(Perhaps) good 112 news I

Prachatai reports that the South Bangkok Criminal Court ruled on 20 March 2026 to dismiss a lese majeste charge “filed against activist Nawat Liangwattana over a speech he gave at a protest on 14 August 2023…”.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said that the:

Court noted that to rule whether something is defamatory, it must follow the understanding of an ordinary person, not the point of view of a specific group. It ruled that testimonies given by prosecution witnesses show that the speech might be understood differently depending on an individual’s outlook. The speech therefore did not concern facts about the King or was defamatory towards him.

The Court also noted that no prosecution witness could say how Nawat was threatening the King in his speech. The prosecution did not present evidence showing that it was a threat, and the Court did not see that the speech was a threat.

PPT has no previously seen reports where a court has made such logical and obviously legally astute points. That the court seems to take law and procedure seriously is good news.

The protest referred to “was organized by the student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration after the now-dissolved Move Forward Party, which won the most seats in the 2023 general election, failed to form a government. While protesters marched from the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre to the Ratchaprasong Intersection, activists, including Nawat, took turn giving speeches on a truck with loudspeakers.”

The complaint against Nawat was filed by the ubiquitous royalist vigilante Anon Klinkaew, self-proclaimed leader of the ultra-royalist People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, “who accused Nawat of defaming the monarchy in his speech while discussing the events leading to the 2010 crackdowns on the Red Shirt protests.” Taking their lead from Nawat, police claimed Nawat said: “no one should be killed by royal bullets.”

Despite this success, which according to ultra-royalist precedent, prosecutors will likely appeal, Nawat remains detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison where he’s been since 9 December 2024, held on two other 112 charges “filed against him over a speech given at a protest in February 2021 and for reading a statement during the 14 November 2021 German Embassy protest. He currently faces “a total prison sentence of 3 years and 8 months. He is also in the process of appealing the sentence for the charge filed over the 14 November 2021 protest.”