Atirut (last name withheld), a 29-year-old programmer convicted at royal defamation for shouting at a royal motorcade, will serve his 1 year and 8 months prison sentence after withdrawing his appeal with the Supreme Court.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that Atirut and his lawyer went to the South Bangkok Criminal Court to withdraw his bail. He will be serving his sentence at the Bangkok Remand Prison.

Atirut said that he decided not to file for appeal with the Supreme Court because he does not want to spend more time going through a lengthy trial. Technology is advancing very quickly, and he said that he might not be able to catch up if he continues with the process. He also does not think the charge against him would be dismissed by the Supreme Court. He decided to serve his sentence so that he can start over as soon as possible.

He said, however, that he stand by his opinion that no one should be imprisoned or exiled for speaking out.

Atirut was charged with royal defamation and resisting arrest for refusing to sit down and shouting “you are a burden wherever you go” as King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida’s royal motorcade passed a crowd gathered at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC) on 15 October 2022. Plainclothes officers subsequently carried him inside the QSNCC, where he was detained in a room for an hour before being taken to Lumpini Police Station. The police also obtained a warrant to search his family home but found nothing incriminating.

Because he struggled to get away from the officers, he was told by the police he had to be taken to the Police Hospital for physical examination. However, they first took him to the Somdet Chaopraya Institute of Psychiatry, where he said staff tied him to a chair and demanded that a friend or family member come in to refuse treatment on his behalf before he could be released.

On 12 December 2023, the South Bangkok Criminal Court found him guilty of royal defamation and resisting arrest. He was sentenced to 3 years and 2 months in prison, a sentence that was reduced to 1 year and 8 months because he pleaded guilty. 

On 16 March 2026, the Appeal Court ruled to uphold the verdict on the grounds that calling the King and Queen a burden leads to hate, loss of faith, and conflict. It noted that Atirut confessed and has already been given the lowest penalty possible, and that he has a Bachelor’s degree and therefore should know right from wrong.

The Court also dismissed his appeal that he did not know the men arresting him were police officers or that they did not identify themselves on the grounds that the plainclothes officers were wearing their ID badges.