Two pro-democracy activists have been sentenced to prison for royal defamation over a Facebook photo of a man holding pieces of paper with profanities in front of a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn.

Khathathon, 29 and Natthaphon,23, were charged with royal defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act over the same Facebook photo. The complaint against them was filed by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy.

According to the complaint, Anon discovered a Facebook photo of a man wearing a black shirt and helmet. In the photo, the man was holding two pieces of paper, which the complainant deemed defamatory, in front of the King’s portrait. Natthaphon was arrested, while Kathathon later turned himself in after learning that an arrest warrant had been issued against him.

The Criminal Court found that Natthaphon was the one holding the pieces of paper with profanities, while Kathathon took the photo. The Court concluded that it was not taking a photo at a tourist site, but rather a political statement. The fact that both of them chose to take a photo at the location indicated that they intended to target the King and the Queen, both directly and symbolically.

Natthaphon was sentenced to three years and nine months, and Khathathon was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison. However, due to their helpful testimonies, their prison terms were reduced to two years and to two years and eight months, respectively.

Natthaphon faced another royal defamation charge, for which the final verdict has been reached, and he was given a suspended sentence. However, he is currently detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison in connection with his other case. The Court found no ground for granting him provisional bail. A new bail request was later issued and forwarded to the Appeal Court.

Meanwhile, Khathathon was granted provisional bail with 150,000 baht as security.

Khathathon is a pro-democracy activist who was imprisoned at the Bangkok Remand Prison in 2022 for possessing explosives after he attended the 12th anniversary of the Red Shirt Crackdown on 12 April 2022. He was released on 4 July 2023.