The suckers who suck hardest for rancid royalism

In a story at Prachatai that we already posted on, there was some interesting data on lese majeste.

Prachatai used a Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) database which lists 135 Article 112 charges brought by the authorities and 114 brought by ordinary citizens since the use of the law was reinstated to suppress monarchy reform protests.

The list is revealing of those seeking to protect the monarchy, suck up to higher-ups,  and promote themselves:

• Siwapan Manitkul – 9
• Pasit Chanhuaton – 8
• Apiwat Khanthong – 8
• Nopadol Prompasit – 7
• Anon Klinkaew, head of the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy – 5
• Uraporn Sunthorapoj, a citizen from Samut Prakan – 5
• Nangnoi Atsawakittikorn, a former leader of Thailand Help Centre for Cyberbullying Victims and a former MP candidate for the right-wing Action Coalition for Thailand Party – 4
• Kanbongkot Mekhapraphatsakun from People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy – 4
• Warissanan Sribowornthanakit, Thailand Help Centre for Cyberbullying Victims – 3
• Raphiphong Chaiyara of the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy – 3
• Piyakul Wongsing, People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy – 3
• Sub-Lt Narin Sakcharoenchaikun from the Thai Pakdee Party – 3
• Srisuwan Janya, serial complainer and self-promoter – 3

Vigilantes and cops

A few days ago, Prachatai reported that student activist Panupong Jadnok – known as Mike – has “again been detained after being denied bail on a royal defamation charge [they mean Article 112, lese majeste] filed against him by a royalist activist for a Facebook post about monarchy reform.”

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights state that Panupong met with the public prosecutor on 23 September 2021 to be “informed that the public prosecutor had decided to indict him and he was taken to court.”

While Mike’s lawyer filed a bail request, as is common, it was denied.

The denial “was signed by judge Chanathip Muanpawong, Deputy Chief Justice of the Criminal Court, who earlier this year denied bail to several pro-democracy activists detained pending trial.” Prachatai also recalls that it was:

Chanathip … who sentenced Ampon Tangnoppakul, or “Uncle SMS,” to 20 years in prison on a royal defamation charge under Section 112 in 2011, after Ampon was accused of sending messages to Somkiat Krongwattanasuk, who was at the time the secretary of then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, which were deemed offensive to the King and Queen.  Ampon died in prison.

Panupong has now been charged under Article 112, and an “offense to national security under Section 14 of the Computer Crimes Act.”

Ultra-royalist bully Nangnoi

As we have posted several times previously, it is an ultra-royalist cyber-vigilante group that has made the complaint leading to the charges. It is again cyberbully royalist Nangnoi Assawakittikorn, a leader of the misnamed royalist group Thailand Help Center for Cyberbullying Victims:

The complaint was based on a Facebook post on 8 November 2020 which said “Do you think that you will look dignified standing on the ruins of democracy or on the corpses of the people?” along with the hashtag #ปฏิรูปสถาบันกษัตริย์ (#MonarchyReform).

It is claimed that the “original post also reportedly refers to the [k]ing by name.”

Panupong is detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison. He is now “facing 9 charges under Section 112; he has already been indicted on 3. He was previously detained pending trial on charges relating to the 19 September 2020 protest, and was in detention for 86 days before being released on 1 June 2021.”

One of the “lessons” of this case is to reinforce how much the police work hand-in-glove with ultra-royalist vigilantes. The cops are effectively royalists’ processing terminal for royalist repression.

Lese majeste hits another teen

The Bangkok Post reports that Akkarasorn Opilan, 17, a “niece of Progressive Movement leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, [has] reported to the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) yesterday [23 Sept] to answer a lese majeste charge.”

The charge against her “related to a Feb 13 social media post concerning clashes between police and anti-government protesters in front of the Criminal Court.”

The post had been removed but was captured by internet vigilantes and it was again the ridiculously monikered Thailand Help Center for Cyberbullying Victims, an online ultra-royalist group, that made the complaint to police. In almost all recent cases of recent lese majeste and sedition cases, it has been this group, headed up by extreme rightists Nangnoi Assawakittikorn and Nopadol Prompasit, that had run to the police.

No further details are currently available.

Mad 112 case

Prachatai reports that an Article 112 complaint has been lodged against former royalist and anti-Thaksin Shinawatra campaigner Thanat Thanakitamnuay.

Longtime readers might remember him from this report. More recently, he has joined pro-democracy activists, apologized for his previous politics, and made speeches to anti-regime activists. He was injured in an event on 13 August, with his family saying “his right eye was hit by a ‘blunt cylindrical object’ – which … was [probably] a tear gas canister – tearing the cornea, rupturing the eyeball, and causing his retina to peel off.”

For his recent appearances at rallies, on 30 August 2021:

Nangnoi Atsawakittikorn from the Thailand Help Center for Cyberbullying Victims and Jakkapong Klinkaew from the Centre of the People for the Protection of Monarchy filed a royal defamation complaint [Prachatai means a lese majeste complaint] against Thanat at the Samranrat Police Station on behalf of the “People’s Network for the Protection of the Royal Institution”.

Just to remind readers, Article 112 states: “Whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to fifteen years.” In 2013, however, the the royalist Supreme Court decided “that the law also applies to all previous monarchs…”.

The ultra-royalists have used this to bring some ludicrous allegations and charges, even involving, more than once, a dead royal tail-wagger, historical kings and members of the royal family not covered by the words used in the law.

Thanat. Clipped from Prachatai

In the complaint against Thanat, the ultra-royalists complain about him “wearing an outfit similar to one worn by the late King Rama IX.”

They complained that:

… Thanat was intentionally mocking the late King Rama IX by wearing a suit, an eyepatch and a camera to a protest on 22 August…. According to Nangnoi, Thanat’s costume and camera were props employed to ridicule a well-known photograph of King Rama IX.  The late King often wore a camera around his neck when travelling upcountry.

Of course, Thanat’s eye was covered because he had been injured in a previous rally (see above).

These mad monarchists, who have lodged many lese majeste complaints over the past year, added another complaint, asserting “that a speech Thanat gave on 25 August calling for Section 112 to be abolished reflects his intent to overthrow the monarchy.”

Again, the idea that calling for Article 112 to be abolished can be either lese majeste and/or sedition charges has been increasingly common.

In addition, as Prachatai points out:

This is not the first time that royalists have taken umbrage with the costumes of pro-democracy activists. Conservative netizens put up a storm of critical commentary after the 28 January 2021 posting of a picture featuring Chaiamorn ‘Ammy’ Kaewwiboonpan, a lead singer in the Bottom Blues Band, and actress Inthira Charoenpura which Chaiamorn dressed in an outfit similar to one worn by King Rama IX.

Mad monarchists get madder by the minute. Internationally, the country’s judicial system is a joke.

20 lese majeste cases

At one time it was Thaksin Shinawatra who was the military and royalists considered the devil and faced the most lese majeste charges. We think that he faced somewhere between four and six charges and several more accusations and investigations.

The record for lese majeste charges is, as Prachatai reports, now held by Parit Chiwarak or Penguin. He is “now facing 20 counts under the lèse majesté law, after complaints were filed against him for Facebook posts he made about King Vajiralongkorn’s divorce from his ex-wife Sujarinee Vivacharawongse [Yuvadhida Suratsawadee], and the use of Sanam Luang for funerals.”

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) are the source for information on the new charges. They report that “Parit went to the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) on Tuesday (15 June) to hear the charges…”.

These charges resulted from complaints by “Nopadol Prompasit, a member of the Thailand Help Center for Cyberbullying Victims, an online royalist group whose members have filed numerous lèse majesté charges against many netizens…”.

Readers will recall that it was only a few days ago that the same group of royalist, right-wing, fascists showed up at the very same TCSD more charges against those they claimed  violated lese majeste and computer crime laws. AT the time, police said Nangnoi Assawakittikorn and her royalist minions were  calling for charges against another 90 individuals. The new report adds that these 90 all made posts that they claim insulted Queen Suthida on her recent birthday.

Prince, Yuvadhida, and kids in earlier times

The complaints against Parit, however, “were filed on 11 January 2021 and are related to two Facebook posts he made in December 2020. The first was on 8 December 2020 about King Vajiralongkorn’s divorce from his ex-wife Sujarinee Vivacharawongse, who now lives in the United States in exile with her four sons.”

He also stands accused of “called for Princess Sirivannavari, the King’s younger daughter, not to use taxpayer’s money to promote her fashion brand…”. She’s not covered by Article 112. However, it is also alleged that Parit “included in the post a link to a voice clip rumoured to be that of the king saying ‘I know I’m bad’.” We guess if he’s convicted on that, then the rumor is proven.

In another post on 31 December 2020 it is alleged he “mentioned how funerals are allowed to be held at Sanam Luang but people are not allowed to sell shrimp, referring to the shrimp sale organized by the volunteer protest guard group We Volunteer on 31 December 2020 which was dispersed by police.”

In addition to the 20 lese majeste charges Parit now faces, he also has outstanding charges under the Computer Crimes Act, sedition, and more.

In these two most recent cases, Parit denied all charges. Startlingly, he reportedly “requested that Sujarinee and her sons be brought in as witnesses and to have them testify on why they had to leave the country, who is involved in their exile, and whether they wish to return to Thailand.” That may result in more charges.

The 112 virus

The number charged with lese-majeste has reached 100.

That’s the count by the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). They say that the “overwhelming majority of these cases have stemmed from online political expression and the participation in peaceful pro-democracy demonstrations that took place between August 2020 and March 2021.”

FIDH Secretary-General Adilur Rahman Khan states:

“The vigorous enforcement of Article 112 to criminalize the actions of pro-democracy activists, protesters, and critics of the monarchy has resulted in blatant violations of the rights to liberty, freedom of expression, and fair trial. The Thai government must end this abuse and immediately heed calls for the amendment of Article 112.

The two organizations made a call for “Thai authorities to end legal prosecution against individuals exercising their right to freedom of expression and to amend Article 112 to bring it into line with Thailand’s human rights obligations under the ICCPR [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights]…”.

We at PPT fear that the number charged may exceed 100 as some cases are kept secret or are held in places where the news doesn’t get out. It should also be remembered that there are many other cases where charges have yet to be brought.

TLHR reports that, between 24 November 2020 and 11 June 2021, with 100 individuals charged, “eight are children (i.e. individuals under the age of 18).” And, several “[p]rominent pro-democracy activists have been especially targeted. Some of them face numerous prosecutions under Article 112 in connection with multiple cases, which could result in very long prison terms.”

Worryingly, as this call is made, right-wing fascists and other royalists are calling for more charges and jailings. The Nation reports that the execrable Nangnoi Assawakittikorn “led an army of royalist ‘Minions’ to the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD), where they urged police to crack down on violators of the lese majeste and computer crime laws.”

Clipped from The Nation

Calling themselves “the Thailand Help Centre for Cyber-bullying Victims…”, it is Nangnoi’s group that are the bullies, including of children.

Making herself snitch-in-chief of the royalist minions, Nangnoi “handed what she said was evidence of lese majeste to the police. Most of it consisted of comments posted on media websites such as The Standard, Channel One News, Workpoint Today, Nation TV and TikTok.” Police said she was calling for charges against another 90 individuals.

It seems likely that the regime will listen to their rightist allies rather than to those calling for constitutional human rights to be observed.

Royalist child abuse

PPT has posted previously on what we called juvenile lese majeste (see here and here). But reading a Prachatai report that details a lese majeste case against a 14 year-old girl, it seems the regime and its supporters have descended into political child abuse.

This child was served with a summons by the Phitsanulok police on 28 May 2021. She was due to appear at the police station on 1 June.

The complaint was filed “by former Action Coalition for Thailand (ACT) MP candidate Nangnoi Assawakittikorn. A dedicated royalist and fascist, Naengnoi “has previously filed complaints under Section 112 against activists Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, Anon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, and Parit Chiwarak.”

Royalist child abuser Naengnoi

Not long ago, she “also filed a libel complaint against a Facebook user for calling her a ‘slave of the dictator’.”

Going after a child is a new low, even for the horrid Naengnoi.

The girl Naengnoi is abusing states “she does not know why the complaint was filed and does not know Nangnoi personally.”

She believes that Naengnoi has stalked her for her comments about royalists who opposed protests in Phitsanulok in 2020. she made comments about the royalist groups who were against the protests.

Police officers had earlier contacted her and told her that an Article 112 complaint had been made against her, but “she decided not to speak to the officers until she received the summons last Friday (28 May).”

Special Branch police had “also contacted the girl’s mother on 23 February, asking to discuss with her about sharing Facebook posts about the monarchy. The officers wanted the girl to delete the posts, saying that she would face no charges if she did so.”

The girl has “said that she is surprised that an adult would press a politically motivated charge against a minor…. However, she said that she will enter the judicial process and has already contacted a lawyer.”

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights say that “the girl is the 7th person under the age of 18 to face charges under Section 112.”