These laws were put into effect by the Thai citizens out of a great love and respect for their king. The government, in this case, is just following the wishes of the enormous amount of people who love and support their king. I could see the confusion from the eyes of an american, because america has not had a president worthy such admiration in a long, long time. Typically, censorship is done by a government trying to control it's people. In this case, the people control the government. Something to think about. Maybe someday, america will have a leader worth protecting. But, I don't see that happening any time in the near future.