Reuters

The author in prison: worse than a bad review

“IS THE truth, the truth?” asks the cover of “Verisimilitude”, a novel by Harry Nicolaides. On January 19th a Thai criminal court ruled that it was a little too close for comfort. Citing a paragraph in the book on the lurid private life of an unnamed crown prince, the court convicted its author of dishonouring Thailand's royal family. By the standards of the country's lèse-majesté laws, Mr Nicolaides, an Australian, got off lightly. He was sentenced to three years in jail, reduced from six years, after he pleaded guilty. He is now seeking a royal pardon and deportation to Australia.

He will not be the last in the dock. Police already have a bundle of lèse-majesté cases on the go. A left-wing academic, Giles Ungpakorn, was charged this week for defaming the monarchy in a book on the coup in 2006 that deposed Thaksin Shinawatra, then prime minister. Thailand's new government says defending the crown is a priority. Pirapan Salirathavibhaga, the justice minister, is creating a 24-hour “war-room” to monitor online threats. Thousands of websites have been blocked for alleged lèse-majesté, though anti-censorship groups say the net is cast wide to stifle political debate. Some Thai bloggers have been detained after posting rebellious comments.

The political background to this frenzy is hard to miss. During last year's protracted street rallies, a rowdy mob known as the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) pinned its royalist colours firmly to the mast. It was rewarded, at a critical juncture, by the appearance by Queen Sirikit, wife of King Bhumibol, at the funeral of one of its supporters. The subsequent change of government appeared to seal a royalist victory for the PAD and its blue-blooded backers.

A backlash may be brewing, though, and not just among Bangkok's chattering classes. Conventional wisdom holds that public reverence of Bhumibol, 81, is genuine and deeply felt. The same patently does not apply to the heir apparent, Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn. Palace propagandists have struggled to burnish his image. Indeed, private gossip on the foibles of royals has never been sharper. Some intellectuals are pushing at the margins for freer speech. A petition signed by 128 academics from several countries calls for charges against Mr Ungpakorn to be dropped. But the biggest shift (though the hardest to measure) appears to be under way among ordinary Thais who are tiring of the royal charade. Repressive laws may not be enough to stop a tidal wave of straight talk.

Amid this soul-searching, Mr Nicolaides makes for an unlikely martyr. His self-published 2005 novel, a turgid English-language romance spiced with commentary on Thailand, sold fewer than ten copies. Its author, a former lecturer at a Thai university, says that it was later withdrawn from circulation in Thailand, on the orders of the Ministry of Justice. Case closed, or so he believed—until he was detained last August at Bangkok airport on a lèse-majesté charge. He says he meant no offence to the monarchy and was unaware of the law. He described his trial as an “Alice in Wonderland” experience.

Thais who run foul of the law can expect worse. A female activist was sentenced in November to six years in jail for a speech at a rally in Bangkok. A fellow speaker whose fiery digs at the crown were cheered by onlookers is awaiting trial. Both have been denied bail, as was Mr Nicolaides. If this were Myanmar, governments like Australia's would line up to denounce the arbitrary use of archaic laws and defend the rights of dissidents. Instead, it is meekly waiting for a royal pardon so it can spirit its citizen back home.