The British comedian John Oliver has come under fire in Thailand after mocking members of the royal family and poking fun at the ruling junta's so-called "happiness" campaigns – two jokes that may have landed the satirist on a government blacklist.
Talking last month on his late-night HBO show Last Week Tonight, Oliver ridiculed Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha's "dystopian nightmare" of a government, called Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn a "buffoon" and an "idiot", and ridiculed a clip of a contentious home video of the prince and his semi-naked wife at a poolside birthday party for their pet poodle Foo Foo.
"You're telling me they're not supposed to make fun of that?" Oliver asks incredulously – referring to strict pro-monarchy laws prohibiting anyone from poking fun at the monarchy. "That's entrapment!"
Under Thailand's strict lese-majeste laws, anyone who insults, defames or threatens the royal family can be imprisoned for up to 15 years – a law Oliver calls "stupid" and the countries who wield such laws stupid as well.
The Cambridge-educated polemicist then goes on to pick apart Prayuth's recent happiness campaigns across the capital, Bangkok, where locals and foreigners alike have been offered free meals and haircuts, music concerts put on by Thai soldiers and flanked by PVC-clad dancers, and the chance to both pet a pony and take a selfie next to a trussed-up soldier as an attempt to "bring back happiness to the people" after a decade of political in-fighting. Full story...
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