This is the list of prosecuted lèse majesté cases in Thailand.
Notable cases
Date Person(s) Notes about person(s) Description of the crime and legal proceedings 1984 Sulak Sivaraksa He and other social activists allegedly criticized the king and were charged; Sulak was eventually acquitted."A Critic May Now Look at a King", Macan-Markar, Marwaan, The Asian Eye, 18 May 2005 1995 Lech Tomasz Kisielewicz French national of Polish descent Made an insulting remark about a Thai princess aboard a Thai Airways flight. He was jailed under lèse majesté for two weeks after his flight landed in Bangkok. May 2008 Jonathan Head BBC correspondent and FCCT vice-president Accused of lèse majesté three times: authoring articles that referred to alleged support for the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) by members of the royal family, writing that Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn might find it difficult to "fill his father's shoes", and allowing a picture of a politician to be placed above a picture of Bhumibol on a BBC web page.Wall Street Journal, In Thailand, Insulting the King Can Mean 15 Years in Jail, 16 October 2008Committee to Protect Journalists, BBC reporter charged with insulting the king, 24 December 2008
He was not deported, but left Thailand at the end of his three-year BBC assignment. Sep 2008 Harry NicolaidesAustralian man refused bail for insulting Thai King, ABC Online, 3 September 2008 From Melbourne, Australia Wrote an offending passage in his self-published book Verisimilitude. The book, which sold a mere seven copies, mentioned the "romantic entanglements and intrigues" of royalty. He was arrested upon arriving at Bangkok's international airport and charged with lèse majesté. After pleading guilty, he was sentenced to three years in jail but then pardoned by the king after spending a month in jail, released, and deported. Apr 2009 Daranee "Da Torpedo" Chanchoengsilpakul UDD activist Initially sentenced to 18 years in prison (six years for each three comments she made) without suspension for "intending to insult" Bhumibol and Sirikit at a political protest.18 years in jail for 'Da Torpedo'. Bangkok Post, 28 August 2009 She did not actually mention the monarchs in her speech (she said the "ruling class"), however, the court ruled that the prosecution "brought evidence that makes it possible to interpret that the defendant meant the King and Queen Sirikit."Fa Dio Kan, "Official Judgement of Daranee Chanchoengsilapakul", July – September 2009 (Year 7, No. 3) In 2011 the appeals court voided the sentence given by the criminal court. A retrial sentenced her to 15 years, five years per each offence, in prison. On 27 August 2016, Darunee was released after requesting a royal pardon and serving more than eight years in prison. Apr 2010 Wipas Raksakulthai Thai businessman A post to his Facebook account allegedly insulting Bhumibol. The arrest was reportedly the first lèse majesté charge against a Thai Facebook user. In response, Amnesty International named Wipas Thailand's first prisoner of conscience in nearly three decades. May 2011 Joe Gordon American freedom of expression activist, born in Thailand as Lerpong WichaikhammatPosted a link on his blog to a banned book about the ailing King Bhumibol. Also was reportedly suspected of translating, from English into Thai, portions of The King Never Smiles, an unauthorized biography of King Bhumibol Adulyadej, and posting them online, along with articles he wrote that allegedly defamed the royal family.
"I want President Obama and Hillary Clinton to intervene on my behalf," he is quoted. After being denied bail eight times, a shackled–and–handcuffed Gordon said in court on 10 October, "I'm not fighting in the case. I'm pleading guilty, sirs." On 8 December 2011 a court in Thailand sentenced him to two and a half years in prison (halved from five years due to pleading guilty). On 10 July 2012, Gordon received a pardon from the king and was released from jail. Mar 2012 Akachai Hongkangwan Sold VCDs containing a segment of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation Foreign Correspondent series. Australian foreign correspondent Eric Campbell and ABC's entire Bangkok bureau had been banned from entering Thailand after they aired an investigation of Bhumibol's role in the military's violent 2010 crackdown on protesters. May 2012 "Uncle SMS" Real name Ampon Tangnoppakul — — known familiarly as "Ah Kong" Accused of sending four short message service (SMS) messages from his cell phones. The messages were deemed offensive to the King and Queen of Thailand. He was denied bail on eight occasions and died from liver cancer in a prison hospital at the age of 61 while serving a 20–year prison sentence.Ah Kong's death reignites debate Amnesty International named Ampon Tangnoppakul a prisoner of conscience in 2011. Jan 2013 Somyot Prueksakasemsuk Magazine editor and activist Sentenced to ten years in prison, convicted of publishing two articles under a pseudonym that made negative references to the crown in his now-defunct magazine Voice of Taksin. Amnesty International has designated Somyot Prueksakasemsuk a prisoner of conscience. Sep 2013 Yuthapoom Martnok Accused of lèse majesté by his brother, and "has been jailed for a year in a Bangkok prison" while waiting for a court ruling, according to a Bangkok Post article. He was acquitted and released one day after the article ran. Oct 2013 Sondhi Limthongkul Founder of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) Quoted remarks made by an opponent protesting the 2008 resumption of PAD protests. The appeals court in so doing reversed a lower court acquittal (Thailand has no bar to double jeopardy) handed down on 26 September 2012. The lèse majesté had resulted from Sondhi's having quoted remarks made by Daranee Chanchoengsilpakul. Sondhi's 2012 acquittal upheld prosecution for whatever words Sondhi had quoted, but for much less than "18 years in prison without suspension." Sondhi was sentenced to two years imprisonment, then released after posting 500,000 baht (US$15,935) in bail. 2014 Nithiwat Wannasiri Musician Member and lead singer of the punk rock group Faiyen, which became known for writing and performing songs that mocked the lèse majesté law as well as corrupt officials and the elites. Following the 2014 Thai coup d'état Wannasiri was accused of lèse majesté and subsequently charged under article 112. He was forced into exile and continues to campaign against lèse majesté. Aug 2014 Jaran Ditapichai Academic, political activist and former human rights commissioner The three were accused of defaming the king because of their role in a political play performed during the 40th anniversary of the 14 October 1973 student uprising in October 2013. Jaran Ditapichai was charged because he was the head organizer of the event where the play, "The Wolf Pride", was performed.
Pornthip Munkong was charged because she performed in the play and Patiwat Saraiyaem was charged for staging the play. The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) declared their detention arbitrary and against provisions which guarantee the fundamental right to liberty, the right to a fair trial, and the right to freedom of opinion and expression. On 23 February 2015, Pornthip Munkong and Patiwat Saraiyaem received a sentence of 2 years and 6 months each. They were released from prison in August 2016.Thai Student Actor Pornthip Munkong Has Been Released!