Diplomats son jailed for offending Thai royalty

The son of a high ranking Norwegian diplomat faces a lengthy term in a Thai prison, after being charged for speaking negatively about the Thai royal family and violating visa rules. It's strictly forbidden to criticize the royals in Thailand.

"We Thais have deep respect for the royal family," Thailand's ambassador to Norway, Chitriya Pinthong, told a Norwegian newspaper on Tuesday. The ambassador noted that a chapter of the Thai penal code regulates the prohibition against making derogatory remarks about Thailand's head of state or members of the royal family.

Thailand's ambassador declined to comment further on the case, because it's now under the jurisdiction of the Thai court system. A spokeswoman for the Norwegian Foreign Ministry was also reluctant to speak about the case, saying it was "a consular matter, on which we don't want to comment."

Norway's embassy in Bangkok confirmed that it had been involved in the case, but wouldn't offer details. Arne Lundby of the embassy told that "in Thailand, you're breaking the law if you speak negatively about, or in another way offend, members of the royal family." It is as far as we know the first time that somebody with a diplomatic passport gets arrested for speaking negatively about the Thai royal family.

The alleged offense, according to Thai authorities, occurred at a gathering in Thailand last spring, at which both the diplomat's son and a Thai princess were present. The nature of the offense wasn't revealed.

The Norwegian man was charged last year and taken into custody, but he was released from jail after posting bail. He no longer has a diplomatic passport and his travel documents have been seized, as he's been prohibited from leaving the country while his court case is pending.

The man, who is in his 30s, is also charged with breaking the immigration laws, when he traveled to Thailand without the proper travel documents. The man was traveling with a Norwegian diplomatic passport. And did not official requested, the Thai Embassies and Consulates-General to grant a visa for his diplomatic passport, diplomatic passport-holders who wish to assume duties at a foreign Diplomatic Mission or Consulate in the Kingdom or their family members need to request this. The Visa-On-Arrival stamp in his passport is therefore not valid.

His diplomat father wasn't identified, but he reportedly is not attached to the Norwegian embassy in Bangkok.