along with about 200 ousted government leaders, political figures, critics and academics in a sweeping roundup since the coup, which has drawn sharp international criticism.

An army commander yesterday indicated Ms Yingluck remained under military control, but declined to reveal her whereabouts.

"We are taking care of her. She is fine. She can choose to stay wherever she wants," Lieutenant General Thirachai Nakwanich, central region army commander, told AFP when asked of Ms Yingluck's fate.


This article was first published on May 27, 2014.
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