Day Ten. Monday, 14 November 2016
Definition of Lese-Majeste
- A crime (as treason) committed against a sovereign power
- An offense violating the dignity of a ruler as the representative of a sovereign power
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
There is nothing much to say about who I meet and what is discussed today.
I spend most of the time listening to friends talking about Section 66d of the Telecommunications Law which was created in 2013.
During the previous government’s tenure, I’m told, 7 were charged and 5 sentenced to prison. Now that the democratic party has been elected and has been government for 7 months, 29 people have been charged. “It must be sort of a lese majeste law as in Thailand,” says one. “Some of our leaders have become really untouchables.”
My answer is that I have nothing to complain, since I’m a guest (a long-stay one at that) in the kingdom, beginning 29 November 1996, thanks to a reply from the palace to my petition. And considering my present assets, it’ll take a long, long time before I have enough to buy a house in my homeland.
A deeper truth might be what I had already quoted 3 years ago from one of Neil Diamond’s song:
L.A.’s fine but it ain’t home
New York’s home, but it ain’t mine no more
Today, I’m lucky at the check-in counter. It takes only 10 minutes for the airline official to fix me a boarding ticket. At 15:00 Thai time, I’m back in the home away from home.
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