Three pro-democracy activists have been sentenced to prison over their speeches delivered in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok in November 2021.

Thatchapong Kaedam, Chatrapee Artsomboon, and Nawat Liangwattana were charged with royal defamation and sedition. The case resulted from a protest on 14 November 2021, when protesters marched to the German Embassy in Bangkok, where Nawat reportedly read the protest’s statement while Thatchapong gave a speech, and Chatrapee gave a closing thank you speech, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.

The complaint against them was filed by Anon Klinkaew, leader of the ultra-royalist People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, who has filed several royal defamation complaints against activists and netizens and has been involved in attacks on pro-democracy activists and citizen journalists.

The Criminal Court concluded that the statement implied Thailand was under a semi-absolute monarchy, which contradicted the Constitution that stipulates the country is under a democratic system with the King as head of state.

The Court ruled that they were guilty of royal defamation but acquitted them of sedition, as the evidence was insufficient to demonstrate that they had committed the offence as charged.

They were sentenced to three years in prison, but due to their helpful testimonies, the term was reduced to two years in prison.

In addition, Chatrapee has never been convicted; she was given a two-year suspension and one-year probation. She was also required to attend the Court’s psychosocial Clinic four times. Thatchapong and Nawat were not given suspensions.

Thatchapong is now detained at the Bangkok Remand Prison awaiting the order from the Appeal Court for his bail request.

Meanwhile, Nawat, who was active during the mass protests in 2020-2022 and was prosecuted for political expression in 20 cases, has been detained since 9 December 2024 after he faced another royal defamation charge over a speech on 13 February 2021. In this case, the Appeal Court sentenced him to one year and seven months in prison.

The 14 November 2021 protest came after the Constitutional Court’s ruling that calls for monarchy reform constitute attempts to overthrow the “democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State.” Activists initially planned to march from the Democracy Monument to Sanam Luang but were forced to relocate after facing a police blockade. Instead, they marched from the Pathumwan Intersection to the German Embassy. During the march, three people were shot in front of the Institute of Forensic Medicine.

At the German Embassy, three activists met with Embassy representatives and submitted an open letter. Nawat then read out a statement saying that the increased power of the monarchy is moving Thailand away from a democratic regime and towards an absolute monarchy, while royalists are trying to rewrite history so that the monarch has the power to rule the country and the people are reduced to mere inhabitants.

The statement said that it is therefore unavoidable that the monarchy’s expansion of power must be stopped to bring about democracy. It also insisted that they are not calling for an abolition of the regime but are fighting for a regime in which everyone is equal.