He has 30 days in which to appeal the ruling.

Shackled at the ankles and dressed in orange prison garb, Jufer was expressionless when the verdict was read. He made no comment to reporters as he was ushered from the court to a prison van.

Judge Phitsanu Tanbukalee told the court Jufer was given a reduced sentence as he had admitted doing wrong.

His court-appointed lawyer, Komkrit Kunyodying, called the penalty "appropriate for the crime he has committed", but said he did not know if his client would appeal.

Jufer was caught by surveillance cameras on December 5 last year spray-painting black paint over five outdoor posters of the King in Chiang Mai City, where he lived, police said. His lawyer said he was intoxicated during the act.

According to earlier testimony read aloud in court yesterday, Jufer had been drinking with a friend that night and drove his motorcycle home to pick up a can of spray-paint, which he had bought to paint his doghouse.

He drove up to a municipal office where a large poster of the King was hung outside, and climbed a ladder to spray paint over the image. He then defaced four other posters near his home, one of which portrayed the King and Queen together, according to the testimony.

Jufer's case casts a rare spotlight on the strict lese majeste laws that forbid criticism of the monarchy. HM the King is greatly loved by Thais and regarded by many as semi-divine.

The vandalism coincided with His Majesty's 79th birthday, which was celebrated across the Kingdom with fireworks, prayers and portraits of the King hung at offices and homes.

Jufer, who has lived in Thailand for 10 years, faced a penalty of three to 15 years for each of the five posters he defaced.

The Swiss Embassy issued a tempered criticism. "We respect the Thai justice system," said Jacques Lauer, deputy chief of mission at the embassy in Bangkok, but he felt it was a "tough" verdict.

However, a spokesman for the Swiss government in Geneva said they would not seek Jufer's release.

"We note that the Thai legislation on the basis of which our compatriot was tried is applied with great rigour," Swiss foreign ministry spokesman Jean Philippe Jeannerat told AFP.

Jeannerat said the jail term had been applied according to Thai law and would not comment on the length of the jail term. He noted that Jufer had a month to appeal.

"The Swiss government does not intervene with authorities in cases where the procedure followed conformed to basic judicial princi?ples," the spokesman said.

"Our compatriot was arrested on the basis of clearly established legislation. He knows why he was arrested, he had the assistance of a defence lawyer and he has the possibility to appeal," Jeannerat said.

Bangkok's Criminal Court said its national database, which goes back a decade, showed no foreigner had been convicted of lese majeste charges in at least 10 years. A handful of foreigners have faced similar charges in the past, but most were eventually deported to their home countries.

Agencies, The Nation

CHIANG MAI