Sopon Surariddhidhamrong
24 Aug 2023
Activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong has been sentenced to 3 years and 6 months in prison for a speech during a 22 April 2022 protest in which the court claimed he insulted Queen Suthida.
8 Apr 2023
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.
20 Feb 2023
In parallel with ongoing dry fasts and no-sleep protests of activists demanding bail rights, the Court has granted bail to 3 detainees whose charges relate to political protests, leaving 3 still detained.
20 Jan 2023
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.
10 Jan 2023
Two monarchy reform activists have had their bail revoked yesterday (9 January) after the Criminal Court ruled that they had violated their bail conditions by joining an anti-government protest during the APEC summit in November 2022.
30 Sep 2022
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.
21 Sep 2022
An art exhibition about enforced disappearance has been postponed indefinitely as the venue's owner said they were 'uncomfortable' after being contacted by the police.
1 Jun 2022
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).
27 May 2022
Monarchy reform activist Tantawan Tuatulanon has been granted bail after spending over a month in pre-trial detention on royal defamation charges, while the Court once again denied bail for activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong, also held in pre-trial detention on a royal defamation charge.
22 May 2022
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.
13 May 2022
In a new surge of detentions, six people are in jail in connection with the royal defamation law – five of them denied bail to contest the charges outside prison. A human rights lawyer said the move illustrates the authorities’ obsession with smothering any public criticism of the monarchy.
4 May 2022
Student activist Sopon Surariddhidhamrong was arrested on Sunday night (1 May) on a royal defamation charge resulting from a speech he gave at a protest on 22 April 2022 and subsequently denied bail.