A 26-year-old art punk artist from Khon Kaen has been sentenced to 1 year in prison for spray-painting political messages onto the wall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha. He was later granted provisional bail with 50,000 baht as security.

Suttawee “Bang-oen” Soikham, a 26-year-old punk artist, was arrested on 28 March 2023 for spray-painting an anarchist symbol and the number 112 with a strike through it, signifying a protest against the royal defamation law, onto the wall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, located within the Grand Palace.

He was charged under the Cleanliness Act and the Act on Ancient Monuments, Antiques, Objects of Art and National Museums. He later confessed to the charge under the Cleanliness Act.

The charge Suttawee faces under the Act on Ancient Monuments, Antiques, Objects of Art, and National Museums carries a prison sentence of up to 7 years, or a fine of up to 700,000 baht, or both, for damaging an unregistered archaeological site.

Under the Public Cleanliness Act, vandalizing a wall in a public place or that is next to a public road carries a fine of up to 5000 baht.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that according to the court, two police patrol officers testified that they found Suttawee spraying graffiti on the wall of the Grand Palace. They took photographs and apprehended him. The officers reported to the Royal Palace Police Station, and Suttawee was then arrested.

Phimnara Kitchotprasoet from the Fine Arts Department testified that the Grand Palace was built at the beginning of the Rattanakosin Period and is therefore considered an archaeological site according to the Act on Ancient Monuments, and this status also extends to the wall of the Grand Palace. Although the Grand Palace has not yet been formally recognised as an archaeological site, Pimnara argued that archaeological sites also include those that have not yet been officially registered but could be in the future.

Even though the police testified that there were others at the scene, including two other activists and some journalists covering the incident, Suttawee insisted that he committed the act without any accomplices.

The court stated that the defendant damaged an unregistered archaeological site, which is respected by the general public. The sentence was based on the Act on Ancient Monuments, which has the heavier penalty, resulting in 1 year in prison. Due to his useful testimony, the sentence was later reduced to 8 months. Suttawee was granted bail to appeal with 50,000 baht as security.

According to an interview with TLHR, Suttawee said he initially intended to spray the words ‘or the lives of commoners are worthless’, but the sentence was too long. He tried to make the message concise and understandable for both Thais and foreigners, so he came up with the word ‘people’ and the anarchist symbol.

In this case, a Prachatai reporter and a freelance photographer covering the incident were charged in February this year with being accomplices. It was reported in June that the charges against them would be as principals rather than accomplices. The cases are still pending in court.