Mongkhon Thirakot, an activist and online clothing vendor from Chiang Rai, has been charged with three more counts of royal defamation for Facebook posts made between May – September 2022.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said yesterday (13 January) that officers from the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) visited Mongkhon at Chiang Rai Central Prison to inform him that he has been charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crime Act. The charges came after a complaint was filed against him by Anon Klinkaew, head of the ultra-royalist group People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, over three Facebook posts which Anon claimed insulted the King.

Mongkhon has been detained at Chiang Rai Central Prison since 17 January 2024, after the Appeal Court found him guilty of 25 counts of royal defamation and sentenced him to 50 years. He was subsequently denied bail after the Supreme Court deemed him a flight risk. His sentence is the longest ever given for royal defamation.

Mongkhon has been charged with a total of 29 counts of royal defamation in three cases. He has already been found guilty on 27 counts and sentenced to a total of 54 years in prison. The additional charges brought the total number of charges he faces to 32.

Thailand’s royal defamation law, or Section 112 of the Criminal Code, carries a prison sentence of 3 – 15 years. Mongkhon could face as much as 96 years in prison if he is found guilty of every count of royal defamation he faces and if his sentence is not reduced.

TLHR noted that the police had an arrest warrant for Mongkhon, issued by the Criminal Court on the grounds that he faces a charge for which the penalty is over 3 years, and because he is likely to flee or tamper with evidence. However, Mongkhon was already detained when the warrant was issued.