Thailand has a monarch problem?

 NY Times:

Amid Thailand’s Protests, a Feared Tool to Protect the Monarchy Returns

The country’s lèse-majesté law, which makes insulting the king punishable by years in prison, is being used against the movement’s leadership for the first time.

Several years ago, I was visiting my daughter and her family in Bangkok.  Walking back to my hotel from her house I had to cross a main road and was stopped by a policeman.  In broken English, he informed me that all traffic on the road was blocked and pedestrians could not even use the overhead crosswalk because a member of the royal family was being driven down the road.  It was like the city came to a standstill for a car to pass.  If you have ever seen the traffic in Bangkok you would understand what a big deal that was.

Overall I liked Thailand.  The people were polite and the restaurants were good.  It helped that my daughter spoke fluent Thai when she was taking me to some of the sites.  We even did one of the unusual water taxis where the boat captain handled a V-8 from an auto like it was an outboard motor.  I recall a chase scene from one of the James Bond movies where that type of craft was used.

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