Anchilee Scott Kemmis in Hot Water

 CONTROVERSY: Hardline pro-monarchy supporter and former politician Sonthiya Sawasdee filed complaints to the police on Tuesday, accusing Miss Universe Thailand 2021 of violating the laws by stepping on the Thai national flag in her promotional poster. 

Miss Universe Thailand has been threatened with a lawsuit and potential jail time after a picture of her seemingly “standing on” the country’s national flag went viral. Anchilee Scott-Kemmis courted controversy after the Miss Universe Thailand Facebook page uploaded a picture of her against the backdrop of the Thai flag, and reportedly underfoot.

Standing on a national flag is a crime punishable by law in Thailand.

JAIL TIME AND A HEFTY FINE

Following the photo scandal, Anchilee Scott-Kemmis was slapped with a threat of a lawsuit from Sonthiya Sawasdee, a former political party advisor. He accused her of allegedly violating three sections of the 1979 Flag Act, which warns citizens against desecrating the sacred symbol. If convicted, the act is punishable by up to two years in jail and a fine of up to 40,000 baht (almost R20 000).

He told Bangkok Post: “Miss Universe Thailand has sizable followers on social media. This is considered an inappropriate publication.” However, Sonthiya also claims the beauty queen did “not act maliciously” and could evade punishment.

MISS UNIVERSE THAILAND RESPONDS

Miss Universe Thailand pageant organizers have responded to the controversy. Pageant director Piyaporn “Pui” Sankosik defended Anchilee Scott-Kemmis and the competition against the allegations. She said in a recorded interview: “That was the graphic made to convey the greatness of Thai people, not the real flag necessarily”.

The organization’s Facebook page has since removed the promo picture from its feed.

Can somebody explain the difference between a flag and a graphic in layman's terms so that we may catch the drift of the issue to some degree?

The reason why I was asking that is that there seems to be some confusion in the interpretation of the law. The concept of flag desecration continues to provoke a heated debate over protecting the flag as a national symbol, preserving free speech, and upholding the liberty said to be represented by that national symbol.

As my friend was saying, a  good law should possess the following qualities:

1. The law must be of interest to the Thai people.

2. The law must be applied equally to everybody whether you're rich or poor, famous or just an ordinary citizen

3. It should be reasonable and not be too harsh or rigid.

4, It is known to the public and is acceptable to the community.

5.  It is clearly worded and is fully understood.

It is in number 5 that makes the politician's complaint debatable.  It was not clear to those who organized the photoshoot, that using GRAPHICS that appear or look like the Thai FLAG is tantamount to desecrating or disrespecting the flag. At first glance, indeed the photos shown looked like a Thai flag. 

If the law is vague and ambiguous (and did not contain provisions that include banners. streamers, emblems, ensigns, posters, and in this case graphics that bear resemblance to a Thai flag) then Anchilee maybe can have a sigh of relief.  But if there is ... they have a lot of explaining to do.

The Flag protection law should be clear In order to be understood by the people and if there were amendments and inclusion of the language that would permit the prohibition which may take forms other than burning, such as using the flag for clothing or a gown or even making it as table napkins then everybody is guided.

Seeing this issue as an outsider, the Anchilee's photoshoot team looks like they have no qualms about doing the shoot and they are oblivious that something is wrong or that they were doing something unlawful.  On the other hand are there any advisers that oversee all her activities? A brush with the law is something she should not ask for during her reign.