Thai police forces woman to kneel before late king’s photo for alleged insult

A Thai woman accused of insulting the country’s late king was forced to kneel before his portrait outside a police station on the tourist island of Samui as several hundred people bayed for an apology. The woman’s arrest and public shaming on Sunday was the latest of several such incidents since King Bhumibol Adulyadej died last week after a reign of 70 years, plunging Thailand into intense mourning. According to AP,  two police officers led 43-year-old Umaporn Sarasat to a picture of Bhumibol in front of Bophut police station on Samui, where she knelt and prayed, both on the way into the station and the way out. The crowd, some of whom held aloft portraits of the revered monarch, jeered when she first appeared.

It is likely that Sarasat, a small business owner, who is alleged to have posted disrespectful comments online, will face charges of insulting the monarchy. “We are going to proceed with the case as best we can,” district police chief Thewes Pleumsud told the crowd. “I understand your feelings. You came here out of loyalty to his Majesty. Don’t worry, I give you my word.”