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BANGKOK— An April Idiot’s prank tweeted by workers at finances airline Thai Vietjet may result in legal fees after an activist lawyer filed a grievance with police alleging it had insulted Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Police will resolve later whether or not to pursue a legal case below strict “lese majeste” legal guidelines – which make defaming the monarchy punishable by as much as 15 years in jail – towards workers of the airline, an offshoot of Vietnam’s Vietjet Aviation JSC VJC.HM.
Thai Vietjet’s official account tweeted on April 1 that the airline was launching a brand new worldwide route between the Thai province of Nan and Munich in Germany, which stirred on-line anger and threats of boycotts amongst ultra-royalists.
The offending tweet was later eliminated and the airline apologised the subsequent day in a press release saying senior administration had not recognized in regards to the tweet that marketed a “flight route between a province in Thailand and a metropolis in Europe, which led to many public reactions”.
The tweet didn’t point out King Vajiralongkorn, 69, who has a house in Germany the place he spends time with Royal Noble Consort Sineenat Wongvajiraphakdi, who was born in Nan province.
The king granted Sineenat the title of royal consort shortly after his 2019 coronation. He had earlier within the yr married a member of his private bodyguard unit, who grew to become Queen Suthida.
Pupil-led protests lately have seen some activists overtly criticizing the king for time spent outdoors the nation, amongst different issues. A minimum of 183 individuals have been charged with insulting the monarchy because the protests started in 2020.
Airline CEO Woranate Laprabang responded to the net royalist outrage by saying the workers accountable had been suspended pending an investigation.
“I want to apologize to the Thai individuals as soon as once more for such incident,” Woranate stated.
However lawyer and activist Srisuwan Janya on Monday filed a police grievance of royal insult and pc crimes, saying in a Fb submit that the tweet “confirmed intent to offend” and an apology was not sufficient.
Srisuwan is well-known in Thailand as a prolific filer of complaints with police, as soon as telling the Bangkok Publish he had counted over 1,000 filings together with for shopper fraud, corruption and environmental points. Reuters couldn’t decide what number of of his complaints have led to prosecutions.
The police will take into account the grievance by reviewing “all of the info” referring to what occurred and “whether or not there was any legal intent,” Kissana Phathanacharoen, Thai deputy police spokesman, instructed Reuters.
Thailand’s lese majeste legal guidelines have lately come below criticism by some activists and opposition politicians – a daring transfer in a rustic that historically upholds the king as semi-divine and above criticism.
—Writing by Panu Wongcha-um: Enhancing by Kay Johnson and Neil Fullick
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