Thailand’s young protesters hit by royal defamation law, as pro-democracy movement wanes

The crowds on Bangkok’s streets have thinned as Covid-19 surges and protest leaders are tied up in legal cases

At least 58 people have been charged under the lèse-majesté law, while four have been held in pre-trial custody since February 8

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Pro-democracy protest leader Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul holds up the three-finger salute outside the Office of the Attorney General in Bangkok on February 17. Photo: AFP

Published: 5:45pm, 17 Feb 2021Updated: 7:46pm, 17 Feb 2021

Rung, 23, is the bookish-looking student leader whose demands for royal reform roused a kingdom. Sainam, 16, has electric-blue hair and is in big trouble for wearing a crop top to mock a king. Both are facing the full weight of the law as members of Thailand’s younger generation who are calling to limit the power of the country’s generals and its monarchy.

The crowds on Bangkok’s streets have ebbed amid a resurgence of Covid-19 and a loss of direction between the disparate protest groups whose leaders are tied up in legal cases, leaving prominent protesters exposed to charges under a divisive royal defamation law.

“This power [of the monarchy] is the scariest thing I could ever imagine for the Thai people, it overshadows the entire nation,” Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul – better known by her nickname, Rung – told This Week in Asia before she reported to court for a royal defamation charge.

She was asked to return with several other leaders on March 8 to find out if the charge would be prosecuted. “I’ve come to terms with [being in jail] but I still have hope that they won’t lock us up forever,” Rung said.

Thailand has some of the strictest lèse-majesté laws in the world, shielding the ultra-rich and powerful monarchy headed by King Maha Vajiralongkorn from criticism. Known as “112” after its section in the Thai criminal code, the law carries a penalty of between three and 15 years in jail per charge of defaming the royal institution.

Anti-government protesters cover the Democracy Monument in Bangkok with a red cloth during a February 13 rally calling for the revocation of the kingdom’s royal defamation law. Photo: Reuters

Despite the law, for several months last year the boisterous, satire-laden youth movement showed their anger at an unequal society dominated by elderly generals loyal to the king, in protests that unspooled into calls for reform of the monarchy and open mockery of its key figures.

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