Ampon Tangnoppakul, commonly known as Uncle SMS, was arrested on August 3, 2010, for sending four lese-majeste SMS messages to Somkiat Khrongwatthanasuk, secretary to then-Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjajiva. The messages were considered to be offensive to the King and Queen of Thailand under Article 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. On November 23, 2011, Ampon was sentenced to five years in prison for each message, which resulted in a total sentence of 20 years. Ampon died in prison during the first year of his sentence, which caused both national and international criticism over the use of lese-majeste law in Thailand. Some information was derived from blogs, bulletin boards, and other similar online sources. Such information may not have been verified, but it should be noted that in countries in which the media or access to the media, including the Internet, are controlled by the government, blogs can be a reliable source of information.