Thanalop Phalanchai

Thanalop Phalanchai was just a 14 year-old when she was summoned by police under Article 112 on 23 January 2023. Thanalop also calls herself “Comrade Sleepless” (สหายนอนน้อย) and Yok.

As certain details in that summons were wrong, her family sent it back to the Samranrat police for correction. She then received another summons on 7 February 2023.

The exact nature of the charge is still unclear with the summons stating that the incident occurred on 14 October 2022 in Bangkok.

The exact nature of the charge is unclear. The summons does not say why Thanalop is to be charged, but states that the complaint made relates to events near the Giant Swing in Bangkok on 13 October 2022. Some reports put the date at 14 October.

Ultra-royalist Arnon Klinkaew, a core member of the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, a royalist vigilante group, accused the child of violating the lese majeste law over her alleged involvement in a protest at the Giant Swing and of participating in the writing of a placard calling for the abolition of Article 112.

Thanalop said that she initially received a summons dated 23 January, but certain details in it were wrong, so the family sent it back to the police for correction. She then received another summons last Tuesday (7 February).

Before the summons, it is reported that she and here family were harassed by police officers. On 20 October 2022, an officer visited her house and told her family that she should be taken to see a psychiatrist. On 7 November 2022, another officer came to the family home and spoke to her father, telling him that charges would be pressed against her. Thanalop said that “the officer spoke badly to her father, telling him that it would be better to commit suicide than to have a child like her.” Also on 7 November 2022, an officer tried to visit her at school, but the school refused to let them see her.

Clipped from Prachatai

Thanalop was arrested on 28 March 2023 when she went to the Royal Palace Police Station after an activist was arrested for spray-painting graffiti on the wall of the Grand Palace calling for the abolition of Article 112.

Following this arrest, a video showed Thanalop being dragged into a room inside the police station. Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said that the police initially claimed she was an accomplice in the incident at the Grand Palace and arrested her when she came to the police station. However, TLHR noted that, because she is a minor, the police can detain her only in the case of a flagrant offence or if they have an arrest warrant. Worse in terms of her legal rights, when Thanalop was detained at the Royal Palace Police Station, lawyers were not allowed to see her until around 20.20. They were then told by the police that she was arrested for royal defamation on a warrant issued on 28 February.

Thanalop claims she was sexually harassed by the arresting officers. The policemen sat on her and reached into her clothes, touching her legs and her chest to search her and confiscated her iPad, which she kept inside her shirt. She asked her lawyer to file charges against the 8 arresting officers for theft, using violence to force her to do something against her will, and assault.

It was then reported that Thanalop refused to participate in the process because she sees her arrest as unlawful and unfair. So the police also charged her with refusing to follow an officer’s order, because she refused to be fingerprinted. Thanalop then refused to appoint a lawyer for this 112 case, to sign any document, or request bail.

When taken to court, she was carried into the courtroom by women police officers. Inside the courtroom, she sat with her back to the judge as an act of protest.

The result was that the Central Juvenile and Family Court then ordered her to be immediately detained at the Ban Pranee Juvenile Vocational Training Centre for Girls in Nakhon Pathom for 30 days, making her the youngest person to be charged and held in pre-trial detention on a 112 charge.

Thanalop’s detention continued. She was allowed visitors on 31 March, but the Juvenile Centre refused to let lawyers see her on 3 April 2023. An officer at the Centre said that its Director prohibited visitors from seeing Thanalop, claiming that now that someone has spoken to her about her school applications there is nothing else to discuss with her. They also said that lawyers will not be able to see her even if she appointed one as her legal counsellor.

Remarkably, the ultra-royalist who made the complaint against the child then threatened to kill her for not participating in legal procedures. As far as PPT can tell, there has been no police action against this criminal.

Thanalop has explained her opposition to Article 112, calling for the law to be repealed, demanding that political parties be clear on repealing the law. Meanwhile, she backed calls for the release of political prisoners and judicial reform.

In late April 2023, it was reported that Thanalop had been detained for a further 15 days.As her detention was continued, prison and other officials made ludicrous claims to justify holding a 15 year old. There were several demonstrations demanding her release, including one where nine activists were arrested during a protest at Samranrat Police Station on the afternoon of 10 May. Another powerful demonstration was by students and alumni of Triam Udom Suksa Pattanakarn School in support of their fellow student. They stood in front of the school for 1 hour and 12 minutes on 16 May 2023.

Her detention continued until 18 May. When she was released she was covered in red welts.Thanalop was taken to hospital after she was released, since she had developed a severe skin condition while detained at Ban Pranee. She saw a doctor who said that the rash was probably due to the lack of hygiene in the centre, combined with the hot weather. The doctor noted that the rash worsened because the centre gave her a topical cream containing steroid. When used for over two weeks, the steroid suppresses her immune system, making the rash spread and leading to an infection.

Thanalop reported to and after some harassment by police, guards, and teachers and/or administrators, she joined her class. But things got worse at the school. Police, security guards, and teachers and administrators have made it as difficult as possible for her to get back to her studies at Triam Udom Suksa Phatthanakan School.

In mid-June 2023, there was a back-and-forth between Yok and the school, with the girl claiming she was expelled. The school denied this but demanded she “follow the rules.” While not formally expelled, the school refused to let her enter the school, saying she was unregistered. It did this for three days before kind of admitting that she was expelled.

Undeterred by this, over several days, Yok scaled the school’s fence finally being met by a teacher threatening to report her for trespassing and obstructing the entrance. After s social media frenzy, the school and the government declared they were willing to allow Yok back provided she followed the school’s rules.

Her defiance was about those rules: she dyes her hair and does not wear the school uniform. She has also refused to attend group activities and the daily flag-raising ritual. The school then issued a statement declaring Yok a non-student and stating that she poses a threat to the school and its students.

Yok has “insisted that what she has been doing is … an expression of thought through the clothes she wears, which does not impact her academic performance. The school and its staff are the only things preventing her from studying.”

Media accounts of Thanalop’s case:

Thai PBS, 18 June 2023: “Rebel student says she wants Thai society to change now”

Khaosod, 17 June 2023: “How Many Times Does Yok, 15, Need To Climb Up to School?”

Prachatai, 15 June 2023: “School closes its doors on 15-year-old student activist”

Bangkok Post, 15 June 2023: “Yok told to obey school regulations”

Prachatai, 19 May 2023: “Detained 15-year-old activist released”

Prachatai, 18 May 2023: “‘She did not reject justice’: TLHR counters court’s statement on 15-year-old’s detention”

Prachatai, 17 May 2023: “Student protest demands release of 15-year-old activist”

Prachatai, 10 May 2023: “9 activists arrested at police station protest”

Bangkok Post, 28 April 2023: “Calls grow for release of teen held for LM”

Prachatai, 28 April 2023: “Human Rights Watch demands release of detained 15-year-old activist”

Prachatai, 18 April 2023: “Ultra-royalist group leader threatens 15-year-old activist with death”