The BBC has robustly rejected allegations filed by a Thai policeman that one of its veteran correspondents insulted the country's revered 80-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
The fresh lese-majesty complaint made by the police lieutenant-colonel, who claimed to be acting in a private capacity, accused the south-east Asia correspondent Jonathan Head of criticising the monarchy.
But in a statement the BBC said the charges, which accused Head of being part of anti-monarchy "conspiracy" involving the deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, were groundless.
Thailand's lese-majesty laws are among the toughest in the world, carrying a prison term of up to 15 years. But because anyone can file a complaint, they are often misused for ulterior, political motives.
Last week cabinet minister Jakrapob Penkair was forced to step down after police decided to press formal charges on a complaint made by the officer, Watanasak Mungkijakandee, who filed the allegations against Head.
In April, Watanasak filed a lese-majesty complaint against Head for remarks he made while moderating a discussion "Coup, Capital and Crown" at Bangkok's Foreign Correspondents' Club six months ago. Police are still investigating its merit.
But Watanasak made new and more wide-ranging allegations against Head last Friday, citing that his reporting between 2006 and 2008 had "damaged and insulted the monarchy".
In support of his complaint he submitted 11 articles from the BBC website - some not written by Head - and a picture of the correspondent shaking hands with Thaksin ahead of a 2001 interview.
The policeman maintained in his submission that this showed Head was "very close" to Thaksin, who lacked "loyalty to the royal institution".
In fact, Head's reporting often mentioned the corruption allegations swirling around the former prime minister ousted in the 2006 coup.
"The allegations made against Jonathan Head are completely unfounded," said the BBC South Asia bureau editor, Paul Danahar, in statement.
"The BBC understands that the police in Thailand are required to investigate all complaints of lese-majesty and will cooperate with that investigation.
"But it is very upsetting that his work should be incorrectly presented in this way and it has caused great distress to both him and his family."
Source: The Guardian
Thought: Its a big planet.
BBC rejects lese majeste accusations
BBC rejects lese majeste accusations
Who is the happier man, he who has braved the storm of life and lived or he who has stayed securely on shore and merely existed? - Hunter S Thompson
I've been following this with some interest and I think the allegations stem from the reporter's coverage of the rich brat who intentionally ploughed his Merc into a bus stop on Sukhumvit after some altercation with the bus driver. Net result - one dead and some seriously injured.
The police charged him with murder, but his father is old school Thai police and his Mum is an ex Miss Thailand.
One of the reasons for the lese-majesty is that Jonathan Head once shook hands with Thaksin. The others are very dubious.
It's thought by many that Head was "brought to account" because of an article he wrote describing the class system here in Thailand.
To this day, the rich brat is on bail and still driving his car. The mother of the deceased hasn't received one satang in compensation - and even that probably wouldn't pay for a dent in the car!!
I'll try and find the whole story and put it up here with Admin's approval. A sad indictment of Thailand.
The police charged him with murder, but his father is old school Thai police and his Mum is an ex Miss Thailand.
One of the reasons for the lese-majesty is that Jonathan Head once shook hands with Thaksin. The others are very dubious.
It's thought by many that Head was "brought to account" because of an article he wrote describing the class system here in Thailand.
To this day, the rich brat is on bail and still driving his car. The mother of the deceased hasn't received one satang in compensation - and even that probably wouldn't pay for a dent in the car!!
I'll try and find the whole story and put it up here with Admin's approval. A sad indictment of Thailand.
Here it is:
Sometimes a single incident manages to shine a spotlight deep into the soul of a society.
Soaring skyscrapers are testament to Thailand's economic growth
There was just such an incident in Thailand last year, which has just gone to court, and which speaks volumes about the dislocating impact of more than four decades of break-neck economic growth.
It was a seemingly routine accident along Sukhumvit Road, one of Bangkok's busiest and most traffic-clogged thoroughfares.
A Mercedes-Benz was pulled up alongside a city bus, and a young man was having an angry exchange with the bus driver, whom he accused of scraping against his car.
The passengers started shouting at the man, who got back into his car and appeared to be about to leave.
But instead he accelerated forwards onto the pavement and into the crowd of passengers, crushing several of them under his vehicle.
One woman later died, and several other passengers were seriously injured.
A fit of road rage perhaps? The police charged the young man, Kanpitak Pachimsawas, with murder.
But the case very quickly turned into one about class differences, about the perceived arrogance of Thailand's rich, towards the poor.
'Bad attitude'
Kanpitak, it turned out, was the 20-year-old son of a former Miss Thailand beauty queen and a wealthy businessman.
Many parts of the Thai bureaucratic system favour rich people - if you are not one of them, you will always be left at the back of the queue
Suchira Insawan
He was also the nephew of a powerful police officer.
The bus driver reported that his father had arrived at the scene and threatened to use his police connections against the passengers.
"He thinks he has money and a big family name, so he can do things like this to poor people," the bus conductor told reporters at the scene.
Kanpitak's father was unrepentant. Speaking on a TV chat show two days later, he showed more concern for his son than his victims.
Responding to the bus conductor's comments he said: "They are uneducated. That's how they are.
"They think they are abused, that rich people are bad, that the police are bad. Lower class people have a bad attitude towards police officers and rich people. They hate us and curse us."
Suddenly we were witnessing something you do not see much in Thailand - open class conflict.
Inequality
Thailand has one of the most unequal distributions of wealth anywhere on the planet, despite some recent improvements.
And that yawning gap between rich and poor is most openly on view in Bangkok, where ostentatious displays of wealth are commonplace alongside the grinding poverty experienced by millions of migrant workers who have come from the countryside.
High-end shops cater to the wealthy in central Bangkok
Luxury cars costing more than the entire annual income of a village rub up against the battered carts of street vendors.
New shopping centres and apartment blocks are crowding out what little open space remains in the city, projects that help the rich get even richer.
It should come as no surprise that it is in Bangkok that a five-star hotel is offering its 50 highest-spending guests what it calls the meal of a lifetime, prepared by a team of Michelin-starred chefs and preceded by the guests being flown by executive jet to a village in eastern Thailand to witness a little poverty before tucking into their 10-course feast.
Total cost: around US$300,000 (£150,000). The event has barely raised an eyebrow in Thailand, but caused such an uproar elsewhere over its questionable taste that many top chefs in France have decided to boycott it.
Bangkok's architecture showcases the uneasy coexistence of rich and poor
What is so striking about Thailand's inequality is how little visible social tension there is.
For the most part people appear to accept their lot without resentment. Some put this down to Buddhist concepts of fate and karma, others, to Thailand's deep-rooted sense of hierarchy, with the king at its apex.
Social activist and former Senator Jon Ungpakorn sees more prosaic causes.
"Because of the high growth rates in Thailand there is a sort of buffer," he says.
"Even the poor feel they are doing better than they would have done many years ago. They still see that they have opportunities ahead."
'Damage is done'
The case of Kanpitak Pachimsawas has struck a raw nerve.
Websites in Thailand are filled with comments demanding that the young man face the full force of the law, regardless of his family connections.
Some poke fun at his father's claim that it was mental stress that caused him to drive his car into the crowd.
But there is little of the blistering anger that erupted in China after a similar case four years ago, when a woman who drove her BMW at a farmer she had been arguing with, killing his wife, was given only a suspended jail sentence.
It forced the Chinese authorities to reopen the case, and to close down websites carrying the online debate over the case.
In Thailand, Kanpitak Pachimsawas was released on bail and, amazingly, even allowed to continue driving.
On his first day in court he was apparently overcome by nerves and said he was unable to answer any questions. The judge adjourned the case until November. He may never go to prison.
Suchira Insawan, the daughter of the woman he killed, says she feels no anger towards him.
She has yet to receive any compensation from the Pachimsawas family - she has asked for 7m baht ($222,000; £111,000) but is likely to get less, perhaps even less than the list price of the Mercedes-Benz that crushed her mother.
"The damage is done," she told me. "I forgive him. I don't want to destroy his future, I don't want him to be jailed. I don't want bad karma."
She also had little faith that the courts would find against such a privileged young man.
"Many parts of the Thai bureaucratic system favour rich people. If you are not one of them, you will always be left at the back of the queue."
Sometimes a single incident manages to shine a spotlight deep into the soul of a society.
Soaring skyscrapers are testament to Thailand's economic growth
There was just such an incident in Thailand last year, which has just gone to court, and which speaks volumes about the dislocating impact of more than four decades of break-neck economic growth.
It was a seemingly routine accident along Sukhumvit Road, one of Bangkok's busiest and most traffic-clogged thoroughfares.
A Mercedes-Benz was pulled up alongside a city bus, and a young man was having an angry exchange with the bus driver, whom he accused of scraping against his car.
The passengers started shouting at the man, who got back into his car and appeared to be about to leave.
But instead he accelerated forwards onto the pavement and into the crowd of passengers, crushing several of them under his vehicle.
One woman later died, and several other passengers were seriously injured.
A fit of road rage perhaps? The police charged the young man, Kanpitak Pachimsawas, with murder.
But the case very quickly turned into one about class differences, about the perceived arrogance of Thailand's rich, towards the poor.
'Bad attitude'
Kanpitak, it turned out, was the 20-year-old son of a former Miss Thailand beauty queen and a wealthy businessman.
Many parts of the Thai bureaucratic system favour rich people - if you are not one of them, you will always be left at the back of the queue
Suchira Insawan
He was also the nephew of a powerful police officer.
The bus driver reported that his father had arrived at the scene and threatened to use his police connections against the passengers.
"He thinks he has money and a big family name, so he can do things like this to poor people," the bus conductor told reporters at the scene.
Kanpitak's father was unrepentant. Speaking on a TV chat show two days later, he showed more concern for his son than his victims.
Responding to the bus conductor's comments he said: "They are uneducated. That's how they are.
"They think they are abused, that rich people are bad, that the police are bad. Lower class people have a bad attitude towards police officers and rich people. They hate us and curse us."
Suddenly we were witnessing something you do not see much in Thailand - open class conflict.
Inequality
Thailand has one of the most unequal distributions of wealth anywhere on the planet, despite some recent improvements.
And that yawning gap between rich and poor is most openly on view in Bangkok, where ostentatious displays of wealth are commonplace alongside the grinding poverty experienced by millions of migrant workers who have come from the countryside.
High-end shops cater to the wealthy in central Bangkok
Luxury cars costing more than the entire annual income of a village rub up against the battered carts of street vendors.
New shopping centres and apartment blocks are crowding out what little open space remains in the city, projects that help the rich get even richer.
It should come as no surprise that it is in Bangkok that a five-star hotel is offering its 50 highest-spending guests what it calls the meal of a lifetime, prepared by a team of Michelin-starred chefs and preceded by the guests being flown by executive jet to a village in eastern Thailand to witness a little poverty before tucking into their 10-course feast.
Total cost: around US$300,000 (£150,000). The event has barely raised an eyebrow in Thailand, but caused such an uproar elsewhere over its questionable taste that many top chefs in France have decided to boycott it.
Bangkok's architecture showcases the uneasy coexistence of rich and poor
What is so striking about Thailand's inequality is how little visible social tension there is.
For the most part people appear to accept their lot without resentment. Some put this down to Buddhist concepts of fate and karma, others, to Thailand's deep-rooted sense of hierarchy, with the king at its apex.
Social activist and former Senator Jon Ungpakorn sees more prosaic causes.
"Because of the high growth rates in Thailand there is a sort of buffer," he says.
"Even the poor feel they are doing better than they would have done many years ago. They still see that they have opportunities ahead."
'Damage is done'
The case of Kanpitak Pachimsawas has struck a raw nerve.
Websites in Thailand are filled with comments demanding that the young man face the full force of the law, regardless of his family connections.
Some poke fun at his father's claim that it was mental stress that caused him to drive his car into the crowd.
But there is little of the blistering anger that erupted in China after a similar case four years ago, when a woman who drove her BMW at a farmer she had been arguing with, killing his wife, was given only a suspended jail sentence.
It forced the Chinese authorities to reopen the case, and to close down websites carrying the online debate over the case.
In Thailand, Kanpitak Pachimsawas was released on bail and, amazingly, even allowed to continue driving.
On his first day in court he was apparently overcome by nerves and said he was unable to answer any questions. The judge adjourned the case until November. He may never go to prison.
Suchira Insawan, the daughter of the woman he killed, says she feels no anger towards him.
She has yet to receive any compensation from the Pachimsawas family - she has asked for 7m baht ($222,000; £111,000) but is likely to get less, perhaps even less than the list price of the Mercedes-Benz that crushed her mother.
"The damage is done," she told me. "I forgive him. I don't want to destroy his future, I don't want him to be jailed. I don't want bad karma."
She also had little faith that the courts would find against such a privileged young man.
"Many parts of the Thai bureaucratic system favour rich people. If you are not one of them, you will always be left at the back of the queue."
Must say that I'd heard of this story too and it is a very good example of the 'divide' that exists here and how a young privilaged asian 'mummies boy' usually behaves and views the people that surround him. True, it's not usually quite as noticable as this example is, but it gives a very good and clear insight into Thai (maybe asian actually) social practices and perceptions.
Thailand is a country of two planets, inside the cities and outside the cities. There is not much of a middle class, it could be argued that it has started to emerge at a snails pace over the last 10-15 years, and has generally in the past always been the 'rich and the poor' senario taken almost to the extreme.
This incident cerainly has attracted the spot light and might prompt a bit of soul searching, even if it is unwelcome in some quarters.
I suppose that this attitude is proliferated through the population at other levels aswell by the type of parenting practices that can easily be viewed in almost any asian family.
The girls study and work. The boys are told that they are the 'little prince' and can do whatever they want without any repercussions, as they can 'do no wrong'.
Interesting observation can be made if you ever teach at a university is that 95% of the students are female.
Thai law is actually strict and severe, it's just not enforced or is enforced selectively, which just goes to show that there is only one god in these places and that is money. Somehow if you are rich then you must be right or unaccountable.
Thailand is a country of two planets, inside the cities and outside the cities. There is not much of a middle class, it could be argued that it has started to emerge at a snails pace over the last 10-15 years, and has generally in the past always been the 'rich and the poor' senario taken almost to the extreme.
This incident cerainly has attracted the spot light and might prompt a bit of soul searching, even if it is unwelcome in some quarters.
I suppose that this attitude is proliferated through the population at other levels aswell by the type of parenting practices that can easily be viewed in almost any asian family.
The girls study and work. The boys are told that they are the 'little prince' and can do whatever they want without any repercussions, as they can 'do no wrong'.
Interesting observation can be made if you ever teach at a university is that 95% of the students are female.
Thai law is actually strict and severe, it's just not enforced or is enforced selectively, which just goes to show that there is only one god in these places and that is money. Somehow if you are rich then you must be right or unaccountable.
Resolve dissolves in alcohol
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