Emerald Buddha x Sirivannavari 112

Prachatai reports, via Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, yet another Facebook user being found guilty of lese majeste.

Warunee (last name withheld), aged 30, was charged with lese majeste, computer crimes, and insulting an object of religious worship under Section 206 of the Criminal Code after allegedly “posting a picture of King Vajiralongkorn changing the seasonal decoration of the Emerald Buddha, edited so that the Buddha is wearing a dress…”.

She was convicted on 28 June 2023 and sentenced to 3 years in prison, reduced 1 year and 6 months “because she confessed, saying that she committed an offence against the King, who must not be violated, and that the offence affects the people’s feeling.”

Arrested at her home in Phitsanulok on 2 December 2021, she was “accused of posting a picture of King Vajiralongkorn changing the Emerald Buddha’s seasonal decoration in a ceremony on 20 November 2021, edited so that the Buddha is wearing a purple ball gown with a Yorkshire terrier sitting next to the base of the Buddha, along with the message ‘Emerald Buddha x Sirivannavari Bangkok’.”

The complaint “was filed by Nopadol Prompasit, a member of the Thailand Help Centre for Cyberbullying Victims, an online royalist group whose members have filed numerous lèse majesté charges against many netizens and activists, including Parit Chiwarak, Anon Nampa, and Panusaya Sithijirawattankul.”

Warunee was indicted on 24 February 2022. The indictment claimed that:

Sirivannavari: From Wikipedia

the image may lead to a misunderstanding that the King was putting a dress onto the Emerald Buddha and that there was a dog sitting next to the Buddha during the ceremony, which is false information and damages national security. The image also made fun of and insulted the King, and is disrespectful to the Emerald Buddha, an object of worship for Thai Buddhists, making the image an insult towards the religion.

The public prosecutor also noted that the dress was from a collection designed by Princess Sirivannavari, the King’s younger daughter and the only child by his second wife Sujarinee Vivacharawongse he did not disown following their divorce, for her clothing label Sirivannavari Couture.

The court ruled “that her bipolar disorder is not a reason to suspend her sentence.” An appeal has gone to the Appeals Court, with “Warunee will be detained at the Central Women Correctional Institution while waiting for a decision.”