Australian govt abandoning author in Thai jail

An Australian barrister is accusing the Federal Government of failing to help an Australian writer who is in jail in Bangkok on charges of insulting the Thai monarchy.

Harry Nicolaides was arrested in August because of a brief passage in a novel he published in 2005, referring to rumours about the Thai royal family.

Mr Nicolaides has been in jail for more than two months and faces a maximum penalty of 15 years in prison if convicted.

Barrister Mark Dean says the Government has failed to meet its responsibilities.

"The Australian Government, that is, the Foreign Minister, part of his principal responsibilities are to protect Australian citizens in circumstances such as this, particularly where a citizen is being used for political reasons," he said.

"And so far the Australian Government, from what we can tell, has done nothing."

Aussie jailed in Thailand for killing

An Australian man has been jailed in Thailand for the shooting murder of an American tourist during a drunken quarrel.

William Douglas, 65, admitted to shooting Gary Poretsky, 46, in March this year after the two got into a drunken argument at a restaurant in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

Poretsky, from Hawaii, suffered three gunshot wounds to his face and chest.

A court yesterday sentenced Douglas to two years and nine months in jail after deciding the murder was not premeditated.

Douglas was originally from Perth, but had been a long time resident of Thailand.

He will serve out his sentence in Chiang Mai.