Journo’s wife questioned over ‘royal insult’
holding a photo of his wife, Noppawan Bunluesilp, at a hotel room in Hong Kong yesterday. AFP pic BANGKOK: Thai police on Friday questioned the wife of a British journalist over his social media links to unflattering photos alleged to be of the kingdom’s crown prince, in a country where insulting the royals carries jail terms.
Detectives said the photos were fake and questioned Noppawan Bunluesilp, 39, the Thai wife of former Bangkok-based correspondent and strident Thai monarchy critic Andrew MacGregor Marshall, at a police station here over her husband’s posts linking to the pictures.
The Twitter and Facebook posts linked to a web article in German tabloid, Bild, with photos apparently showing 63-year-old Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn at an airport in Germany.
The link to the page was blocked in Thailand yesterday for carrying “inappropriate content”.
“The pictures were doctored,” said Thitirat Nongharnpitak, commander of Central Investigation Bureau.
“The culprit is Marshall, who has violated lese majeste laws for years,” he said, adding that “he has acted from overseas to attack” the royal family.
On Thursday, Marshall posted the German newspaper article carrying the alleged photos of the crown prince.
Marshall’s wife was shown on television arriving at the police station.
“It’s a shock,” he said from Hong Kong of his wife’s questioning.
“The key point is my wife is not involved at all in my journalism — we’ve always been aware that it may put her in danger as I’m writing things that break the Thai lese majeste law,” he said. AFP