I'm saddened but not surprised to be receiving so much abuse on social media just because I reported something that was true — King Bhumibol Adulyadej has died. Of course I am aware how sad many Thais feel about the news, but it's a shame to see so many people reacting by sending me and my family threats and insults.
My job as a journalist is to inform the world about important developments as quickly and accurately as possible. A good journalist does not just wait for the official announcement and repeat it, as so many people seem to think I should have done today.
One of the saddest legacies of King Bhumibol's reign is that Thailand remains a place where the powerful can lie and cheat with impunity, and where telling the truth is a crime. The appalling lese majeste law, Article 112 of the Thai criminal code, is an affront to human rights and a disgrace to Thailand. It has contributed to widespread ignorance and intolerance that has stunted Thailand's political and intellectual development. Thai education is abysmal because students are taught to accept what they are told without question. They are never encouraged to think for themselves.
This is the same mindset as the people who abuse me because I found out the truth myself and published it, rather than waiting to be told in an official announcement. People who think it is fine to jail somebody for decades just for voicing their opinion, but who are disgusted to see a journalist doing his job and reporting the truth instead of propaganda.
Five years ago I decided to start flouting the lèse majesté law because I believe that the Thai people will never be free until telling the truth is decriminalised. The only way I can ever return is if Thailand someday becomes a genuine democracy where freedom of speech is respected. My wife, who is Thai, is now also a fugitive: she had to flee the country in July with our three-year-old son after 20 police raided her family home in Bangkok, seized her phones and laptop, and took her away for five hours of interrogation, all for the crime of being married to me. So it's not just empty words when I say that I believe in standing up for the truth.
Now a new reign is beginning in Thailand. It is a chance for profound change and progress. Time to start having some respect for the truth.