Thailand: Activists face threats and criminalisation for their activism while reports of transnational repression persists

Thailand’s civic space is rated as ‘repressed’ by the CIVICUS Monitor. Scores of individuals including activists have been charged or convicted for royal defamation (lèse-majesté) and given harsh sentences for their speeches and social posts critical of the monarchy. Some were denied bail. Protesters have also been restricted and targeted with arrest and prosecution.

In July 2026, the Peaceful Society Promotion Act was passed and came into effect in August 2026. The law provides an amnesty for political offences committed in Thailand over the past two decades. A committee chaired by the prime minister will determine who qualifies for the amnesty, which was introduced to promote reconciliation after past political instability, violent protests and military coups and could cover about 6,000 people. However, the law excludes cases involving lèse-majesté or defaming the monarchy.

On 24th August 2026, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) submitted a report to the United Nations (UN) Human Rights Committee (CCPR) on selected civil and political rights in Thailand. The report for the List of Issues covers a range of issues including enforced disappearances, arbitrary detentions, freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and freedom of association.

In recent months, there have been online attacks against human rights defenders speaking up on the Deep South, authorities detained a Canada-bound Hong Kong activist, while a Laos critic has disappeared in Thailand. Five human rights defenders in the Deep South are on trial for sedition while criminal defamation lawsuits were filed against human rights defender. There have been threats against human rights defenders from the Prachinburi Strong Network, while new deportation regulations could put human rights defenders at risk. Activist Tantawan Tuatulanon was jailed for royal defamation for live streaming; a lèse-majesté conviction and sentence of Arnon Nampa was upheld by the courts and a number of other activists were also prosecuted or convicted since June 2026. An environmental protest in Chiang Mai was disrupted by police

Association

Online attacks against human rights defenders

In July 2026, it was reported that prominent members of parliament Angkhana Neelapaijit and Romadon Panjor and the human rights defender Anchana Heemmina have been facing online death threats and attacks.

According to Human Rights Watch, on 31st July 2026, Angkhana, a senator and former member of Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission, filed a complaint with the Bangkok police under the Computer-Related Crime Act that numerous posts on social media accused her of being unpatriotic and sympathetic to the separatist group Barisan Revolusi Nasional (National Revolutionary Front or BRN). Some posts said she should be killed or disappeared. Similar disinformation and hate campaigns were posted on social media against Anchana, founder of the Duay Jai human rights group, and Romadon, a member of parliament from the opposition People’s Party.

Online attacks against Angkhana, Anchana, and Romadon have intensified since the insurgent attack in Ra Ngae district, Narathiwat province, on 22nd July that killed five soldiers and injured six civilians. Some of the abusive social media posts come from accounts allegedly affiliated with the Thai government’s information operations.

HRW said that people who speak out for human rights in Thailand’s Deep South—the predominantly Muslim Malay provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, plus Songkhla—where the Thai government has fought the BRN insurgency since January 2004, face grave dangers. Online attacks appear to have led to real-life violence.

Over the past 22 years, there have been numerous attacks, including harassment, threats, assaults, enforced disappearances, killings, and unjust prosecutions targeting human rights defenders in the Deep South. None of these cases has been successfully resolved.

Authorities detain Canada-bound Hong Kong activist

Thai authorities detained an activist wanted by Hong Kong authorities for national security violations on 8th July 2026 just hours before she was to fly to Canada under a refugee resettlement agreement.

The Chinese government had increasingly pressured Thai authorities ahead of Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul’s scheduled visit to China from 16th to 20th July 2026. Zhang Xinyan was held at the Suan Phlu immigration detention centre in Bangkok.

Zhang Xinyan is a practitioner of Falun Gong, a persecuted religious group, and an activist from China who fled to Thailand in 2014. In July 2025, Hong Kong police issued arrest warrants and a HK$200,000 (USD 25,000) bounty against Zhang and 14 other activists from the “Hong Kong Parliament” diaspora group, alleging that they had committed “subversion” under the draconian Hong Kong National Security Law. Zhang holds refugee status issued by the UNHCR, following the cancellation of her Chinese passport.

It was reported that Zhang Xinyan finally arrived in Canada in early August 2026.

Disappearance of Lao critic in Thailand

Human rights group Manushya Foundation has raised concerns around the disappearance of a Lao critic from Thailand.

Khieo Lapchanh, 26, went missing on 15th September 2026, in Thailand’s Samut Sakhon province, one day before a scheduled asylum interview at the U.N. Refugee Agency office, or UNHCR, in the nearby capital of Bangkok.

According to the Manushya Foundation, Khieo first entered Thailand in 2019 and had been working at a restaurant. In late 2025, he started regularly posting videos of himself criticising the Lao government on Facebook and decided to request asylum after receiving threats over the videos. At the time of his disappearance, his “Khiew Chennel” account on the social network had amassed 159,000 followers.

There is a high possibility that Khieo’s disappearance could be a case of transnational repression, according to Emilie Palamy Pradichit, founder and executive director of the Manushya Foundation.

Five human rights defenders in Deep South on trial for sedition

In July 2026, EU SEE reported that witness examination hearings were under way in a sedition case against five ethnic Malay human rights defenders and activists - Irfan Umar, Hakim Pongtigor, Artef Sohko, Hussen Bue-nae and Sareef Salaeman. If convicted, the five defenders face prison sentences of up to seven years.

As previously documented, five activists in the Deep South are facing sedition charges over an academic seminar that included a mock referendum on independence. Prosecutors accuse them of inciting unrest and threatening national security. The charges stem from a June 2023 seminar they organised at Prince of Songkla University’s Pattani campus on “The Right to Self-Determination and Peace in Patani.” The event brought together student organisers, political party representatives and scholars to debate constitutional approaches to resolving regional tensions.

Thailand’s National Human Rights Commission had said in a January 2025 statement that it found no evidence the seminar incited division. The commission said prosecuting the activists represents excessive use of the law to suppress freedom of expression and constitutes a human rights violation.

Criminal defamation lawsuits filed against human rights defender

On 22nd July 2026, Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul announced that he would file a criminal defamation complaint against Yingcheep Atchanont, the director of the Thai non-governmental organisation Internet Law Reform Dialogue (iLaw), over allegations linking the Prime Minister to irregularities in the election of the 200-member Senate, which was held between 9th and 26th June 2024.

According to the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), the legal action stemmed from Yingcheep Atchanont’s submission of a petition to the opposition coalition in the House of Representatives on 21st July 2026, seeking a parliamentary examination of allegations that nine politicians from the Bhumjaithai Party, including Prime Minister Anutin, five cabinet ministers, and three senior figures, were involved in vote manipulation during the June 2024 Senate election.

On 24th July 2026, Suksomruay Wantanayakul, Minister Attached to the Prime Minister’s Office and Member of Parliament from the Bhumjaithai Party for Amnat Charoen Province, who was among the individuals named in the petition, filed a criminal defamation complaint against Yingcheep at Muang Amnat Charoen Police Station.

On 30th July 2026, Somphan Palasak and Daeng Kongma, two senators from Amnat Charoen Province, filed separate criminal defamation complaints against Yingcheep at Muang Amnat Charoen Police Station over a Facebook post on 27th July 2026 in which Yingcheep alleged that they lacked the qualifications to contest the 2024 Senate election.

The filing of these complaints in a location distant from Bangkok, where Yingcheep is based, places an additional burden on him by requiring him to travel to defend himself in legal proceedings.

Another complaint was filed against Yingcheep by Deputy Prime Minister Thongsak Thongsri through his lawyer Tiwa Karkasang on 2nd August 2026 at Bueng Kan City Police Station, Bueng Kan Province.

On 15th September 2026, Bhumjaithai Party-list MP Supachai Jaisamut, chair of the party’s legal affairs division, assigned lawyer Sittichok Singhaseni to file a lawsuit alleging defamation by publication against Yingcheep Atchanont at the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road. Supachai was acting under authority granted by Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul in his capacity as Bhumjaithai leader.

Articles 326 and 328 of the Criminal Code, which criminalise defamation, have been frequently used by state and non-state actors to pursue strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) aimed at intimidating, silencing, and harassing human rights defenders.

Threats against human rights defenders from the Prachinburi Strong Network

In August 2026, human rights organisations held a press conference to highlight the threats faced by Sumet Rianphongnam and Sunthorn Khomkhai - environmental, natural resource, and community rights human rights defenders from the Prachinburi Strong Network.

Sumet Rianphongnam and Sunthorn Khomkhai are human rights defenders in Prachinburi Province who work with communities to monitor and expose illegal dumping of industrial waste, transportation of hazardous waste, and the operation of recycling plants that impact the health, environment, and livelihoods of people in the eastern provinces of Chachoengsao, Prachinburi, and Chonburi.

In late May 2026, Sumet received warnings from several people that there were plans to hire a hitman to assassinate those involved in environmental investigations. Subsequently, unusual events occurred around Sumet's residence, including continuous dog barking at night, tyre tracks near the house, and the discovery of empty water bottles, cigarette butts, and energy drink bottles near the entrance. This led Sumet's family to believe that someone might be observing them. In August 2026, two of Sumet's dogs died of unknown causes, and another became seriously ill.

In July 2026, a conversation was overheard in the Kabin Buri district saying, "There's a fundraising effort to kill Laem." "Laem" is the nickname of Sunthorn. Later, on 28th July 2026, Sunthorn was informed by a source that some factory owners were raising money to hire individuals to use violence against Sumet and Sunthorn, offering a bounty of two million baht per person.

New deportation regulations could put human rights defenders at risk

On 27th August 2026, the Thai government approved new deportation procedures, rejecting civil organisations’ calls for a comprehensive review and greater human rights provisions in the law.

The Regulation states that its purpose is to enable the prompt deportation of “undesirable” foreigners who unlawfully enter or remain in Thailand, citing the protection of public order and morality, as well as the safety and security of Thai people and foreigners residing in the country.

Human rights groups say there is a lack of key safeguards to protect refugees including human rights defenders from being forcibly returned to persecution, torture, enforced disappearance, or death.

Clause 6 of the Regulation contains the only procedural safeguard, which requires authorities issuing a deportation order to “take into account Thailand’s relevant international obligations.”

Expression

Activist Tantawan Tuatulanon jailed for royal defamation for live streaming

On 31st August 2026, pro-democracy activist Tantawan Tuatulanon was sentenced to two years in prison for royal defamation over live streaming near a royal motorcade route in 2022. She was later granted provisional bail pending appeal.

Tantawan was charged with royal defamation, violation of the Computer Crimes Act, and other charges for resisting officers and refusing to follow an official order over live streaming near the royal motorcade route on 5th March 2022.

Her Facebook livestream showed her questioning the way the authorities cleared the road in preparation for the procession by removing protesting farmers who had been living in a makeshift shelter on the footpath for three months, demanding that the government solve the agricultural debt problem, as they had promised two decades ago.

According to the Criminal Court, her action was not considered questioning in good faith but carried defamatory implications toward the King.

Lèse-majesté conviction and sentence of Arnon Nampa upheld by the courts

On 16th July 2026, the Court of Appeals Region 5 in Chiang Mai Province upheld the Chiang Mai Provincial Court’s conviction of human rights lawyer and defender Arnon Nampa and his two-year prison sentence under Article 112 (“lèse-majesté”) of the Criminal Code. The Court of Appeals concurred with the Chiang Mai Provincial Court’s reasoning that Arnon’s speech constituted defamation of King Rama X.

The charges stemmed from a speech he delivered during a protest organised by pro-democracy students in front of the Chiang Mai University Art Centre on 23rd November 2020. On 27th March 2025, the Chiang Mai Provincial Court sentenced him to three years’ imprisonment, reducing it to two years because he had provided "valuable testimony" during the trial.

Arnon Nampa has been arbitrarily detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison since his first lèse-majesté conviction on 26th September 2023. Since then, Arnon Nampa has been convicted in 11 separate cases under Article 112 and sentenced repeatedly in connection with social media posts and speeches delivered during peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations between 2020 and 2021. He has a cumulative prison sentence of 31 years, 9 months, and 20 days. All his bail applications and appeals against bail denial orders have been rejected.

In August 2024, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) found Arnon Nampa’s detention to be “arbitrary” and urged the Thai government to release him “immediately” and “accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations”.

Other arrests or conviction of activists

A number of other activists have also been prosecuted or convicted since June 2026.

In June 2026, the courts sentenced activist Siwanchalee Withanyaseriwat, also known as "Ramil," to eight months in prison for "insulting the court" under Section 198 of the Criminal Code, stemming from his participation in the "Ramathulakarn" protest at Ang Kaew Lake, Chiang Mai University, in September 2022. The protest expressed disagreement with the Constitutional Court's ruling on the eight-year term of Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha. Two others with him were acquitted.

In July 2026, "Vela" (pseudonym), a 34-year-old citizen from Chiang Mai, was arrested by police officers in front of his residence in Mueang, Chiang Mai District, on charges of royal defamation under Section 112 of the Criminal Code. According to the indictment, he used a Facebook account to post a message in the group "Royalist Marketplace" along with a link to a video clip containing content about His Majesty King Rama X's royal activities when he was studying in Australia.

In August 2026, the Supreme Court upheld the verdict in the case of “Dong” Prasong Kotrasongkram, a 30-year-old resident of Lopburi province, on charges of royal defamation, sentencing him to 2 years and 12 months in prison without suspension for a Facebook post made in 2021.

In August 2026, a 44-year-old woman was charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act for sharing video clips criticising the monarchy. Notably, she and the complainant have had a prior personal conflict. The case stems from four Facebook video clips which involved the political situation in Thailand and criticised the monarchy.

Detention of monarchy reform activist deemed arbitrary by UN Working Group

In an opinion adopted on 20th May 2026, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) deemed the imprisonment of Thai monarchy-reform activist Sopon “Get” Surariddhidhamrong arbitrary, finding that his detention resulted from the exercise of rights protected under international human rights law.

The Working Group called on Thailand to release Sopon immediately, provide him with an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations, and take steps to remedy the laws and practices that contributed to the violations of his rights.

Sophon was a member of the pro-democracy activist group Mok Luang Rim Nam and participated in demonstrations calling for political and monarchy reform. His prosecution for royal defamation under Section 112 arose from speeches delivered at political demonstrations. By 2026, he has been found guilty of royal defamation in four cases and is facing a combined prison sentence of 10 years. He is currently detained pending appeal and has repeatedly been denied bail.

New report details more than a decade of lèse-majesté abuse

A new report published by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and its member organisation Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) on 2nd September 2026 highlighted the severe human rights impacts of the enforcement of Article 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code (lèse-majesté) since the country’s latest military coup in May 2014.

According to the report, between May 2014 and July 2026, at least 461 individuals were prosecuted under Article 112, with at least 199 receiving prison sentences. The 10 longest prison sentences imposed under Article 112 averaged approximately 30 years and six months, with the longest sentence reaching 50 years. At least 21 children were prosecuted under Article 112, with the youngest aged 14.

As of July 2026, 29 individuals remained detained under Article 112. Of these, 12 were detained pending trial or appeal, while the judgments for the remaining 17 had become final.

At the international level, all the relevant key United Nations (UN) human rights mechanisms have consistently expressed their concerns over various aspects of the enforcement of Article 112 and declared it incompatible with Thailand’s human rights obligations under international law.

Peaceful Assembly

Environmental protest in Chiang Mai disrupted by police

On 6th July 2026, members of the ‘Kok, Ruak, and Mekong River Protection Network’, a group consisting of activists and concerned citizens, marched to the Chinese Consulate in Chiang Mai to submit a letter asking the Chinese government to address transboundary river pollution originating from the activities of Chinese mining firms in Myanmar.

Local police attempted to block the group from reaching the consulate, resulting in a scuffle whereby two people were injured. One protestor suffered a broken arm whilst another suffered a dislocated shoulder.