Political repression unabated

Cyber-snooping, lawfare, and locking up opponents without bail seem to be the regime’s main means of repressing opponents, including monarchy reform activists. But, as Thai Lawyers for Human Rights reports, so is heavy-handed harassment.

TLHR refers to the regime’s “abuse of authority,” saying that the harassment “of citizens and activists at their homes, offices, and education institutions without any warrants regularly occur, thereby normalising the situation.”

TLHR calculates that, “since the beginning of 2022, citizens and activists have been harassed at home or summoned to talk – 83 between January and February (including 9 youths), 66 between March and April (including 8 youths), and 42 between May and June (including 4 youths).” In addition, “between January and June 2022, there are at least 191 individuals being followed/harassed. Among this number, there are 19 youths under the age of 18 (two of which are only 13 years old).”

They suggest that these data are under-estimates. The scale of regime harassment of political opponents is widespread.