Workers protest sack over T-shirt message

Bangkok: Nearly 1,000 bra makers protested outside the German embassy in Bangkok on Tuesday in a labour dispute stemming from the issue of whether Thais have the right not to stand up in honour of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The workers chanted slogans accusing the bosses of Body Fashion, part of German lingerie firm Triumph International, of unfairly sacking union leader Jitra Kotchadej after she wore a T-shirt questioning the convention of rising for the royal anthem before movies.

According to the union, 36-year-old Jitra was sacked in July for wearing a T-shirt saying "Not standing is not a crime; different thinking is no crime" while on a television discussion about abortion rights.

Although innocuous enough to the outsider, the slogan is an explicit reference to an unprecedented campaign questioning the semi-divine reverence in which many Thais hold the king. In the case that sparked the campaign, Thai police in April formally accused 27-year-old Chotisak Oonsong of lese majeste, or insulting the monarchy, for refusing to stand when the royal song and video aired before a movie screening.

Chotisak said he was only exercising his constitutional right to freedom of expression, but risks up to 15 years in jail under the southeast Asian nation's draconian laws.