Activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong has been indicted on a royal defamation charge for a speech given during a Labour Day protest on 1 May 2022 about access to Covid-19 vaccines, after the public prosecutor ruled that he insulted Princess Sirivannavari, who the public prosecutor sees as the heir to the throne.

Following the detention of monarchy reform activists Sopon Surariddhidhamrong and Nutthanit Duangmusit, the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, a partnership of the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) and the World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT), launched an urgent appeal asking the international community to call on the Thai authorities to immediately release detained human right defenders and end all acts of harassment against them.

After two monarchy reform activists were freed from jail, they found themselves in a different kind of captivity. In exchange for their release, they must be confined to their home at all times, save for exceptional circumstances. Their isolation, enforced by constant surveillance, makes them the only known cases of house arrest in recent Thai history. 

Monarchy reform activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong, who has been held in pre-trial detention on a royal defamation charge, was granted bail and released yesterday (31 May).

Four monarchy reform activists were again denied bail on 20 May, including Tantawan Tuatulanon, who has been on a hunger strike for the past 32 days to demand the right to bail, while a protest caravan visited the Ratchadaphisek Criminal Court and the Bangkok Remand Prison to demand the release of 11 detained activists.