Thai police bans book criticizing monarchy

Thai police have banned imports of a book they view as insulting the country's monarchy, as a crackdown against anti-royalist campaigns intensifies after a coup earlier this year.

National police chief Gen. Somyot Poompanmoung says the book, "A Kingdom in Crisis," has contents that might affect national security and order.

The book by Andrew MacGregor Marshall, a former journalist with Thomson Reuters news agency, was released last week by the British publishing house, Zed Books.

It had not gone on sale in Thailand.

According to the order issued Tuesday, those violating the ban will face a maximum jail term of three years or a maximum fine of USD 1,824, or both.
 

In 2006, Thailand banned imports of a biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej published by Yale University Press.