The Appeal Court has sentenced two pro-democracy activists for royal defamation over protest speeches they delivered in Chaiyaphum Province in 2021.

Jatupat Boonpattararaksa and Atthapol Buapat were charged with royal defamation, sedition, violation of the Emergency Decree and the Sound Amplifiers Control Act for protest speeches they made in front of the Phu Khiao Police Station and Phu Khiao School on 1 February 2021.

On that day, the Ratsadon group staged a protest, calling on the police to apologise to students who were intimidated by police officers after they registered for a “Ratsadon On Tour” camp, a forum for the exchange of opinions and discussions of problems in Thai society. 26 people, including 15 and 18-year-old students, received summonses for allegedly violating the Emergency Decree. Three of the summonses were later dismissed.

The speeches they gave, which raised the subject of monarchy reform but did not mention any particular king by name, were deemed defamatory of the Royal Institution. Jatupat compared the financial standing of the monarchy with that of the people and called for amendment of the Constitution. Meanwhile, Atthapol called for reducing the royal budget.

On 13 September 2024, the Phu Khiao Provincial Court found both of them guilty of royal defamation, while the other charges were dismissed. They were initially sentenced to three years in prison. As Jatupat had been given an additional one year and three months in prison for repeating the offence, his cumulative sentence was four years and six months.

Due to Jatupat’s helpful testimony, the court reduced his sentence to two years and 12 months. Meanwhile, Atthapol was sentenced to two years in prison. They were granted bail on the following day with 300,000 baht as security each.

Jatupat and Atthapol later appealed the case. Both argued that they did not target a specific king and that their speech could not fall under the royal defamation law.

However, the Appeal Court ruled on Wednesday (3 September) to uphold the initial verdict. Bail requests have been filed with the Supreme Court, and they are now detained at the Phu Khiao District Prison.