The Appeal Court has ruled to uphold an Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Court verdict dismissing a royal defamation charge against a mentally ill man charged for damaging portraits of the King displayed in front of Trakan Phuet Phon high school.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said that the Appeal Court ruled on Wednesday (4 August) to uphold the verdict dismissing the royal defamation charge against 34-year-old Taem (pseudonym) on the grounds that, although his action was inappropriate, he was mentally ill and showed no clear intention to defame or threaten the King.

Taem was arrested by the police in Trakan Phuet Phon District, Ubon Ratchathani, on 6 November 2021. He later confessed to damaging to portraits of King Vajiralongkorn at various locations around the district. The police initially charged him with destruction of property and not royal defamation since they believed he did not intend to defame the King due to his mental illness. However, Taem was later summoned to the police station again in January 2022 and charged with royal defamation after the inquiry officer was ordered to do so when the case file reached the Provincial Police Region 3 headquarters, since destroying the portraits was seen as “highly inappropriate” and an insult against the King.

Both Taem and his mother have said that he began displaying symptoms of mental illness over ten years ago after being assaulted while a Navy conscript. Around 2 months before he was discharged, an officer hit him with a weapon on the left side of his head. He lost consciousness and has an indentation in his skull. After he was treated for his injuries, he began experiencing visual and auditory hallucinations, and sometimes he would destroy objects, so he needed continuous psychiatric treatment. Taem said he has been receiving treatment at Prasrimahabhodi Psychiatric Hospital, but that he stopped taking medications around 2 months before his arrest because he thought his illness had gone.

The Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Court found Taem guilty of destruction of property, sentencing him to a fine of 6,000 baht and three months in prison, suspended for five years on the condition that he receives treatment at Prasrimahabhodi Hospital for his mental illness. Taem was also ordered to pay 20,440 baht for the damage with an annual interest rate of 5 per cent.

However, the Court dismissed the royal defamation charge against him, saying that nothing suggested malicious intent towards the King.

The public prosecutor later filed an appeal on the grounds that Taem was sane and aware of what he was doing. They also said that a portrait is the same as the person, and so any action taken against a portrait of the King is a threat and an insult against the monarch.