Thailand: Prosecution of activists and transnational repression persist as government takes its place on UN rights body

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. Censorship was also documented, and protesters have also been targeted with arrest and prosecution. The country is currently on our civic space Watch List issued in September 2024.

A report by Human Rights Watch in January 2025 highlighted that the new government of Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has done little to improve respect for fundamental freedoms and resolve outstanding human rights problems. She has yet to deliver on pledges during her 2023 election campaign to discuss in parliament the prevention of royal insult charges from being used as a political tool, and to release on bail, detained democracy activists and dissidents.

As Thailand began its three-year term as a new member of the United Nations Human Rights Council in January 2025, human rights organisations called on the government of Thailand to demonstrate its commitment to human rights at home, including by undertaking comprehensive constitutional reform.

During its candidacy, the government of Thailand made several pledges to protect human rights at home. These included revising legislation, policies and regulations to align with international human rights law, and promoting constructive dialogue between the government and other stakeholders, notably civil society.

In recent months, the authorities have continued to charge, prosecute and sentence activists and critics for royal defamation, including human rights defender Arnon Nampa. An activist was charged for defaming the election commission while the court dismissed a lawsuit by an activist on targeted surveillance using the NSO Pegasus spyware. Transnational repression persisted as a Cambodia politician was killed in Thailand, Uyghurs faced deportation to China, while the court approved Vietnam's call for a rights activist’s extradition from Thailand. A new repressive draft NGO law has been proposed while families of victims of the 2004 Tak Bai massacre of protesters continue to demand justice.

Expression

Prosecution of activists and critics for royal defamation

The government has continued to use royal defamation (lèse-majesté) provisions or Article 112 to arrest and convict activists and critics and politicians for insulting the monarchy. Courts routinely deny bail to individuals charged, or impose strict conditions in cases where bail is granted. According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, at least at least 276 individuals have been charged between 18th July 2020 until 31st December 2024.

Two pro-democracy activists - Jatupat Boonpattararaksa and Atthapol Buapat - were sentenced on 14th September 2024 to prison for royal defamation over protest speeches they delivered in Chaiyaphum Province in 2021. Jatupat was sentenced to four years and six months while Atthapol was given a two-year sentence.

On 10th October 2024, The Appeal Court sentenced activist Thanathon “Hongte” Withayabenchang to prison for royal defamation over a protest speech during a car mob rally in Chiang Mai province in 2021.

A 28-year-old man was sentenced to two years in prison on 30th October 2024 for royal defamation over a comment allegedly defamatory of the King and Queen on a Facebook page. He was later granted bail to appeal the case.

On the same day, activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong was sentenced to two years in prison on a royal defamation charge for a protest speech criticising the government’s COVID-19 vaccine programme and the royal family’s use of taxpayer’s money, during the May 2022 Labour Day protest at Government House. This brings his total prison sentence to eight years and six months.

On 6th November 2024, a 43-year-old man was sentenced to up to nine years in prison on a royal defamation charge over six Facebook posts criticising the monarchy during March and April 2019. He was later granted a five-year suspension.

On 9th December 2024, the Appeal Court sentenced Nawat Liangwattana, a pro-democracy activist, to one year and seven months in prison without suspension on a royal defamation charge over his speech given at a protest on 13th February 2021. He was calling for monarchy reform, demanding that the King must be under the Constitution, and questioning how the royal family uses taxpayers’ money.

On 14th January 2025, Mongkhon Thirakot, an activist from Chiang Rai, was charged with three more counts of royal defamation for Facebook posts made between May and September 2022. The charges came after a complaint was filed against him by the head of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy. Mongkhon has been detained at Chiang Rai Central Prison since 17th January 2024, after the Appeal Court found him guilty of 25 counts of royal defamation and sentenced him to 50 years in jail.

Chiratchaya “Ginny” Sakunthong, a 56-year-old political activist, was sentenced to two years in prison on 16th January 2025 without suspension for royal defamation stemming from live-streaming on Facebook while participating in a protest in 2022. The complaint was filed by a member of the ultra-royalist group, People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy.

On 22nd January 2025, “Jai” (pseudonym), a 24-year-old, was sentenced by the Thai Appeal Court to two years in prison for a social media post deemed critical of the late King Bhumibol. She was charged in February 2021 and sentenced to three years in prison, but as she was 19 years old at the time she committed the offence her sentence was reduced to two years in prison without suspension. She was allowed bail.

Bang-oen, a 26-year-old artist, was sentenced to three years in prison on 29th January 2025 for royal defamation after posting an image of the King and other royal family members on his Facebook account in March 2022. The complaint against him was filed by the leader of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy.

Human rights defender Arnon Nampa convicted again

Arnon Nampa, a prominent pro-democracy activist and human rights lawyer who has been arbitrarily imprisoned since September 2023, was sentenced twice in December 2024. These were his fifth and sixth convictions. He now faces 18 years in prison.

Arnon Nampa is one of the founders of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a leading human rights organisation. He has also represented individuals facing judicial harassment for criticising the authorities or being involved in protests. He was at the forefront of a protest movement that erupted in 2020 when hundreds of thousands of people, many of them young students, took to the streets to call for democratic changes, including the role of the monarchy. Between 2020 and 2022, Arnon was arrested and detained several times.

On 3rd December 2024, the Bangkok Criminal Court found Anon Nampa guilty under Article 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code (“lèse-majesté”) and Article 14 of the Computer Crimes Act and sentenced him to two years in prison, reduced from three years because the court found his testimony useful to the trial. This conviction stemmed from his participation in a campaign conducted in 2020 by pro-democracy protesters to write letters to King Rama X to reiterate their demands for the reform of the Thai monarchy.

On 19th December 2024, the Bangkok Criminal Court found Anon Nampa guilty under Article 112 (“lèse-majesté”) and 116 (“sedition”) and sentenced him to two years and eight months in prison, reduced from four years because the court deemed his testimony useful to the trial. This conviction stems from Anon Nampa’s peaceful speech advocating for monarchy reforms he delivered at a Harry-Potter themed protest on 3rd August 2020.

In October 2024, the Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD), found his detention "arbitrary" and urged the Thai government to release him “immediately” and “accord him an enforceable right to compensation and other reparations.”

The WGAD found that Anon’s deprivation of liberty lacked legal basis because he was detained pursuant to Article 112, a piece of legislation that “expressly violates international human rights law” due to its “vague and overly broad” provisions. The WGAD also considered Anon’s prolonged periods of pre-trial detention - as a result of the court’s rejection of his numerous bail requests without conducting a proper individualised determination of his circumstances - to be in violation of his right to liberty.

UN experts call for immediate repeal of lèse-majesté laws

In January 2025, UN experts said that Thailand’s continuous use of lèse-majesté laws to detain and imprison activists and human rights defenders is gravely concerning and urged authorities to repeal or significantly revise the country’s criminal code in line with human rights standards.

The experts said that: “The Thai lèse-majesté law is both harsh and vague, giving wide discretion to the authorities and the courts to define the offence broadly and has led to the detention, prosecution and punishment of over 270 persons since 2020, many of whom have been given long consecutive sentences by the courts.”

Article 112 of Thailand’s Criminal Code makes criticism of the monarchy punishable by up to 15 years in prison. The provision has been repeatedly denounced by United Nations human rights bodies and mechanisms as being inconsistent with international human rights law.

This was Nampa’s sixth lèse-majesté conviction. His cumulative prison sentences now stand at over 18 years. He still faces a further eight other lèse-majesté charges on which the courts are due to issue verdicts.

Activist charged for defaming the election commission

Activist Sirawit Serithiwat was indicted on 18th November 2024 on a charge of defamation by publication for a speech given at a protest in March 2019 demanding impeachment of the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) for mishandling the 2019 general election. The indictment came five years after the charge was filed.

The complaint stemmed from a protest at the skywalk around the Victory Monument on 21st March 2019, which was part of a campaign to collect one million signatures to impeach the ECT for its failure to produce reliable election results.

The public prosecutor ruled to indict Sirawit on the ground that Sirawit read out a statement accusing the ECT of corruption, lack of transparency and impartiality, and failing to do its job. The indictment said that these accusations were false and defamatory towards the ECT.

Court dismisses lawsuit by activist on targeted spyware

In November 2024, the Bangkok Civil Court dismissed the lawsuit by Thai activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa’s against NSO Group Technologies Ltd for allegedly failing to prevent him from being targeted with spyware.

In its ruling, the court dismissed the case on the basis that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Jatupat’s device was infected. The court cited that the plaintiff did not adequately present details about the forensic investigation and its outcome that led to the conclusion that his device was targeted with the spyware.

Amnesty International was involved in the case and said: “The court’s failure to recognise NSO Group’s role in facilitating human rights abuses via the targeting of Thai human rights defenders with Pegasus spyware is deeply alarming. However, it won’t deter the fight against the unlawful use of spyware and the fight for justice for the victims of spyware in Thailand and around the world.”

Association

Killing of Cambodian politician in Thailand

A gunman shot and killed Cambodian-French former opposition Member of Parliament Lim Kimya on 7th January 2025 as Kimya arrived in Bangkok from the Cambodian city of Siem Reap by bus with his wife and uncle.

The suspect, a former Thai marine, was arrested in Cambodia's Battambang and extradited to Thailand. He has confessed to the crime. Two Cambodian nationals, Pich Kimsrin, suspected of acting as a “spotter” for the hit man, and Ly Ratanakraksmey, allegedly the mastermind, are also suspects in the case and are subject to Thai arrest warrants. The head of the Metropolitan Police has indicated that Ly was an adviser to former Prime Minister Hun Sen.

Lim Kimya was elected as an opposition MP for the Cambodia People’s Rescue Party in 2013. He remained in Cambodia following the banning of the party in 2017.

Members of the political opposition in Cambodia, including the banned Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) and other banned opposition political party supporters and members, have faced human rights abuses in the country and overseas, with many having been jailed.

Cambodian activists outside the country have reported being the subject of violent repression in Thailand, including threats, harassment, surveillance and forced return to Cambodia by the Thai government.

UN calls on government to immediately halt deportation of 48 Uyghurs to China

UN experts called on the government on 21st January 2025 to immediately halt the possible transfer of 48 Uyghurs to the People’s Republic of China, warning that the group was at real risk of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment if they are returned. The experts also urged Thailand to provide adequate and comprehensive medical care to the group of Uyghurs without delay.

The 48 Uyghurs are said to be part of a larger group of approximately 350 persons who were arrested in Thailand in 2014, after irregularly crossing the Thai border to seek protection in Thailand. It is alleged that they have been held in de facto incommunicado detention for over a decade, with no access to lawyers, family members, representatives of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

A UN report in 2022 found that rights of the Uyghur Muslim population in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) are being violated through an industrial-level programme of mass incarceration, systemic torture and sexual violence. The report concluded that the actions of the Chinese government in XUAR including arbitrary detention, cultural persecution and forced labour, may constitute international crimes, in particular crimes against humanity.

Court approves Vietnam's call for rights activist’s extradition from Thailand

On 30th September 2024, a Thai court approved the extradition of a human rights activist to his native Vietnam, where rights groups say he faces a high risk of torture and cannot be guaranteed a fair hearing in his country’s courts.

As previously documented, Y Quynh Bdap has been living in Thailand since 2018, where he is recognised as a refugee by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees and is awaiting resettlement to a third country.

He was convicted in absentia of terrorist offences relating to an alleged attack in Dak Lak province in Vietnam’s Central Highlands in June 2023. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison after a “mobile court” trial of 100 defendants that did not meet fair trial guarantees under international law. Y Quynh Bdap is being held in a detention facility in Bangkok. His hearings are currently ongoing in the Bangkok Criminal Court.

The government has 90 days to decide whether to carry out the extradition request now that the court has approved it, unless Bdap and his lawyer appeal the verdict.

Repressive draft NGO law proposed

In November 2024, human rights group Fortify Rights called on the Thai Government to immediately withdraw the Draft Act on Associations and Foundations, also known as the “NPO law,” which violates fundamental freedoms protected under international human rights law. A draft was released for public written comments in October and November 2024 but there have been no developments since.

According to the group, the draft NPO law would impose mandatory registration requirements for all associations and foundations with the Ministry of Interior, effectively banning unregistered groups. It introduces strict reporting requirements, particularly on foreign funding, and grants the government significant authority to dissolve organisations for overly broad, poorly defined reasons, such as activities deemed harmful to “public order” or “public morality.”

If enacted, the draft law would authorise the Ministry of Interior to conduct unannounced inspections of non-profit offices and records without a warrant, mandate extraneous and burdensome reporting, and impose severe penalties, including prison terms, for non-compliance. Such measures could be used as tools to harass and shut down organisations out of favour with the Thai government and would undermine the independence and efficacy of civil society organisations.

In 2021, the Thai Cabinet proposed a similar draft law presented by the Office of the Council of State, titled "Draft Law on the Operation of Non-Profit Organisations" (also known as the “NPO Bill”) which was withdrawn by the government after widespread national and international criticism.

Peaceful Assembly

20 Years of Injustice for Tak Bai Massacre Victims

Successive Thai governments have failed to bring to justice in connection with the deaths of 85 people, as well as injuries to hundreds following the violent dispersal of ethnic Malay Muslim protesters in Tak Bai district of Narathiwat province two decades ago. The 20-year statute of limitations ended on 25 October 2024, preventing new legal action.

Survivors of the Tak Bai massacre and relatives of those who died have continued to seek criminal justice but only two cases have been filed. On 23rd August 2024, the court indicted seven former senior officials.

On 18th September 2024, the Office of the Attorney-General (OAG) announced a decision to indict eight suspects, including six army officers and two civilians, on manslaughter charges over their role in the 2004 transportation of protesters from Tak Bai district in Narathiwat to the Inkayut army barracks in Nong Chik district of Pattani, which resulted in the deaths by suffocation of 78 Thai-Muslim protesters.

14 defendants in both criminal cases have fled and are now facing arrest warrants. Their current whereabouts are unknown.

On 25th October 2004, more than 2,000 protesters gathered in front of Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat province, one of Thailand’s southern border provinces, to demand the release of six Malay Muslim men who were believed to be arbitrarily detained by Thai authorities.

Security forces used tear gas, water cannon and live ammunition, killing seven protesters instantly – five of whom were shot in the head. After the crackdown, about 1,370 detained Malay Muslim men were transported to Ingkayut Borihan Military Camp in Pattani, 150km away. Forced to lie on top of one another in army trucks, 78 died from crushing or asphyxiation during transit. Many survivors suffered severe injuries and permanent disabilities.

An independent fact-finding committee, established by the then-government, condemned the use of excessive force and poor judgment in the transportation of detainees. Despite compensation for victims, no officers identified by the committee have been brought to justice so far.