An incredibly bizarre video of Thailand’s king might see Facebook blocked in the country.
A heavily-tattooed King Maha Vajiralongkorn was filmed wearing a crop top parading around Munich, Germany, in July last year.
Despite geoblocking the images from the country, Thai authorities aren’t happy that a reported 131 pages containing the “illicit” video are still available and they want them gone.
Thailand is notorious for its strict “lese-majeste” laws, which can see people jailed for up to 15 years for sharing material deemed insulting to the monarchy.
The Thai Internet Service Provider Association told the Post that it could disconnect Facebook’s server if it fails to remove the post and links by 10am Tuesday (1pm AEDT).
“If even a single illicit page remains, we will immediately discuss what legal steps to take against Facebook Thailand,” Takorn Tantasith, head of Thailand’s National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission, said.
The deadline has now passed, but the Thai authorities are yet to comment on whether Facebook will be blocked.
Post continues below
This isn’t the first time the King has spotted in such a get up.
In October 2016, also in Munich, the King was photographed wearing a roll-up tank top, low-rider jeans, tattoos and a poodle at his side.
However, the tattoos were drastically different to his earlier images, leading people to believe they’re fake.
The King, dubbed the “Playboy Prince”, has been plagued by scandal long before his ascension to the throne in December last year.
The 64-year-old married his cousin in the 1970s in an arranged marriage, but had an affair with an actress that saw him father five children out of wedlock. The actress eventually became his second wife until he forced her into exile to marry his third wife.
Before divorcing his third wife, she became famous for being filmed naked at the then-Prince’s poodle’s birthday party.
When that poodle, Foo Foo, died in 2015, the Prince held a four-day memorial and funeral.
An appropriate procession considering he had been given military ranking and was often seen in formal attire.
We have a feeling Thai authorities might find it harder to enforce the lese-majeste laws than they did with the last King…
