150-year jail sentence for Thai who ‘defamed’
Print Edition
A Thai court handed a conwoman a 150-year sentence yesterday for a series of offenses including defaming the royal family by trumping up connections with the monarchy to solicit cash.
Kramonthas Thanathornkositcheera, 62, will serve the maximum of 50 years in jail allowed under Thai penal law after pleading guilty to scores of charges including 29 counts of royal defamation.
The Thai monarchy is protected by one of the world’s toughest lese majeste laws.
She was accused of swindling four people, who owned a printing factory, out of around US$145,000 between 2010 and 2014.
She made promises that donations would be rewarded with palace favors in a country where the monarchy holds great prestige and powers of patronage.
Kramonthas told her victims that the favors would flow “if they donated money for merit-making with royal family,” the prosecutor told the court.
To back up her elaborate claims she falsified royal household documents and pretended palace officials had attended a birthday bash she threw for herself.
“The defendant was given a total 150 years in jail,” said the prosecutor who was not named in court documents.
The prosecutor explained she will serve the legal maximum of 50 years after pleading guilty.
Kramonthas is half-sister to Monta Yokrattanakan, better known as “Ying Kai,” who is awaiting trial over royal defamation and human trafficking charges.
The monarchy is a highly sensitive issue in Thailand, with the law and social opprobrium swiftly brought down on anyone deemed critical of the institution.
All media based in Thailand must self-censor to avoid falling foul of the broadly worded law.
The death of Thailand’s revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej on October 13 at the age of 88 plunged the country into intense mourning. Bhumibol’s son Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn will succeed.
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