3 activists arrested for singing a protest song have been sentenced to 7 years in prison for royal defamation and contempt of court. The sentence was later reduced to 3 years and 6 months.

Chen Chiwobancha, Ngoentra Khamsaen, and Shinawat Chankrajang faced 4 charges: royal defamation, contempt of court, defamation by publication, and unauthorised use of a sound amplifier.

The charges stemmed from a protest on 28 July 2022 in front of the Bangkok South Criminal Court where participants demanded bail rights for two detained pro-democracy activists, Nutthanit Duangmusit and Netiporn Sanesangkhom. The two were detained for conducting a poll on royal motorcades.

The protesters sung “Lucky to Have Thai People”, a song critical of the monarchy, while holding banners criticising the court.

The complaint against them was filed by Rapeepong Chaiyarut, a member of the ultra-royalist group the People’s Centre for the Protect the Monarchy.

The activists were found guilty as charged. They were sentenced to 3 years for royal defamation, 2 years for contempt of court, and 2 years for defamation by publication. They were also fined 200 baht each for unauthorised use of a sound amplifier. Due to their guilty plea, the sentence was reduced to 3 years and 6 months without parole and a fine of 100 baht.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights reported that the court will forward a bail application to the Appeals Court. The process takes approximately 2-3 days. During this time, they will be held in Bangkok Remand Prison.

Later, 3 of them were not granted bail since the court viewed that the case constituted a high penalty and they might escape.

This is not the first time that people have been charged with royal defamation for singing the song. In May, musician Chokdee Rompruk and citizen reporter Waranya Sae-ngo were also found guilty of royal defamation for singing it.

“Lucky to have Thai people” was written by Faiyen, a Thai band known for writing songs critical of the monarchy.  As a result of being charged with lèse majesté, most of the band members fled Thailand after the 2014 coup.