Pardoned

Harry Nicolaides, the Australian author jailed in Thailand for the archaic "crime" of lese majeste, has been pardoned and released. He has now (sensibly) fled Thailand for a country which respects free speech and does not imprison people for writing bad novels. But while this is good news, Thailand's ridiculous law remains on the books, and the government is using it increasingly to stifle opposition to its plans to move Thailand away from democracy (or just to squash tourists used to freedom of speech). That should not be acceptable in any civilised country, and until Thailand repeals its law, people simply should not go there.