Supreme Court convicts activists for royal defamation charge over protest speech

The Supreme Court has sentenced activists Jatupat Boonpattararaksa and Atthapol Buapat to prison on a royal defamation charge for speeches made during a protest in Chaiyaphum in 2021.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) said on Wednesday (30 September) that Jatupat was sentenced to 2 years and 12 months, or almost 3 years, in prison, while Atthapol was sentenced to 2 years.

The Supreme Court ruled that, although the royal defamation law mentions the monarch as an individual and not the monarchy as a whole, the monarchy includes the reigning monarch as well as past monarchs in the Chakri Dynasty. This is because there are continuous cultural and historical ties as well as legal structures, and because the respect the people have for the monarchy is partially the result of what each king has done.

The Court ruled that Jatupat’s speech defamed the King and past kings because he accused them of not being righteous. The Court believed that the monarch and the monarchy were connected and that issues concerning the monarchy were national security issues, so Jatupat’s speech referred to every monarch. 

It ruled that Atthapol’s speech caused a misunderstanding that the King ordered the blasting of a mountain for the benefit of a cement factory in Saraburi. It also ruled that being a monarch could not be considered a position in the same way as other bureaucratic positions. It ruled not to suspend the sentence because the speech was given in public, defamed the King, and caused others to believe that the King is not righteous.

Jatupat and Atthapol were charged with royal defamation, sedition, and violation of the Emergency Decree and the Sound Amplifier Act for speeches they made at protests in front of Phu Khiao Police Station and Phu Khiao School in Chaiyaphum on 1 February 2021.

The protest was to call for the police to apologize for intimidating students who registered for a “Ratsadon on Tour” camp, a forum organised by pro-democracy activists to exchange opinions about issues in the country. Jatupat and Atthapol gave speeches about monarchy reform, with Jatupat talking about the monarchy’s financial standing while Atthapol called for reducing the budget allocated to the royal family.

In September 2024, the Phu Khiao Provincial Court found them guilty of royal defamation. Jatupat was sentenced to 2 years and 12 months in prison, while Atthapol was sentenced to 2 years. A year later, in September 2025, the Appeal court upheld the verdict.

Jatupat and Atthapol have been detained pending appeal since 3 September 2025. On 11 March 2026, the Supreme Court granted them bail on the condition that they must wear an electronic monitoring bracelet. However, they remained in prison on other charges relating to participation in protests and have been transferred to the Bangkok Remand Prison. They are required to wear the monitoring devices although they are still in prison.

After the Supreme Court’s verdict was delivered, Jatupat’s mother, who is also his guarantor, asked about the petition to have their electronic monitoring devices removed. The judge told her that, due to the floods around the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court and Bangkok Remand Prison, it was not possible to bring Jatupat and Atthapol to court to process removal of the monitoring devices. Prison officials will do so once the floods recede.