Source:
Associated PressBANGKOK, Thailand - The Thai government blocked access to YouTube on Wednesday after complaining that a short clip on the popular video-sharing site is insulting to the country's beloved monarch.
Sitthichai Pookaiyaudom, the country's minister of information and technology, said YouTube had turned down his request to remove the contentious 44-second video, which shows graffitti-like elements painted over a slideshow of photographs of 79-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
One part of the clip juxtaposes pictures of feet over the king's image - a major taboo in a culture where feet are considered extremely dirty and offensive. The soundtrack is the Thai national anthem.
"We are disappointed that YouTube has been blocked in Thailand, and we are currently looking into the matter," Julie Supan, a spokeswoman for Google Inc.'s YouTube, said in an e-mail.
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While insulting the King is taken very seriously in Thailand, this is certainly disturbing - and shows something of a trend by the military junta that is now running Thailand. As the article also points out, several websites run by political opposition groups have also by shut down.
This is redolent of the sort of action taken by authoritarian regimes, and cannot be taken as a positive sign by anyone concerned with Thailand's future under the current leadership.