Woman accused of spraying paint at King's portrait gets prison sentence

A 26-year-old factory worker accused of spraying paint on the frames of King Vajiralongkorn portraits at two locations in Pattaya has been sentenced to prison for royal defamation.

A framed portrait of King Vajiralongkorn on a traffic island. (File photo)

Panida (pseudonym), 26, was arrested on 20 October 2020 and charged with destruction of public property. Police officers later searched her apartment and confiscated her mobile phone. In November 2021, Panida was summoned by the inquiry officer and told that she had also been charged with royal defamation.

She was charged for spray painting a message onto the frame of two portraits of King Vajiralongkorn in Pattaya city, Chonburi. The public prosecutor later indicted her on the grounds that the message insulted the King.

Panida was arrested by some 20 plainclothes officers, who did not have a search or arrest warrant. She said in an interview with Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) that she initially feared she was being abducted and would be forcibly disappeared, as the arresting officers were all men and they did not identify themselves.

Panida was left traumatised by the arrest and subsequent search. As a knock on her door now makes her panic, family and friends were asked to call her phone when they are coming to visit. She said that she has also been harassed by police officers who follow her and watch her workplace.

When indicted, Panida decided to confess. TLHR said that the court ordered her to pay the Pattaya city administration 12,480 baht in damages.

The Pattaya Provincial Court initially scheduled Panida's trial for 8 November 2022. However, at the opening of the trial, the judge asked her how she could make up for the damage she had done to the King's honour. Panida promised to perform a ceremony to ask for forgiveness in front of the King's portrait at the South Pattaya intersection, one of the portraits she was accused of spray-painting. She also agreed to post pictures of the ceremony onto her Facebook profile page. In response, the court postponed the trial but ordered her to submit pictures of the ceremony.

On Wednesday (14 December), the Pattaya Provincial Court found Panida guilty of two counts of royal defamation and destruction of public property, sentencing her to 3 years in prison for each count. The Court later reduced her sentence to 1 year and 6 months for each count because she confessed, and suspended her sentence for 2 years because she has never been previously sentenced to prison, has paid damages to the Pattaya city administration, and has shown remorse by apologising. As another reason for suspending her sentence, the Court also cited a probation officer report stating that Panida was misled by media reports to believe that the King supports the current government, which she doesn't like.

Panida must also report to the probation officer 4 times within a year, and do 12 hours of community service.

TLHR noted that Panida was handcuffed during the trial.  Although her lawyer objected and told the court marshal that she should only be handcuffed after the verdict had been read, the handcuffs were only removed at the end of the trial.

For Panida, the charges against her have deprived her of a normal life. She said she had been saving up to buy a house but was now too scared to get a mortgage because she feared that she would soon be going to prison.  She also said that while wanting to start a family of her own, she was too scared to enter a relationship for the same reason.

After being given a suspended sentence, Panida expressed relief and said that she hopes to return to a normal life and take care of her parents and younger sister.

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