A man has been sentenced to 4 years and 24 months in prison without parole for violating the royal defamation law and the Computer Crimes Act after he posted on Facebook about the King and the Queen’s popularity and the King’s trips to Germany.

Student activist Benja Apan has been sentenced to prison with a two-year suspension for a royal defamation charge resulting from a speech she gave during a protest on 10 August 2021.

The Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Court has dismissed a royal defamation charge against a 33-year-old man for damaging portraits of the King displayed in front of Trakan Phuet Phon high school.

<p>As Princess Bajrakitiyabha remains hospitalised on Friday, attention on social media is turning to her status as the presumed heiress to the throne &ndash; a role never formally acknowledged that is taken seriously by many analysts.</p>

<p>The opening shot of the now-viral commercial shows homes submerged by a flood, a familiar sight in Thailand&rsquo;s news coverage of flood-prone regions. A man and a boy are seen stranded on one of the houses as the rain pours down all around them.</p>

<p>Although wearing black is not a crime in Thailand, a meeting chaired by the Police Chief on 26 July called on police around the country to monitor a movement to wear black on 28 July to mark the birthday celebrations of King Vajiralongkorn.</p>

<p>A Facebook user from Phitsanulok was arrested on Thursday (2 December) on a royal defamation charge, after she posted a picture of King Vajiralongkorn changing the seasonal decoration of the Emerald Buddha, edited so that the Buddha is wearing a dress.</p>

<p>An Ubon Ratchathani man was arrested on Saturday (6 November) for damaging a portrait of the King displayed in front of the Trakan Phuetphon district high school.</p>

<p>An escalation of symbolic actions by pro-democracy protesters took place after the repeated use of force against protesters by the police and legal charges against its leading figures. But when it comes to burning portraits of the King, the state uses the royal defamation law to handle the problem.</p>

<p>Since 2017, King Rama X has issued at least 112 royal edicts appointing and demoting royal officials and the royal consort, bestowing royal decorations, appointing monks to the Sangha Supreme Council and expressing political views, which raises questions over accountability under the King Can Do No Wrong principle.</p>

<p>On 24 February, the Facebook page of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/paritchiwarakofficial/posts/283661663121426">Parit &lsquo;Penguin&rsquo; Chiwarak</a> released another letter he has written from prison, where he is being held after being denied bail while he awaits trial for lèse majesté. This letter is addressed &lsquo;From the prison to the palace&rsquo; and speaks to the king directly.</p>

<p>Chaiamorn &lsquo;Ammy&rsquo; Kaewwiboonpan, lead singer of the pop band The Bottom Blues, is among 3 people against whom the police have requested an arrest warrant for lèse majesté, arson and computer crimes over the burning of a King Rama X big portrait in front of Klong Prem Central prison on the night of 27 February.</p>