We have utmost respect for the Thai monarchy
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The US Embassy in Bangkok on Friday issued a statement, reiterating that it respected Thai laws and did not take sides in Thailand's internal affairs.
Posting on its FB page, the embassy repeated its Ambassador Kristie Kenney’s earlier statement that the US government has the utmost respect for the Thai monarchy, the royal family and Thai culture.
“President Obama, Secretary Clinton and the US Embassy in Bangkok all recently offered heartfelt congratulations to His Majesty the King of Thailand on the very special occasion of his 84th birthday.”
“Thailand is our oldest friend in Asia and we will continue to stand by the Thai people” the statement said.
The US Embassy in Bangkok was treated to a taste of “freedom of expression” medicine, when Thai political rivals faced off with plenty of obscenities on its Facebook page over the course of a few days.
The heated exchanges followed the ambassador's “chat” session a week ago with fellow Twitter users, during which “freedom of expression” was a dominant topic. The session came a day after Thai-American Joe Gordon was sentenced to two and a half years in jail for translating parts of the banned book "The King Never Smiles" on a website.
The embassy then issued at statement, saying, “as always, we welcomed your discourse and diverse views on our wall and pages. Please be mindful of our existing terms of service, however, by refraining from using language that is profane or abusive.”
A glance at the embassy’s FB page last night, revealed that all postings had been deleted.
