A court in Thailand on August 7 sentenced a man to 30 years in prison for insulting the royal family on Facebook.

Thailand has strict laws to protect the royal family - Photo: Reuters

The person sentenced is Mr. Pongsak Sriboonpeng, 48 years old. He was found guilty by the court of posting 6 content insulting the royal family on the social network Facebook.

This is considered the most severe sentence under Thailand's lese majeste law ever.

For each of the above contents, as reported by AFP, Mr. Pongsak was sentenced to 10 years in prison. His 60-year prison sentence was reduced by half after he confessed his guilt.

His lawyer, Sasinan Thamnithinan, said the sentence was a record-breaking one. Sanisan added that because Pongsak was arrested under martial law, he had no right to appeal the court-martial ruling.

King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 87, is protected by one of the world’s strictest royal insult laws, which punishes anyone who insults the king, queen, heir apparent or regent with up to 15 years in prison for each offense.

AFP reports that the number of royal insult convictions in Thailand has increased since the military staged a coup in May 2014.

In another case in Chiang Rai this week, a military court sentenced a 48-year-old man with a history of mental illness to five years in prison for insulting the king and queen. He slashed open pictures of the king and queen last July.

In April, a businessman was sentenced to 25 years in prison for posting insulting content on Facebook, which was considered the harshest punishment at the time.

(According to TTO)