So displaying an ?rse above the monarch's head would have been less offensive? 'Cause the ?rse is above the feet, right? :-))

Good to see some common sense finally coming out of that country. Perhaps once all of the grafitti artist have been expelled, they can get to work on that pesky child sex trade issue.

The king himself had already said the lèse-majesté laws should not be used for this or even removed altogether, and for example that Prime Ministers do not need Royal approval and many other speeches on these lines.

The Swiss man was always going to be released and the imprisonment was much more for the people who support the King than the King himself. The same effect would happen anywhere crass supidity (regardless of your view on local laws) takes place.

The child sex industry is very much active in London and other metropolis as well as slavery and drug trafficking. The perpetrators are mostly from the USA and UK.

(Triumph motorcycles are opening a factory here as well, for a more happy ending to this comment)

I, myself, feel no pity for the Swiss idiot. I have travelled around the world, both for pleasure and business, and the first thing you do before you step into another country is LEARN THE RULES. It is NOT your country, it WILL operate differently. Is it better, is it worse? Doesn't matter - it's DIFFERENT (which is why you went there in the forst place, otherwise you might as well have stayed at home).

I go to a UAE country, I do *not* get pissy about not being able to have an alcoholic drink - it's the local law. I walk into Harlem, I do *not* make off-colour jokes (if you take my meaning). I walk into Little Italy (anywhere) and Godfather jokes are likely to get me a punch in the mouth.

Ditto with the Thai Royal Family and the country's reverence to the same. (personally, I think the 10 year sentence was taking it too far, but that's *my* opinion. A huge fine and a criminal record in the country would have been more than enough for a first offence).

Frankly, the man was an idiot - *publicly* - and deserved to pay for it. The Darwin Awards were invented for a good reason.