Yul Kwon:
You've probably never heard of the French term "lèse-majesté." It means "offense to royalty". In Thailand, they know what it means all too well. It's a criminal offense that could land you in prison for 15 years. Recently, police arrested a Thai computer programmer for posting pictures and comments on Facebook. They were deemed insulting to Thailand's revered king. In the past few years, the number of people charged with "lèse-majesté" in Thailand has soared. To explain what's going on, C.J. Hinke joins us via Skype from Bangkok. He's the founder of Freedom Against Censorship Thailand.

Yul Kwon:
C.J., thanks for joining us today.

C.J. Hinke:
Hi there.

Yul Kwon:
We're wondering if you could tell us a little bit about Thailand's "lèse-majesté" law. Why does a monarchy need this kind of protection?

C.J. Hinke:
Well, in fact, the monarch doesn't need the protection but the bureaucrats and military in particular, want to maintain a close and cozy association with the monarchy to protect their positions.

Yul Kwon:
The number of cases brought under this law has risen dramatically since the 2006 military coup that drove Thaksin Shinawatra from power. Why the recent crackdown?

C.J. Hinke:
Well, in fact as of today's date, there are 478 ongoing lèse-majesté prosecutions, including people in prison. What is interesting is that the computer programmer who was arrested a few days ago has now been joined by a second lèse-majesté prisoner. We of course consider these people to be political personage. They are intended to silence the opposition, to make everyone won't be afraid to speak out.

Yul Kwon:
Are prosecutions the only weapon they've been using to try to shut down people who've been speaking out against the royal government?

C.J. Hinke:
Well, there is a lot of self-censorship going on in Thailand. But in fact, the government at the present date blocks more than 600,000 web pages for reasons of lèse-majesté, online pharmacies, so on and so forth.

Yul Kwon:
So they're not just using legal prosecution, they're also using technology to try to shut these down?

C.J. Hinke:
Yes absolutely. And of course no one feels free to report on such issues and they are simply never discussed in the media here.

Yul Kwon:
Do you agree with critics who say that the law was used as a weapon against political opponents in the prior administration?

C.J. Hinke:
Absolutely, but I think that all Thai governments have shown their true colors in trying to silence their opposition. I don't think this government has shown itself to be any better, even in only a couple of months in office.

Yul Kwon:
So even though the new Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra came in promising to stop unjust applications of the law, you don't think that in practice she's shown any departure from the policies of the prior administration?

C.J. Hinke:
Of course, it would be inconceivable that she was not herself kept in the loop over these two recent prosecutions. Surely the Prime Minister is supposed to have enough power to stop such abuses.

Yul Kwon:
What do you expect to see in the future?

C.J. Hinke:
Well I think that if we can create a more independent media that in fact I think the government will be more reluctant to act. It would be wonderful, if in fact they declare the same kind of amnesty for our 600 political prisoners that they would like to declare for Yingluck's brother.

Yul Kwon:
Thanks so much C.J., we really appreciate your comments. C.J. Hinke is the founder of Freedom Against Censorship Thailand, and you can read his posts at Global Voices Online.