Verisimilitude or Lese-majeste?

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Verisimilitude or Lese-majeste?

by technomist @ 2008-09-03 – 22:08:13

Harry Nicolaides is in big trouble. A time of heightened political tensions in Thailand, with rumour, political censorship, strikes, protests, a state of emergency and the government barely functioning is not a good time for this rather odd fellow to be arrested on charges of offending the Monarchy, the one Thai institution all sides claim to be loyal to above all else. Talk of a nationalist military coup in the air does not help.

The Australian writer and blogger Harry Nicolaides has managed to get himself arrested, apparently oblivious to the extreme peril he'd placed himself in after the publication of his book Verisimilitude, which contains a trenchant commentary on the political and social life of contemporary Thailand. His own publisher's press release describes the work as an 'uncompromising assault on the patrician values of the monarchy'

An excerpt quoted says:

“From King Rama to the Crown Prince, the nobility was renowned for
their romantic entanglements and intrigues. The Crown Prince had
many wives “major and minor “with a coterie of concubines for
entertainment. One of his recent wives was exiled with her entire
family, including a son they conceived together, for an undisclosed
indiscretion. He subsequently remarried with another woman and
fathered another child. It was rumoured that if the prince fell in
love with one of his minor wives and she betrayed him, she and her
family would disappear with their name, familial lineage and all
vestiges of their existence expunged forever.”

Executing a warrant which had been secretly issued in March, Thai police lieutenant-colonel Boonlert Kalayanamit said comments in his book were deemed defamatory to the royal prince. Nicolaides, reportedly unaware of the warrant's existence, has been denied bail and is being held at the Bangkok Remand Centre. If convicted, he faces up to 15 years in jail.
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51 Comments on Verisimilitude or Lese-majeste?

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- Val (Visitor)
- 2008-09-05 @ 08:42:13
I think the book is a hoax, ie, it doesn't exist (or perhaps exists but hasn't found a publisher) and that Nicoloaides was hoping to be charged with lese majeste for publicity's sake.

Every foreigner who has ever been charged with lese majeste in Thailand has received a royal pardon rather readily.
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- - technomist
  - 2008-09-05 @ 10:16:23
  It may not be very good, and it may be being promoted by an amateur, but why do you think the book doesn't exist?
  
  The political situation in Thailand is very difficult at present. I hope you are right about the pardon but the government has its hands full. They have gone through two foreign Ministers in a month, the first one forced out for not being nationalist enough. Things can be slow at the best of times in Thailand and Harry Nicolaides may be incarcerated for some time before anything gets discussed.
  - - technomist
    - 2008-09-05 @ 12:03:02
    The Australian press and government are taking it seriously - and there is no suggestion in this report that the book is a hoax.
    
    http://www.theage.com.au/world/australian-man-held-in-thailand-for-crimes-against-royals-20080903-48tu.html
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- - Sam (Visitor)
  - 2008-09-16 @ 07:35:34
  The book does exist and was described by a reviewer as 'the worst he'd ever read'. The 'reviews' on Nicolaides' Verisimilitude website are written by the author himself and are not to be taken seriously. Very few people have read this book.
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- - Michael Lee (Visitor)
  - 2009-04-28 @ 17:05:38
  You must be living on another planet! That idiot has already admitted his guilt. He was a rabble rouser as a law student and there is no excuse for his current behaviour when he knows very well the rules against insulting the monarchy in Thailand.
  - - technomist
    - 2009-04-29 @ 13:04:20
    The man did that in order to get out of jail. I doubt very much if he feels guilt about what he wrote, but I bet he very much regrets the whole incident.
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- val (Visitor)
- 2008-09-09 @ 08:24:36
I believe it's a hoax because I live in Thailand and no one here that I've talked to has ever seen or heard of the book, and that includes acquaintances of Nicolaides I've tracked down in Chiang Rai and Phuket.

It's also odd there is no purchase information listed on the akha.org page. Also a search for the ISBN number doesn't turn up any hits.

I think it's possible Nicolaides may have contrived to get arrested for lese majeste. According to his own admission, he sent the offending passage to the government himself to seek government approval. Not a single reporter tracking this story has been able to find a copy of the book.

He is now claiming to have printed only 50 copies and sold only 7. He could be saying that to try for quicker clemency.

Either way there is no doubt that he will be pardoned. No foreigner has ever served a sentence for lese majeste in Thailand; all have been pardoned.

The government won't even be directly involved, as the pardon will come directly from the King.
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- - technomist
  - 2008-09-09 @ 09:37:20
  Thanks for that. The person who has been offended is the crown Prince, who by some accounts is of a rather different stamp that his father.
  
  If I had one of the seven copies you say have been sold, I'd want it signed.
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- val (Visitor)
- 2008-09-09 @ 10:00:23
By the way, the fact that The Age hasn't smelled a hoax yet (if indeed it's a hoax; if someone besides the author can document the book's existence than my theory will be disproved) doesn't mean they haven't been taken in like everyone else.
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- val (Visitor)
- 2008-09-09 @ 10:27:19
It wouldn't matter that it concerns the Prince, as the pardon would come from the King.

I don't think there's a ghost of a chance he'll serve a sentence. But if it does come to that, Nicolaides should have known better considering he has spent two years in Thailand. No foreigner living here for that length of time is ignorant of lese majeste laws.

Further to that last point, I'm not saying the lese majeste laws are just.

And if it is either a hoax or a publicity stunt, then he knew what was coming all along.
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- - Someone who knows Harry and his crazy family well. (Visitor)
  - 2008-09-10 @ 00:26:01
  Harry, should serve time as his antics have hurt many people and his an opportunist with many issues. His mother who is a well know trouble maker and as made as ever is the major contributor to Harry unfortunte sick life.
  He shou8ld serve time so that he and his family learns the
  leasons in life that could hopefully help them move on and do the right thing by people.
  - - Mazin (Visitor)
    - 2008-09-17 @ 05:12:07
    In response to the "someone who knows Harry" article obviously you must have a warped knowledge of the Nicolaides family. The tone of your comment indicates that you must have a personal vendetta against the family. Only a very sick and vindictive person would simply by-pass the real issue of Harry's well being and safety, not to mention the issue of freedom of speech, and write about personal irrelevancies. Perhaps we need to seize your son and incarcerate him in a Thai prison to punish you for your thoughts and comments. Judging by the many grammatical errors in your blog maybe you are also jealous of Harry's supreme writing skills and not his antics as you have claimed.
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  - - rofen (Visitor)
    - 2008-09-17 @ 14:08:14
    To 'Someone who knows Harry and his crazy family well. [Visitor]' - I totally agree with Mazin. Hopefully when Harry is released he can teach you how to spell and write proper English. It's a pity you are using this blog site to critisize Harry and his family without basis but obviously you don't have anything positive to add to the commentary. Harry's situation is very real: it is not a publicity stunt, he never knew it was coming and he is locked up in a foreign prison in complicated and difficult circumstances. I don't think anyone would want to spend one hour at the Bangkok remand prison, even if it was a publicity stunt. I would say Harry already knows who you are....remember every contact leaves its traces (even electronic ones).
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  - - A Soul Mate (Visitor)
    - 2009-04-28 @ 17:17:59
    I totally agree with your comments! One encounter with this nutjob was enough! He got himself into this mess by insulting the King, something he should have been well-aware of was illegal! Thanks for clearing the air! So insanity does run in the family!!!!
    - - technomist
      - 2009-04-29 @ 13:08:07
      It was actually the heir to the throne who he insulted, not the King, but thank you for your contribution.
      
      What did the 'encounter' involve?
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- val (Visitor)
- 2008-09-10 @ 09:49:19
I suspect you're right, but could you give us more details, 'Someone who knows Harry'?
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- technomist
- 2008-09-10 @ 13:26:39
Here is an update from the BBC about how he's having a scary time in gaol.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7604935.stm
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- CJ Hinke (Visitor)
- http://facthai.wordpress.com
- 2008-09-12 @ 19:48:05
We've been finding this short discussion fascinating. If in fact Nicolaides was courting lese majeste for publicity, his timing was awful in light of Thailand's political crisis filling the Thai press. There have been minor reports but the only major articles have been in English and most overseas.

We have been unable to locate Nicolaides' book through extensive searches. The proper approach to censorship is to fully examine the content government finds offensive and decide for oneself.

If anyone has a copy of this book, we'll buy one and link to it.

CJ Hinke
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT)
facthai@gmail.com

While you're at it, please sign FACT's petition against all censorship.
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- - technomist
  - 2008-09-12 @ 21:14:40
  Thank you for your post. I notice that FACT has a further report on its site about Harry Nicolaides' predicament from the Johnathan Head at the BBC, written yesterday.
  
  http://facthai.wordpress.com/2008/09/11/1543/
  
  In addition to the turnover in Foreign Ministers, readers will be interested to see that the Thai Prime Minister has also been ousted from office in the last couple of days since I first wrote my post, on the grounds that he was seen cooking on TV in direct contravention of the Thai Constitution (which makes a change from a PM 'cooking the books').
  
  http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5hG71oGl1LokvZphtDQZzL44nzc3QD9357BSO0
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- val (Visitor)
- 2008-09-13 @ 13:08:55
CJ, I don't think you'll be able to find a copy.
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- - technomist
  - 2008-09-14 @ 10:11:44
  Val, I hope you will not be offended by this but three visits in 8 days to tell everyone with great certainly there is nothing to these charges, while there is a man sitting in prison ,could make onlookers to this discussion wonder at your motivation.
  
  You aren't working for the Thai government are you?
  - - val (Visitor)
    - 2008-09-16 @ 13:37:30
    Of course I don't work for the Thai government. Just very interested in the story, and 95% convinced it's a publicity stunt due to the circumstances.
    
    Could just as well accuse you of working for some faction of the government. Publicist for the PPP, perhaps?
    
    Other than my initial post, all of my posts have been in response to other posts. If you don't like the traffic, I'll avoid this blog from now on. Guess you're not interested in exploring views other than your own.
    - - technomist
      - 2008-09-17 @ 19:42:31
      I am interested in exploring other views. Opinions, interesting in themselves, are more interesting when supported by evidence of some kind, or when introducing new information. Otherwise, the discussion doesn't really go anywhere. We all just end up competing with each each other saying -'take it from me, this is true' or saying 'no it isn't, this is the case'.
      
      'Neutrals' end up not knowing what to think and drift off shrugging in such situations.
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- val (Visitor)
- 2008-09-22 @ 17:48:49
I agree with you, techno. So let's see one shred of evidence that this book exists. There is none. I contacted Andrew Walker, an academic who has followed the case closely, and he said he can't find a copy nor anyone who else who has seen it either.

Below I provide one piece of evidence, a previous hoax Harry set up, and reported on in an article he wrote for the BKK Post. While that incident is on a much smaller scale, and has no direct bearing on whether or not Verisimilitude exists, it suggests a whole lot more than any other opinion expressed here. It goes to the point of motive and previous inclination.

As a final indictment of the susceptibility of the Thai education system to fraud consider the following experience. A friend from Australia was visiting Thailand as a tourist. I managed to convince him to assume my identity for the first lecture I was to deliver to 120 students in a course of social psychology at the university where I was working. The exercise was designed to show students how vulnerable people are to appearance and presentation especially so-called experts with impressive credentials. We had my friend’s imposing 6’4 physique clothed in a fine suit and tie beautifully fashioned in the finest bespoke tradition of Bangkok’s 24-hour tailors. We gave him an impressive resume – PhD Cambridge University, Chairman of research committee at Oxford University, author of two definitive textbooks in the field - all of which loomed large behind him on a massive cinema-sized screen in a PowerPoint format while Garry spoke authoritatively about nothing for some time. The students paid meticulous attention and wrote copious lecture notes on the rambling dissertation. After an hour when I arrived dressed casually in shorts and t-shirt and introduced myself as the real course lecturer, the students dismissed me as a loony intruder. After all, I did not look like a teacher.

from the Bangkok Post. 23 August 2006

I would be very happy to be proved wrong, as the case is not good for anyone on any side of it. And even if I'm right, Harry may very well be regretting this alleged course of action.

After all, he is "suffering flu and sore throats, and was experiencing language difficulties and uncertainty while incarcerated in Thailand," according to the latest reports.
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- - technomist
  - 2008-10-01 @ 10:53:06
  You may find this site interesting.
  
  http://uk.youtube.com/user/stoplesemajeste
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- technomist
- 2008-09-23 @ 10:39:05
That is very interesting. He certainly, by his own account, appears to live life to the full.

There is an account of time in Saudi Arabia:

http://www.newstatesman.com/print/200707190036
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- technomist
- 2008-09-23 @ 10:45:41
Harry has had his cause taken up by Pen.

http://www.englishpen.org/writersinprison/bulletins/thailandaustralianwriterdetained/
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- - technomist
  - 2008-09-23 @ 10:47:56
  Worryingly, they seem to have the wrong Prime Minister in power. They really should pay attention.
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- Personal Thailand (Visitor)
- http://www.personalthailand.com
- 2008-11-24 @ 02:59:28
So you guys mean that this Harry made up the story to be come famous? Well “his” press statement that he is a famous writer and still nobody read his book does not make sense. But after this prison visit he will become a “famous” writer and can write a book about it. The writer of the book “the king never smiles” had the wits to get out of Thailand before released the book.
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- - technomist
  - 2008-11-24 @ 14:23:01
  I suspect people still don't know entirely what to think. There is a clearly a school of thought that this is a publicicty stunt gone way too far, but there is also concern that a person has been locked up for what he has written about a person whose legal protections from criticicm or ridicule are not equal to those of other folk.
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- StopLeseMajeste (Visitor)
- http://www.youtube.com/user/stoplesemajeste
- 2008-12-18 @ 10:59:41
Harry Nicolaides was arrested for publishing a book which contained the passage which you have just published. That's an offence under lese majeste law, and that's why he is in prison now.

But you're not in prison, and neither am I, even though I have also published this extract in my blog. So we have both committed exactly the same "crime" as Harry.

Lese Majeste law is ineffective. It does not protect the king of Thailand from unfair criticism, and neither can it prevent anyone from revealing the Thai royal family's dirty secrets on the internet.

It's time for the foreign media to speak up on the issue of lese majeste law and Harry Nicolaides, and press the Thai government for the abolition of this anti-democratic law.
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- Trackback from: http://www.personalthailand.com/wordpress/2008/11/23/who-is-harry-nicolaides-really/
Who is Harry Nicolaides really?

Harry Nicolaides is a mystery for me, if I had not glanced old Bangkok post today I would not have seen the article.
According to Bangkok Post Harry Nicolaides is denied bail for offending His Royal Higher the King of Thailand and his family. Arreste...
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- Eamonn Gunning (Visitor)
- 2009-01-19 @ 06:36:15
This is the book.

http://media.portland.indymedia.org/media/2009/01/385164.pdf
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- - technomist
  - 2009-01-19 @ 11:53:55
  Thank you.
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- support (Visitor)
- http://EventNow.TV
- 2009-01-19 @ 17:59:20
mirror on http://psydj.tv/text/verisimilitude-harry-nicolaides.pdf
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- - support (Visitor)
  - http://EventNow.TV
  - 2009-01-19 @ 20:03:11
  .pdf page 65 (book page 121) (right) bottom last alinea
  -" from king Rama to the Crown Prince.............. " should be the presumed infamous alinea of the Lese Majeste
  - - support (Visitor)
    - http://EventNow.TV
    - 2009-01-19 @ 20:11:01
    oops correction
    .pdf page 65 (book page 115) (right) bottom last alinea
    -" from king Rama to the Crown Prince.............. " should be the presumed infamous alinea of the Lese Majeste
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- Hilary Smith (Visitor)
- 2009-01-19 @ 18:20:59
National emergencies are always used as an excuse to crush freedom.
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- technomist
- 2009-01-20 @ 00:20:50
For an update of this post, visitors arriving from may like to see today's (and some of the other discussions which predate it) at:

http://armchairrevolutionaries.blog.co.uk/2009/01/19/three-years-in-prison-for-verisimilitude-5404878
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- Scott D (Visitor)
- 2009-01-20 @ 05:54:25
At first I felt great sympathy and compassion for Nicolaides but now that I see that he is just another typical irrational, paranoid American- hater, I now think he gets what he deserves. I have met dozens of these Australian American Haters when I worked in Asia. Also, I am all for free speech, but think it is dumb to bash individual citizens for US government policies . Nicolaides also showed a lack of basic respect for Thailand. When you are living as an expat you need to show respect for the laws and customs of that nation. Maybe 3 years is what Nicolaides needs, though he will probably be released earlier.
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- - technomist
  - 2009-01-27 @ 12:28:04
  If hating Aermica was a crime, most of the world would have been be in prison while Bush was in power.
  
  It is interesting though that you would not afford for Mr Nicolaides the same freedoms of speech which are one of the best things about the United States.
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- - Eamonn Gunning (Visitor)
  - 2009-02-17 @ 14:38:59
  Woah, what makes you think he's an American hater. You seem to be quite a hater yourself by using term "these Australian"
  - - technomist
    - 2009-02-18 @ 09:07:26
    May I just say that it doesn't bother me one bit whether Nicolaides hates or loves Americans. The issue here is whether a person should go to prison for writing a book critical of the Thai Monarch. Their approach to the United States and its denizens is irrelevant to the rights and wrongs of that issue. The rule of law is not just applicable to people who like Americans.
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- Long Live The King (Visitor)
- 2009-01-20 @ 16:34:55
What he thought when he wrote his nonsense words but punishable ? He's very stupid to dare to criticize the King on his own territory ! He deserves his sentence that he bursts in prison this bastard of Aussie !

Long Live The King !
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- - technomist
  - 2009-01-22 @ 15:42:14
  I agree that he has been singularly naive.
  
  I am not aware of the marital status of Mr Nicolaides parents. It is not normally of relevance to the discussion of writers freedom to comment on the affairs of the day, though of course, it is of every significance when considering matters of the Royal Succession.
  
  God Bless Her Majesty!
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- Dan (Visitor)
- 2009-01-21 @ 02:27:30
What if the King dies before he can issue a pardon? (he is rather old, as we all will be some day). Oops forgot I'm not supposed to discuss such things.
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- - technomist
  - 2009-01-22 @ 15:38:27
  Being a king is an office. If he dies- 'The King is Dead, Long Live the King' - there will be another King who will have his powers.
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- tangoalgebra (Visitor)
- 2009-01-27 @ 07:11:12
Lese-Majeste law might be the most significant problem for freedom of speech but I think that can't help in Thailand (for now). Thailand still need it.

There are so many factors from very long time ago... it might be a habit of Thai people to give a respect regardless of reasons too. Everyone sure are not perfect and may have some bad sides but for someone who live in such a high position this is quite dangerous. Many people live on faith and sometimes they want to do everything to preserve their faith.

Harry didn't do anything wrong but he should know the situation and people's faith. His book may not be so serious if it didn't has an effect someone's faith.
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- - technomist
  - 2009-01-27 @ 12:24:59
  Thailand has never needed this law and the King in particular has never had need of it. In fact the sooner it is abolished, the better for everyone, because all it does is allow lesser men to hide behind the Monarchy.
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- Michael Lee (Visitor)
- 2009-04-28 @ 17:09:14
This chap should have been left to rot in jail for at least half his three year jail term, if not the full three year term! I have no sympathy for this trouble-maker. As a visitor, he should have respected the laws of Thailand! If not, suffer the consequences just as many others have.
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- - technomist
  - 2009-04-29 @ 13:02:35
  You don't have to have sympathy for someone to know it's a stupid and unnecessary law. Those others who have suffered from the use of this law should not have done.
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