Freedom of the press

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance noted that freedom of speech in Thailand's domestic media environment—prior to the 2006 coup considered one of the freest and most vibrant in Asia—had quickly deteriorated following the military ousting of Thaksin Shinawatra. It noted the closure of community radio stations in Thai provinces, the intermittent blocking of cable news channels and the suspension of some Thai websites devoted to discussing the implications of military intervention to Thai democracy. SEAPA also noted that while there seemed to be no crackdown on journalists, and while foreign and local reporters seemed free to roam, interview, and report on the coup as they saw fit, self-censorship was a certain issue in Thai newsrooms.^[40][41][42]

In 2018, British journalist Suzanne Buchanan reported on a series of tourist deaths and sexual assaults on Ko Tao. Though she has not been to Thailand in years, she is wanted by police who say she is peddling fake news. In 2022 she published a book on the subject called The Curse of the Turtle "The True Story of Thailand's Backpacker Murders" published by Wild Blue Press.^[43] In December 2019 a Thai reporter was sentenced to two years in prison for a comment she made about worker's grievances filed against a Thammakaset Company poultry farm.^[44] She sent a tweet in 2016 in response to a ruling that the company pay 14 migrant workers 1.7 million baht in compensation and damages for having to work 20 hours a day without a break for 40 consecutive days at a wage less than the legal minimum. In her description of the ruling, she used the term "slave labour" to describe the workers' employment. Thammakaset sued her and the workers for criminal defamation, but lost the case against the workers. The court ruled that her choice of words misrepresented the facts and damaged the firm's reputation. In October 2020, Human Rights Watch wrote a letter demanding the end of harassment of Thai journalist Suchanee Cloitre. The joint letter was also signed by twelve other human rights organizations, calling on the Thailand government to protect journalists and human rights defenders from insignificant criminal proceedings.^[45]

In October 2020, Thailand's Ministry of Digital Economy and Society announced an emergency decree to censor blunt Voice TV on all online media channels. The ministry alleged the station of violating media restrictions under the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations and the Computer-Related Crime Act, over their coverage on pro-democracy protest in Thailand.^[46] In November 2021, the NBTC office led by Lt Gen Peerapong Monakit, an NBTC commissioner, gave a warning to TV operators and concessionaires to reconsider carefully or even refrain from presenting content on some monarchy-related issues from the 2020–2021 Thai protests, in particular the 10-point monarchy reform manifestos. Media outlets viewed the move as a threat, while academics may be reluctant to express opinions on the monarchy for fear of being punished. Analysts said such self-censorship could put all public debate down.^[47]

Same Sky Books owner and chief editor, Thanapol Eawsakul was arrested by Technology Crime Suppression Division police on 29 June 2022 for keeping a top secret document. Thanapol had been harassed by Royal Thai Police officers several times since he founded a company which printed critical political books related to the Monarchy of Thailand.^[48]

Lèse-majesté

Lèse-majesté law in Thailand is a crime according to Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code. It is illegal to defame, insult, or threaten the king, queen, heir-apparent, heir-presumptive, or regent. Modern Thai lèse-majesté law has been on the statute books since 1908. Thailand is the only constitutional monarchy to have strengthened its lèse-majesté law since World War II. With penalties ranging from three to fifteen years imprisonment for each count, it has been described as the "world's harshest lèse majesté law"^[49] and "possibly the strictest criminal-defamation law anywhere";^[50]

Anchan P. was handed 87-year prison sentence for uploading and sharing videos on the internet of an online talk show, after she had been detained in jail for nearly 4 years from 2015, then in 2021, the court convicted her by half to 43 and a half years due to her guilty plea. The UN Human Rights Committee has declared that "imprisonment is never an appropriate penalty" for lèse majesté case.^[51]

On 21 May 2022, the Human Rights Watch reported that a pro-democracy activist, Tantawan “Tawan” Tuatulanon, has been detained and unjustly charged for her peaceful protests. Tawan has advocated reforming the monarchy and abolishing draconian lese majeste. She also started a hunger strike on 20 April 2022, to protest her pre-trial detention.^[52] In 2023, Tawan and a fellow prisoner Orawan "Bam" Phupong have been taking part of a hunger strike to protest their imprisonment under the Lese-majeste laws. Both are in weak conditions and have reportedly experienced chest pains and nosebleeds.^[53]

Law enforcement abuse on people

In November 2021, Yan Marchal, an 18-years French expatriate in Thailand, was deported to his homeland after he had been mocking the Prayut Chan-o-cha's Thai junta and so on the military dominated government in TikTok. He was stopped by immigration officials in Phuket, after he just arrived from France to Thailand. The reason by the official was Marchal behaviour indicated that he was a possible danger to the public.^[54]

On 1 December 2021, the 28-year-old noodle vendor made a headline news, asked Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to retire quickly to allow others to perform the duties and voiced that Thailand needs a lot of development, while he was welcomed by people in Ban Dung District in Udon Thani. Later Ban Dung police came to her house, asking to see her so that they could keep a record of her, but she declined to meet them, saying she had done nothing wrong. The police denied it later.^[55]

Assaults on activists

Between 2018 and 2019, there had been 11 physical assaults on political activists in Thailand. Police investigations of the assaults have shown no progress.^[56]

Regime critic Ekachai Hongkangwarn has been assaulted seven times^[57] since 2017.^[58] Attacks have targeted his property and his person.^[59][60] The latest assault took place in May 2019, when he was beaten by four attackers in front of a court building. Authorities appear powerless to stop the attacks. One culprit was arrested in 2018, paid a fine, and was released.^[61]

On 28 June 2019, anti-junta activist Sirawith "Ja New" Seritiwat was attacked by four assailants wielding baseball bats on a busy Bangkok thoroughfare. Earlier in June, Sirawith was attacked by five men when traveling home from a political event. In the case of the latest attack, the deputy prime minister broke the government's silence on political attacks and ordered the police to act swiftly to find the attackers.^[62]

Forced disappearances

According to Amnesty Thailand, at least 59 human-rights defenders have been victims of forced disappearance since 1998.^[63] The Bangkok Post counts 80 confirmed disappeared, and likely murdered, since 1980. A report compiled in 2018 by the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Centre showed that at least 86 political refugees left the country after the 2014 coup d'état for coup-related reasons.^[64] The government of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha continues to refuse to criminalize torture and enforced disappearances.^[65]

Human rights advocates across Asia fear that Southeast Asian countries, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Cambodia, and Laos, have jointly agreed to cooperate to ensnare political activists who have fled their own borders and send them back to their home nations without due process to face torture and possible death.^[66] The Bangkok Post has noted that disappearances began to happen after the Thai and Lao governments agreed in December 2017 to cooperate in tracking down persons deemed "security threats".^[67]

Among those who disappeared:

• Haji Sulong, a reformist and a separatist who disappeared in 1954. He sought for greater recognition of the Jawi community in Patani.
• Tanong Po-arn, Thai labour union leader who disappeared following the 1991 Thai coup d'état by National Peace Keeping Council against the elected government.
• Somchai Neelapaijit, human rights attorney who championed the rights of Thai-Malay Muslims in the deep south. He was abducted and killed in 2004 during the Thaksin Shinawatra administration. His body was never found and no one has been punished.^[68][69]
• Porlajee "Billy" Rakchongcharoen, Karen-ethnic activist^[68] whose murdered remains were later discovered.
• Den Khamlae, villager-turned-activist^[70][71]
• On 22 June 2016, an anti-monarchist in Laos, Itthipol Sukpan, a 28-year-old pro-democracy broadcaster known as DJ Zunho, was snatched by unknown assailants and pulled into the woods. He was never seen again.^[72][73]
• Wuthipong Kachathamakul, also known as Ko Tee, red shirt activist, disappeared in July 2017.^[74][72][73]
• Surachai Danwattananusorn, also known as Surachai Sae Dan, a radical red shirt and critic of the monarchy, together with two aides, Chatchan "Phoo Chana" Boonphawal and Kraidet "Kasalong" Luelert.^[75][72][76] Surachai's family, a year after his disappearance, is still being held liable for 450,000 baht in bail bond fees by the Thai courts system.^[77] As of 2019^[update], the Thai police still consider Surachai a "missing person". They have failed to make progress on the case and the Thai government "...seems to have ignored these cases,..."^[67]
• Siam Theerawut, Chucheep Chivasut, and Kritsana Thapthai, three Thai anti-monarchy activists, went missing on 8 May 2019 when they are thought to have been extradited to Thailand from Vietnam after they attempted to enter the country with counterfeit Indonesian passports. The trio are wanted in Thailand for insulting the monarchy and failing to report when summoned by the junta after the May 2014 coup.^[78][79] Their disappearance prompted an "alert statement" from the Thai Alliance for Human Rights.^[80] Their disappearance passed the one-year mark on 8 May 2020 with still no sign of the trio.^[81]
• Od Sayavongm, a Lao refugee and critic of the Laotian government, disappeared from his Bangkok home on 26 August 2019 and has not been seen since.^[66]
• Wanchalearm Satsaksit, an exile who left after the 2014 coup, first for Laos and then Cambodia. He was abducted in Phnom Penh on 4 June 2020 in broad daylight by several men. The Cambodian authorities initially refused to investigate the case, calling it "fake news".^[82] The Cambodians relented on 9 June, saying they would investigate while denying any responsibility.^[83] The case has galvanized numerous groups into action on Wanchalearm's behalf.^[84]

According to the legal assistance group, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, at least 86 Thais left Thailand seeking asylum abroad following the military takeover in May 2014. Among them are the five members of the Thai band Faiyen. Their music is their crime, as some of their songs mock the monarchy, a serious offense in Thailand. The band, whose name means 'cool fire', announced on social media that its members feared for their lives after "many trusted people told us that the Thai military will come to kill us."^[85][86] In August 2019 Fai Yen band members were admitted to France to seek refugee status.^[87] All of those who disappeared in late 2018 and early 2019 were accused by Thai authorities of anti-monarchical activity.^[88]

Arbitrary arrest and detention

Since the beginning of 2021, prominent human rights defenders and democracy activists were charged with possibility of more than 100 years each on criminal charges due to involvement in pro-democracy activism. The leading figures of the 2020–2021 Thai protests that called reforms to the monarchy, Arnon Nampa, Panupong Jadnok, Parit Chiwarak, Jatupat (Pai Dao Din), Panusaya (Rung), and Benja Apan were all detained await trial in 2021, in series of detainments and releases, some were imprisoned accumulatively for more than 200 days, after Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha declared to use all laws including Lèse-majesté to the protesters in November 2020.^[89]

In 2022, there are series of systematic harassment and detention against young monarchy-reform activists such as Tantawan Tuatulanon case. Tantawan was imprisoned which she protested by hunger strike throughout 37 days. Most activists who mentioned the monarchy were also forced to wear an electronic monitoring (EM) on an ankle by the criminal court.^[90] There are more than 15 activists, dissident to the moarchy, still imprison until current day.^[91]

Political abuse of psychiatry

On 9 July 2020, Tiwagorn Withiton, Thai political and human rights activist, was forcedly carried out by a group of 6 officers and taken to hospital. In a car, the officers tied his hands with a cloth and inject him with unknown medication. The police searched his house and took his computer and smartphone, and made his mother sign a consent of bringing him to be admitted to Rajanagarindra Psychiatric Hospital in Khon Kaen.^[92] Hospital director, Nattakorn Champathong, explained that Tiwagorn had not been forced to enter the hospital. Khon Kaen's police chief, Major General Puttipong Musikul explained that he was getting treatment because his relatives had him admitted.^[93]

Elections, political parties, and representation

Regarding 2019 Thai general election, the military junta government failed to make terms for a free and fair national election, according to the Human Rights Watch. The procedure for forming a new government, 250 military-appointed Senates have half the total number of votes for the government as the elected House of Representatives, severely undermines the right of Thai citizens to choose their leaders. Moreover, the electoral process problems consisted of repressive laws restricting freedom of speech, association, and assembly, media censorship, lack of equal access to the media, and lack of independence and impartiality of the national election commission, leading to the dissolution of a major opposition Thai Raksa Chart Party, in which King Vajiralongkorn prohibited Ubol Ratana from entering politics. HRW also stated that the junta disregarded Article 25 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).^[95]

On 20 November 2019, the court convicted Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, disqualifying his MP status.^[96] On 21 February 2020, Future Forward Party was dissolved by the Constitutional Court. Amnasty International stated it violated rights to freedom of expression and association,^[97] and HRW condemned that it seriously damaged the return to genuine democratic rule.^[98]

Attitude adjustment

Since the 2014 Thai coup d'état, the National Council for Peace and Order had made full use of martial law to prosecute opponents, ban political activity, and censor the media. More than 1,000 people, including academics, political bloggers, activists and politicians, have been detained or sent for "attitude adjustment" at military installations. There are allegations of torture. Prosecutions under the country's strict lèse majesté laws, which protect the monarchy from insult, have risen sharply.^[99] The victims said that they were taken out of their house and detained in the military base. Renowned dissents such as Yingluck Shinawatra, Watana Muangsook, Pravit Rojanaphruk, and Karun Hosakul were abused by the NCPO since the coup. Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan told reporters that "If they speak so 100 times, they will be summoned 100 times." Prawit added that "attitude adjustment" can last between three and seven days.^[100]

Peaceful protests

On 6 December 2021, the Royal Thai Police arrested more than fifty local villagers from Chana District that came to sit in near the government house, protesting against plans for industrial park in "Southern Economic Corridor".^[101]

South Thailand insurgency

Problems have been reported in the southern provinces related to the South Thailand insurgency. Some 180 persons are reported to have died there while in custody in 2004. In a particularly high-profile case, Muslim human rights lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit was reportedly harassed, threatened, and finally forcibly disappeared in March 2004 following his allegations of torture by state security forces.^[104] In 2006, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra stated that he believed that Somchai was dead and that state security forces appeared to be responsible.^[105] Five policemen were eventually charged in Somchai's death, though the trial only resulted in one conviction that was overturned on appeal in March 2011.^[106] The verdict was denounced by the Asian Human Rights Commission,^[107] and Somchai's wife Angkhana declared her intention to continue to appeal the case to the Thai Supreme Court.^[106] Since 2007, a number of suspected insurgents in custody have died, some with suspicious injuries.^[108]

In late 2019, three young woodcutters were murdered by Thai troops in Bo-ngo Subdistrict, Ra-ngae District, Narathiwat Province. The government claimed initially that the killings occurred in a clash between paramilitary Rangers and terrorists. Later, the Human Rights Protection Committee, appointed by the Fourth Army Area Commander, concluded that soldiers mistook the dead men for terrorists and killed them as they were running away. Families of the deceased pointed out that the young men possessed nothing but wood cutting tools. Images of the dead men on social media showed that each of them was shot in the head—two of them sitting crossed-leg on the ground, leaning forward. The Commander of the Fourth Army Area issued an apology, a compensation payment of 500,000 baht for each death, and transferred the responsible commander of the 45th Ranger Forces Regiment elsewhere.^[109]

The Suicide of Khanakorn Pianchana October 2019 called for improvement on the justice in Muslim community in deep south. Judge Khanakorn told the accused, five Muslims, and their family members that he wanted to acquit them due to lack of evidence, but was being forced from above to convict.^[110]

From January 2004 to June 2020, Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat Provinces, together with four districts of Songkhla Province have suffered at least 20,323 violent incidents, resulting in at least 6,997 deaths and 13,143 casualties, 61% of whom were civilians.^[109]

Burmese refugees

Burmese refugees in Thailand can stay in one of the refugee camps along the border with Burma, which protect them from arrest and summary removal to Burma but they lack freedom to move or work. Or, they can live and work outside the camps, but typically without recognized legal status of any kind, leaving them at risk of arrest and deportation. From 2005 to 2011, more than 76,000 Burmese refugees were resettled from the border camps to third countries, though the total number of camp residents has remained at about 140,000. ^[113][114]

Camp refugees who venture out of the camps are regarded by the Thai government as illegal aliens and are subject to arrest. Thai police or paramilitaries regularly apprehend camp residents and either return them to camp if the refugees pay sufficient bribes, or send them to one of Thailand's Immigration Detention Centers and then deport them to Burma.^[113][114] Refugees in the camps find themselves subject to abuse and exploitation at the hands of other refugees. Refugees working as camp security as well as camp leaders and camp residents with hidden connections to ethnic armed groups inside Burma all wield power in the camps.^[115][116]

Thai government

On February 19, the deputy national police chief, Gen. Sriwara Rangsipramanakul, publicly intimidated Chuchart Kanpai to prosecute him with an insult and making false statements stating Bilal Mohammad (Adem Karadag), his client, was tortured into confessing to the 2015 Bangkok bombing at Erawan Shrine.^[119]

In late 2017, Arnon Nampa, human rights activist, criticized the court for punishing his particular group of clients by restricting them from seeing each other. He said that the court had no right to order that. On 5 December, he was charged with violating the Computer Crime Act and contempt of court by Lt.Col.Supharat Kam-in.^[120] He denied all charges and believed it was politically motivated against exercising rights to freedom of expression. Human rights NGOs demanded military junta to stop a strategic litigation against public participation (SLAPPs).^[121] Front Line Defenders condemned the military junta on judicial harassment of him, strongly believed it linked to his human rights lawyer duty and demanded junta drop all charges against him.^[122]

Business sector

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (UN Human Rights) raised deep concern for judicial system abused by business, Thai poultry producer Thammakaset, to intimidate and silence human rights defenders that exposed the company's exploitative and abusive labour systems. It may create 'chilling effect' on human rights defenders, journalists, and encourage other businesses to do the similar case, particularly against women. The Human Rights Council pressured Thailand to address the abuse of the judicial system and to protect human rights defenders.^[123] Angkhana Neelaphaijit is also in the defenders.^[124]

In February 2013, the Thai pineapple company 'Natural Fruit' has filed four civil and criminal lawsuits against Andy Hall for computer crimes and defamation, including 300 million Thai baht civil defamation lawsuit. Hall reported to the Finnish NGO Finnwatch for serious labour abuses at the factory in Prachuap Khiri Khan. He also gave an interview to Al-Jazeera on the same report. The report is “Cheap has a high price: Responsibility problems relating to international private label products and food production in Thailand, including allegations of underpaid wages, child labour, distraint of migrant workers' documents, and unsuccessful to provide legally labor leaves.^[125]