King Vajiralongkorn
15 Aug 2023
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.
16 Dec 2022
As Princess Bajrakitiyabha remains hospitalised on Friday, attention on social media is turning to her status as the presumed heiress to the throne – a role never formally acknowledged that is taken seriously by many analysts.
2 Aug 2022
The opening shot of the now-viral commercial shows homes submerged by a flood, a familiar sight in Thailand’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.
27 Jul 2022
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.
3 Dec 2021
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.
9 Nov 2021
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.
21 Oct 2021
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.
23 Sep 2021
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.
4 Mar 2021
On 24 February, the Facebook page of Parit ‘Penguin’ Chiwarak 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 ‘From the prison to the palace’ and speaks to the king directly.
3 Mar 2021
Chaiamorn ‘Ammy’ 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.
12 Feb 2021
The change of laws which transfer the crown assets into the name of King Vajiralongkorn has made him one of the wealthiest monarch in the world. Prachatai take a look into related laws to find out whether they are taxable or not.
7 Jan 2021
While resistance in some institutions is clearly visible, the same cannot be said of the judiciary. The “twilight zone” remains as mysterious as ever, but Thais cannot help but ask whether something surreptitious is going on in there.