The Thai government enforces reverence for their king like he was Kim Jong-Un, yet their country is the sex tourism capital of the world.
Strange.
Really, there's not much enforcement needed, because the overwhelming majority of the Thai people seem genuinely to love and respect the King.
(I've been there 20-plus times, beginning in 1967. So I speak from experience.)
And by the way, the King periodically pardons people jailed under the lèse-majesté law. So there's no way these two citizens will serve anywhere close to 28 or 30 years. Probably more like one or two years.