A 31-year-old former private company employee has been sentenced to 2 years in prison for throwing paint at a portrait of the King in front of a supermarket.

Somphon (last name withheld) was charged with royal defamation, destruction of public property, and violation of the Public Cleanliness Act after he was accused of driving by and throwing a bag of red paint at a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn displayed in front of a Lotus Supermarket in Pathumthani’s Rangsit district.

According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), he pleaded guilty to two of the charges but pleaded not guilty to royal defamation. On 29 August 2023, the Thanyaburi Provincial Court found him not guilty of royal defamation, ruling that throwing paint onto the portrait does not constitute an offence under the royal defamation law. He was sentenced to 6 months in prison and fined 10,000 baht. His sentence was suspended for 2 years.

However, on 28 May 2025, the Appeal Court overturned the verdict, finding him guilty of royal defamation on the grounds that damaging the portrait was inappropriate and defamatory against the King.

He was sentenced to 3 years in prison, reduced to 2 years because he gave useful testimony. The Appeal Court later ruled not to suspend his sentence because he threw paint at portraits of the King displayed at several locations and publicised his actions.

Somphon filed an appeal with the Supreme Court which yesterday (14 January) found him guilty of royal defamation for actions deemed to be disrespectful of the King. It noted that he not only sent pictures of the damaged portraits to a group chat but posted them on Facebook, and that there are other posts with derisive comments about the King on his profile page. It therefore ruled that he meant to undermine public respect for the monarchy.

Sentenced to 3 years in prison, his punishment was reduced to 2 years but not suspended.

TLHR noted that Somphon faces a total of 6 counts of royal defamation. 5 cases involve paint being thrown on portraits of the King and 1 involves spray painting. Courts of First Instance found him not guilty of royal defamation for throwing paint. The Appeal Court has so far overturned the verdict in four cases. He is now facing over 16 years in prison. The case heard yesterday (14 January) is the only one to have received a verdict from the Supreme Court.