Woman arrested for boycotting anthem to 'divine' Thai king

A woman has been arrested for refusing to stand up in a cinema when an anthem played in honour of Thailand's king - before The Other Boleyn Girl, the hit movie about another draconian monarch.

It is the second such arrest this year under strict Thai laws.

Rachapin Chancharoen could face up to 15 years in jail if convicted, police said after several cinema-goers made a joint complaint of lèse majesté - insults to the monarchy.

Despite a shouting match with other movie-goers over her refusal to stand, police allowed her to watch the film, about Henry VIII's relationship with his wife Anne Boleyn and her sister Mary.

A song and a film lauding King Bhumibol Adulyadej are played before every movie while an on-screen message instructs cinema-goers to stand. Many Thais regard the king as semi-divine.

In April, a 27-year-old political activist charged with lèse majesté for remaining seated during the anthem to express his constitutional right to freedom of expression.

But police today said Rachapin appeared to be insane.

'The woman showed clear signs of mental problems and she has been sent to a mental institution for examination,' Police Colonel Arkom Chantanalap said.

'She is not connected to any political group or cause.

'By law, we have to prepare a case against her although the final decision will partly depend on what the doctors say,' he added.

Thailand's lèse majesté laws are among the harshest in the world.

A Swiss man was sentenced to 10 years in jail last year for drunkenly daubing six pictures of 80-year-old King Bhumibol with black paint on the monarch's birthday. Oliver Jufer, 57, who had lived in Thailand for many years, was given a royal pardon after four months in jail and deported.