A Thai mother and father have sued their daughter, a vocal anti-establishment red-shirt residing in the UK, for posting video clips of herself defaming the monarchy after they received a storm of hate phone calls from Thai loyalists.
Thai media reported on April 17 that Surapong and Somchintra Amornpat filed a police complaint against their daughter Chatwadee Amornpat, 34, who is now working as a hair stylist in London and holds British citizenship.
Declaring herself a “progressive red shirt” and republican, Chatwadee, aka Rose, recorded several video clips, voicing her opinions on the Thai political conflict and attacking the monarchy and published them on her Facebook profile.
In an interview with an overseas red-shirt YouTube channel, Rose cited the example of the UK monarchy as not untouchable, unlike the Thai monarchy which is protected by the lèse majesté law or Article 112.
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Chatwadee Amornpat, or Rose, talks on a video clip.
The King Never Smiles, an unauthorized biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej by Paul Handley, was very often cited by Rose in her videos as she strongly recommended viewers to read the book in order to be “enlightened.”
Rose’s parents provided police with seven video clips as evidence of her wrongdoing.
She said her background was a typical middle-class Bangkokian. She was raised by her pro-establishment yellow-shirt parents. She turned into a red shirt after the 2010 military crackdown on the red shirts.
Her parents decided to press charges against her because they were threatened by phone calls from people in Thailand. Pressing charges is to show that they do not condone their daughter’s actions, the parents said, adding that they have warned her to stop defaming the King.
\”I want people to understand that just because a daughter is doing something wrong, it doesn\’t mean the parents are also guilty, because we don\’t condone such actions,\” Khaosod English quoted Surapong as saying.
Rose said in the interview that she was bullied and threatened by Thai loyalists living in the UK. She has also lodged a complaint with the UK police.
“I feel safe in this country (UK). When I express different views here, they will not use violence,” she said. “I can express my thoughts freely.”
Source: Prachatai.com
