Another portrait 112 charge

Prachatai reported that on 11 December 2024 on a curious case where a court seems to have followed the law on lese majeste.

In this case, the Appeals Court dismissed a 112 charge filed against Sirapat Deesawat, a Nonthaburi-based artist and musician who had been “charged with removing a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn from a housing estate entrance.”

Sirapat had been arrested on 10 August 2021 following a complaint made by Songsak Chantachot, a Prachachuen village chief, reckoned “that a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn in a decorative golden frame was stolen from the entrance of a housing estate.” The “theft” had been recorded by CCTV .

In the original case, “Sirapat was accused of removing the portrait and its frame and dragging both along the ground face down for about 190 metres.” A student was “also charged with receiving property because Sirapat allegedly gave the portrait to her before dumping the frame in a canal.”

Sirapat had confessed to theft and curfew violation, but pleaded not guilty on 112. In June 2023, the Nonthaburi Provincial Court :

dismissed the royal defamation charge against Sirapat, but found him guilty of theft and curfew violations. It ruled that there is no evidence proving he was defaming the King by dragging the portrait on the ground. The Court believed that, since he acted alone and the framed portrait was heavy, dragging it was an act of theft and not an act of disrespect. He was sentenced to a total of 9 months in prison and a fine of 30,000 baht, suspended for 2 years. He was also required to do 36 hours of community service and subjected to 2 years of probation.

Surprisingly, the Appeals Court also dismissed the 112 charges against Kanokwan.