Bangkok military court convicts 34-year-old in one of harshest sentences handed down for draconian royal defamation law

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

A Thai man has been jailed for 35 years for Facebook posts deemed insulting to the royal family, a watchdog said, in one of the harshest sentences handed down for a crime that insulates Thailand’s ultra-rich monarchy from criticism.

A Bangkok military court convicted him of 10 counts of lese-majesty for posting photos and videos of the royal family on a Facebook account that purported to belong to a different user.

Wichai, 34, whose last name was withheld to protect his relatives from ostracism, was accused of using the account to slander a former friend, said iLaw, a group that tracks royal defamation cases.

“The court punished him with seven years per count. Altogether he was given 70 years, but it was reduced in half because he confessed,” said Yingcheep Atchanont from iLaw.



Thailand's lèse-majesté laws Strict lèse-majesté laws make it a crime to criticise, defame or insult members of the royal family. In practice, this means open discussion or critical reporting about the royal family is considered illegal. The military junta, which seized power in 2014, has been criticised for using the law – which can see people jailed for up to 15 years on each count – to stifle opposition. In 2015, a man was jailed for 30 years over six Facebook posts and the local printer of the New York Times refused to publish an edition with a story on the king.



Lese-majesty cases are routinely shrouded in secrecy, with media forced to heavily self-censor the details to avoid violating the broadly interpreted law.

Reporters were barred from entering the military court where Wichai’s verdict was read.

Later on Friday, a criminal court sentenced another lese-majesty suspect to two and a half years in jail for uploading an audio clip from an underground political radio show that was deemed insulting to the monarchy.

Use of the draconian law has surged under a royalist junta that grabbed power in 2014, with more than 100 people charged since the coup.

Prosecutions have continued under Thailand’s new king, Maha Vajiralongkorn, who took the throne in late 2016 after the death of his deeply revered father.

Observers have been closely watching how the new king approaches the controversial law, which in effect blocks scrutiny of Thailand’s opaque and powerful monarchy.

According to iLaw, Wichai initially denied the charges, but later confessed after waiting for more than a year in jail for the court proceedings to begin.

Lese-majesty suspects are rarely acquitted or granted bail. The United Nations’ rights body has warned that Thailand’s widespread use of the law “may constitute crimes against humanity”.