List Of Prosecuted Lèse Majesté Cases In Thailand
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This is the list of prosecuted lèse majesté cases in Thailand.


Notable cases

} — known familiarly as "Ah Kong" , Accused of sending four short message service (
SMS Short Message/Messaging Service, commonly abbreviated as SMS, is a text messaging service component of most telephone, Internet and mobile device systems. It uses standardized communication protocols that let mobile devices exchange short text ...
) messages from his cell phones. The messages were deemed offensive to the King and Queen of Thailand. He was denied bail on eight occasions and died from liver cancer in a prison hospital at the age of 61 while serving a 20–year prison sentence.
Amnesty International Amnesty International (also referred to as Amnesty or AI) is an international non-governmental organization focused on human rights, with its headquarters in the United Kingdom. The organization says it has more than ten million members and sup ...
named Ampon Tangnoppakul a prisoner of conscience in 2011. , - , Jan 2013 ,
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk Somyot Prueksakasemsuk ( th, สมยศ พฤกษาเกษมสุข) is Thai activist and magazine editor who in 2013 was sentenced to eleven years' imprisonment for lese majeste Lese may refer to: People * Grigore Leșe (born 1954) ...
, Magazine editor and activist , Sentenced to ten years in prison, convicted of publishing two articles under a pseudonym that made negative references to the crown in his now-defunct magazine ''Voice of Taksin''. Amnesty International has designated Somyot Prueksakasemsuk a prisoner of conscience. , - , Sep 2013 , Yuthapoom Martnok , , Accused of lèse majesté by his brother, and "has been jailed for a year in a Bangkok prison" while waiting for a court ruling, according to a ''Bangkok Post'' article. He was acquitted and released one day after the article ran. , - , Oct 2013 , Sondhi Limthongkul , Founder of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) , Quoted remarks made by an opponent protesting the 2008 resumption of PAD protests. The appeals court in so doing reversed a lower court acquittal (Thailand has no bar to double jeopardy) handed down on 26 September 2012. The lèse majesté had resulted from Sondhi's having quoted remarks made by Daranee Chanchoengsilpakul. Sondhi's 2012 acquittal upheld prosecution for whatever words Sondhi had quoted, but for much less than "18 years in prison without suspension." Sondhi was sentenced to two years imprisonment, then released after posting 500,000 baht (US$15,935) in bail. , - , 2014 , Nithiwat Wannasiri , Musician , Member and lead singer of the punk rock group Faiyen, which became known for writing and performing songs that mocked the lèse majesté law as well as corrupt officials and the elites. Following the
2014 Thai coup d'état On 22 May 2014, the Royal Thai Armed Forces, led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, Commander of the Royal Thai Army (RTA), launched a coup d'état, the 12th since the country's first coup in 1932, against the caretaker government of Thailand, foll ...
Wannasiri was accused of lèse majesté and subsequently charged under article 112. He was forced into exile and continues to campaign against lèse majesté. , - , rowspan=3 , Aug 2014 ,
Jaran Ditapichai Jaran Ditapichai ( th, จรัล ดิษฐาอภิชัย; ) is a Thai Political Science, political scientist, educator, writer, Political activism, political activist, and advocate of human rights. Biography Jaran was born in Phatt ...
, Academic, political activist and former human rights commissioner , rowspan=3 , The three were accused of defaming the king because of their role in a political play performed during the 40th anniversary of the 14 October 1973 student uprising in October 2013. Jaran Ditapichai was charged because he was the head organizer of the event where the play, "The Wolf Pride", was performed. Pornthip Munkong was charged because she performed in the play and Patiwat Saraiyaem was charged for staging the play. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) declared their detention arbitrary and against provisions which guarantee the fundamental right to liberty, the
right to a fair trial A fair trial is a trial which is "conducted fairly, justly, and with procedural regularity by an impartial judge". Various rights associated with a fair trial are explicitly proclaimed in Article 10 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, th ...
, and the right to freedom of opinion and expression. On 23 February 2015, Pornthip Munkong and Patiwat Saraiyaem received a sentence of 2 years and 6 months each. They were released from prison in August 2016. Jaran Ditapichai remains in exile in France where the government of France has granted him a political refugee status. , - , Pornthip "Golf Prakai Fai" Munkong , Activist , - , Patiwat Saraiyaem , Khon Kaen University student , - , 2014 ,
Somsak Jeamteerasakul Somsak Jeamteerasakul (; ) is a former history lecturer at the Faculty of Liberal Arts, Thammasat University. His academic field is contemporary political history, especially recent Thai history from 1930. He is a critic of Thailand's monarchy an ...
, Academic , Somsak Jeamteerasakul was a former history lecturer at Thammasat University known for his criticism of the Thai monarchy and the lèse majesté law. He was a critic of the 2014 military coup and was accused of being "a mentally ill academic hois intent on overthrowing the institution," by the leader of the junta
Prayut Chan-o-cha Prayut Chan-o-cha (sometimes spelled Prayuth Chan-ocha; th, ประยุทธ์ จันทร์โอชา, ; born 21 March 1954) is a Thai politician and retired Royal Thai Army, army officer who has served as the Prime Minister of T ...
. He avoided arrest by going into hiding and later escaping to France where he was granted political asylum. In April 2017 the Thai authorities declared it illegal to communicate or exchange information with Somsak Jeamteerasakul on the internet. , - , Dec 2014 , Nopporn Suppipat , Thai Businessman , Nopporn Suppipat is founder and former CEO of Wind Energy Holding and in 2014 was listed 31st on Forbes Asia's ranking of Thailand's 50 Richest with a net worth of US$800 million. After the May 2014 coup he was accused of lèse majesté during a corruption investigation into family members of Princess Srirasmi Suwadee. Supippat fled to France and was granted political asylum. , - , January 2015 , Thanet Anantawong , , He was charged with lèse majesté "inciting disorder and computer crimes. He was among a group of student activists who attempted to visit
Rajabhakti Park Rajabhakti Park ( th, อุทยานราชภักดิ์, ) is a historically themed park honouring past Thai kings from the Sukhothai period to the current royal house of Chakri Dynasty, Chakri. It is in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan Pr ...
in Hua Hin early last month to hold a protest, but were intercepted by military officers". , - , Dec 2015 , Thanakorn Siripaiboon , Thai factory worker , Faces multiple charges including that of insulting the king's adopted dog
Tongdaeng Tongdaeng, with variant spellings like Thong Daeng ( th, ทองแดง; 7 November 1998 – 26 December 2015), was a female copper-colored mixed breed dog and one of the pets owned by King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand. Life The king ado ...
. He was detained on 8 December 2015 and kept in an undisclosed location prompting fears of his forced disappearance. Thai military junta did not detail the precise insult made towards the animal. He faces up to 37 years in prison. He was granted bail on 8 March 2016; the bail was set at half a million baht. , - , May 2016 , Patnaree Chankij , Mother of a prominent pro-democracy activist , Charged with lèse majesté for failing to criticize or take action on personal Facebook messages that were sent to her account by her son's friend Burin Intin. According to a statement made by her lawyer, " oliceOfficers interpreted refusal to reprimand something is equal to agreeing with it". On 8 May 2016 media said that Chankij was released on bail. , - , Jun 2016 , Thanat "Tom Dundee" Thanawatcharanon , Singer , Arrested in 2014 for a speech he made at a Red Shirt rally in 2013. After being detained for two years without bail, he was sentenced on 1 June 2016 to 7.5 years in prison. A second sentencing on 11 July 2016 by a military court over another speech given in 2013 added three years and four months to his sentence. The two lèse majesté convictions total 10 years and 10 months imprisonment. He was released in 2019 after having been in prison for five years. , - , Dec 2016 ,
Jatupat Boonpattararaksa Jatupat Boonpattararaksa ( th, จตุภัทร์ บุญภัทรรักษา), commonly known as Pai Dao Din (—a combination of his nickname Pai and the student activist group Dao Din) is a human rights defender and activist from ...
(Pai Dao Din) , Thai student and activist , Political activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa was arrested after sharing a profile of King Maha Vajiralongkorn, published b
BBC Thai
on this personal Facebook page. , - , Apr 2017 ,
Sulak Sivaraksa Sulak Sivaraksa ( th, สุลักษณ์ ศิวรักษ์; ; pronounced ; born 27 March 1933 in Siam) is a Thai social activist, professor, writer and the founder and director of the Thai NGO " Sathirakoses-Nagapradeepa Foundation", ...
, Academic , Sulak was charged for his remark during an academic forum at
Thammasat University Thammasat University (Abbreviation, Abrv: TU th, มธ.; th, มหาวิทยาลัยธรรมศาสตร์, , ) is a public research university in Thailand with campuses in Tha Phra Chan area of Phra Nakhon District near the ...
in October 2014 doubting the existence of an elephant duel between King Naresuan of
Ayutthaya Ayutthaya, Ayudhya, or Ayuthia may refer to: * Ayutthaya Kingdom, a Thai kingdom that existed from 1350 to 1767 ** Ayutthaya Historical Park, the ruins of the old capital city of the Ayutthaya Kingdom * Phra Nakhon Si Ayutthaya province (locally ...
and Crown Prince Mingyi Swa of Taungoo Burma in the 16th century. In January 2018, it is revealed that military attorney decided not to sue him after he petitioned to the King, and he advised the government to drop the case. , - , Jan 2018 , Murhyatee Masoh , Unemployed Thai-Malay Muslim from Yala Province , Murhyatee, a blind woman, was found guilty of violating Article 112 of the constitution in two separate Facebook posts in October 2016. She used a voice-assisted application which reads text out loud. The woman, under arrest since November 2016, pleaded guilty. The source of the defamatory content which Murhyatee re-posted is unclear. "The court said they are sympathetic to her ecause she's blindbut said the law is the law." , - , Jan 2018 , Chanoknan Ruamsap , Pro-democracy activist , On January 16, Chanoknan received a summons to a police station two days later, to answer to charges of lèse-majesté following a media article she shared on Facebook. She chose to leave the country rather than risk imprisonment. , - , Dec 2018 , Wanchaleom Jamneanphol , YouTube personality , Charged with ''lèse-majesté'' and computer crimes for describing online a dress designed by Princess
Sirivannavari Nariratana Princess Sirivannavari Nariratana Rajakanya ( th, สิริวัณณวรี นารีรัตนราชกัญญา; ; ; born 8 January 1987) is a Princess of the Kingdom of Thailand and is the only daughter of King Vajiralongk ...
as ugly. The dress was worn by the Thai contestant in the 2018 Miss Universe pageant held in Bangkok. The charges were levied by Thai millionaire and would-be politician, Kitjanut Chaiyosburana. He explained his action, saying, "I cannot accept that a well-known individual in the online world expressed negative opinions that affect the country's reputation,..." The princess is the only daughter of King
Vajiralongkorn Vajiralongkorn ( th, วชิราลงกรณ; , ; born 28 July 1952) is the King of Thailand. He is the only son of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. In 1972, at the age of 20, he was made crown prince by his father. After his ...
and his former consort,
Sujarinee Vivacharawongse Sujarinee Vivacharawongse ( th, สุจาริณี วิวัชรวงศ์; ; 26 May 1962), born Yuvadhida Polpraserth ( th, ยุวธิดา ผลประเสริฐ; ), stage-named Yuvadhida Suratsawadee ( th, ยุว ...
. , - , Mar 2022 , Tantawan "Tawan" Tuatulanon , Student , She was initially arrested while conducting a poll on the ''lèse-majesté'' law and then released without charges. After live-streaming a procession and asking questions about why protestors were being cleared from the route, she was arrested again and charged. She was initially granted bail, which was then revoked. Tuatulanon and another activist, Orawan “Bam” Phuphong, went on hunger strike for 52 days in order to protest the lack of bail for ''lèse-majesté'' defendants; 13 out of 16 were granted bail during the hunger strike.


See also

* Lèse-majesté in Thailand


References

{{Reflist Lèse majesté in Thailand