Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit

Charges filed against Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit under the lèse-majesté and Computer Crime laws were dropped today by the Criminal Court in Bangkok. The case related to a Facebook Live video stream on 18th January 2021, in which Thanathorn criticised the contract between AstraZeneca and Siam Bioscience (a Crown Property Bureau company) to produce coronavirus vaccines in Thailand.

The court has ruled that Thanathorn’s comments were directed only towards the government, and didn’t constitute defamation. Thanathorn was disqualified as an MP in 2019, and his Future Forward party was dissolved in 2020.

ฤดูกาลประชาชน(‘the season of the people’)

ฤดูกาลประชาชน (‘the season of the people’), published in 2022, features interviews with political campaigners including Arnon Nampa and Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, with portraits of each interviewee by Khai Maew. The interviews were conducted by Thiti Meetam.

Arnon, whose picture appears on the cover, is a lawyer and protest leader, and the author of books on poetry and politics. Somyot was editor of Voice of Taksin magazine. Both men were convicted of lèse-majesté, and the Somyot interview starts on p. 112. (Lèse-majesté is article 112 of the Thai criminal code.)

“หมอ ฟ้องภาพนี้เพราะเหมือนการ์ตูนชายรักชาย”(‘I’m pressing charges because it looks gay’)

One of the strangest lèse-majesté cases began yesterday, when a dentist from Chiang Mai announced on Facebook that she had prepared a dossier of evidence to prove that a cartoon book published last year defamed King Naresuan. Yuwathida Poopunhong argues that the cover of Amulin’s Ayothaya Ayeyarwady vol. 1 (อโยธยา เอยาวดี เล่ม ๑) shows a man — who she presumes to be Naresuan — surrounded by flowers, which makes him seem overly effeminate and therefore gay (“หมอ ฟ้องภาพนี้เพราะเหมือนการ์ตูนชายรักชาย”).

Why is the case so odd? There are many reasons. Yuwathida admits that she hasn’t read the book (“หมอยังไม่ได้อ่านเนื้อเรื่องเลยค่ะลูก”). She even confesses that she herself has previously insulted Rama X (“เหตุการณ์เกือบตายที่หมอไปด่า ร.10 & ต้นตระกูลจนเกือบ ตาย”). Most bizarrely, she says that she is filing the lèse-majesté charge because Naresuan appeared in her nightmares and told her to do it (“พระองค์น่ากลัวอยู่เด้อ ชอบมาเข้าฝันหมอ ฝากให้หมอแช่ง”).

The comic is homoerotic — it falls within the BL (‘boys’ love’) genre — but it isn’t sexually explicit. In any case, although the main character was clearly inspired by Naresuan, he has a different name: the character is called อำดง (‘forest lurker’), which is almost a phonetic anagram of Naresuan’s title องค์ดำ (‘black prince’). A disclaimer from the publisher stresses that all names have been changed, and the comic is a work of fiction.

In one of her Facebook posts, Yuwathida apologises to Amulin for the necessity of filing the lèse-majesté charge (“หมอขอโทษล่วงหน้า”). But later in the same paragraph, she also says callously: ‘whether you go to jail or not is your problem’ (“จะติดคุก มันก็เรื่องของหนู”).

Naresuan died more than 400 years ago, in 1605, though a modern lèse-majesté case involving him is not unprecedented. The respected public intellectual Sulak Sivaraksa narrowly avoided a conviction in 2014 after he questioned the historical accuracy of Naresuan’s legendary elephant duel.

If Dad Were Looking Up, He Would Be Happy

Yesterday, Untitled for Film showed a programme of short films on the rooftop of Chiang Mai University’s Department of Media Arts and Design. The screening marked Thai Father’s Day, which is celebrated on 5th December.

It was a rare opportunity to see some of the films from the หนังน่าจะแบน (‘movies that should be banned’) competition held at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre back in 2013. In fact, yesterday was the first public screening for two films from that event.

Sorayos Prapapan’s Long Live the Kim (คิม) and Akkara Patchakkhapati’s Pain (เจ็บปวด) were submitted to the BACC, and Pain won first prize, but ironically both films were considered too sensitive to be shown there. Long Live the Kim features news footage from 2011, and its soundtrack is the song King in Fairy Tales (พระราชาในนิทาน). Pain ends with a collage of photographs of Thai political events and memes.

Warat Bureephakdee’s deeply moving film Secret Among Wings (ความลับในฝูงนก) was also shown last night. Sounds from May 2010 of red-shirt protesters calling for democracy, and the military responding with gunfire, are heard over present-day shots of Ratchaprasong and nearby Wat Pathum Wanaram. (Thai Cinema Uncensored discusses these locations as examples of ‘guilty landscapes’, public spaces that bore silent witness to past violence.)

The title of yesterday’s event — If Dad Were Looking Up, He Would Be Happy — recalls an exhibition held at Cartel Artspace, Our Daddy Always Looks Down on Us (คิดถึงคนบนฟ้า), which opened on Father’s Day in 2020. Their sentimental Thai titles are also very similar: If Dad Were Looking Up’s Thai title is คิดถึงคนบน(ดาด)ฟ้า. (The additional word in brackets refers to the rooftop location of the screening.)

Thaksin Shinawatra:“The case was dismissed...”

Charges of lèse-majesté and violation of the Computer Crime Act against former PM Thaksin Shinawatra — the single most influential figure in Thai politics over the past two decades — were dismissed by the Criminal Court in Bangkok this morning. The charges related to a video interview that Thaksin gave in South Korea ten years ago: speaking to The Chosun Daily (조선일보), he implied that a “palace circle” was behind the 2014 coup.

Today, the court ruled that Thaksin’s interview did not constitute lèse-majesté, as he had not singled out any specific individual for criticism. The verdict followed the letter of the lèse-majesté law, and the court did not detect any possible innuendo in Thaksin’s vague references to palace insiders. This is how the law should be applied, of course, though it’s in contrast to lèse-majesté cases involving less high-profile defendants, in which the law has been interpreted more broadly.

Thaksin’s passports were revoked by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2015, in a preemptive decision pending a police investigation into the Chosun Daily video. Two days later, lèse-majesté charges were filed against him on behalf of Udomdej Sitabutr, army chief at the time (raising questions about the politicisation of the military). The case lay dormant for almost a decade, though it was reopened last year, following Thaksin’s return from self-imposed exile. He appeared at the Office of the Attorney General to answer the charges, and was then formally indicted. The long-running case has now been dropped.

Happy New Year, Stranger

Chatchawan Thongchan directed one of the best Thai short films of the past few years, From Forest to City (อรัญนคร). His latest film is Happy New Year, Stranger (สวัสดีปีใหม่ คนไม่รู้จัก), a timely and powerful documentary about the plight of lèse-majesté prisoners and the campaign to quash their convictions.

The film opens with footage from 8th November 2020, when riot police fired tear gas to prevent demonstrators entering the Grand Palace to deliver an open letter addressed to the King. In a voiceover, Chatchawan explains that it was this protest movement that led to his political awakening: “This is where my political journey began... there were protests happening in 2020. That’s when I started to pay attention”.

This realisation of political consciousness is known in Thai as ta sawang, and several directors — Pen-ek Ratanaruang, Yuthlert Sippapak, Chulayarnnon Siriphol, Thunska Pansittivorakul, Apichatpong Weerasethakul, and Nontawat Numbenchapol — discussed their ta sawang moments in interviews for Thai Cinema Uncensored. But in the self-reflexive Happy New Year, Stranger Chatchawan does something unique: he uses the film to articulate his own personal questions about the political system.

Most of the material in Happy New Year, Stranger was shot last year, at a vigil outside parliament calling for an amnesty for lèse-majesté charges, and at a New Year’s Eve street party outside Bangkok Remand Prison held in solidarity with lèse-majesté convicts detained there. At both events, live music was played, and in his director’s statement, Chatchawan describes these scenes as “a gift for political prisoners behind bars, allowing them to feel a sense of freedom.”

This coming together of activists and artists to support prisoners charged with lèse-majesté was also a key feature of Chatchawan’s similar short film To a Friend I Have Never Met (แด่เพื่อนที่ไม่รู้จัก), which was released on New Year’s Eve and was dedicated to political prisoners. There are also parallels with Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s short film Ashes, which — like Happy New Year, Stranger — ends with a firework display.

Finally, Happy New Year, Stranger is an especially topical film, though for an unfortunate reason: a bill proposing amnesty for lèse-majesté cases was rejected by parliament yesterday, as expected. A People’s Party bill calling for a case-by-case amnesty review was also rejected. Three amnesty bills were passed, though each of them explicitly states that those charged with lèse-majesté are not eligible for consideration.

Previous documentaries dealing directly with lèse-majesté cases include 112 News from Heaven, The Letter from Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ), Hungry for Freedom, We Need to Talk About อานนท์ (‘we need to talk about Arnon’), and The Cost of Freedom. (Thai Cinema Uncensored discusses the impact of the lèse-majesté law on Thai filmmakers, and their responses to it.)

Hungry for Freedom

“Do we really have to starve to death, before we get bail?”
— Netiporn Sanesangkhom

Rachata Thongruay’s documentary Hungry for Freedom, a profile of political prisoners Netiporn Sanesangkhom and Nutthanit Duangmusit, will be shown at Artcade in Phayao on 28th July. The event, ความสูญเสียในโลกที่ไม่เคยหยุดเจ็บ (‘loss in a world that never stops hurting’), marks the closing of the Phayao Through Poster exhibition, and Nutthanit will take part in a Q&A after the screening.

Netiporn died of cardiac arrest last year, after going on a prolonged hunger strike to protest against the jailing of political protesters. A leader of the Thalu Wang protest group, she had been charged with lèse-majesté, and was released on bail only after a previous hunger strike of sixty-four days.

Rachata interviewed Netiporn and Nutthanit while they were out on bail after their initial hunger strike. Netiporn tells him: “I thought... do we really have to starve to death, before we get bail?” The film has had two previous Thai screenings: last year at Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus, and earlier this year at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre during the Remembering Her, Remember Us (“บุ้ง เนติพร” วันที่เธอหายไป) event.

Remembering Her, Remember Us

“Do we really have to starve to death, before we get bail?”
— Netiporn Sanesangkhom

Exactly a year ago, Netiporn Sanesangkhom died of cardiac arrest after going on a prolonged hunger strike to protest against the jailing of political protesters. Netiporn — a leader of the Thalu Wang protest group — was charged with lèse-majesté, and had been released on bail only after a previous hunger strike of sixty-four days. Today, on the first anniversary of her death, Netiporn is being commemorated at Remembering Her, Remember Us (“บุ้ง เนติพร” วันที่เธอหายไป), an all-day event at Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.

Rachata Thongruay’s half-hour documentary Hungry for Freedom, about Netiporn and her fellow hunger striker Nutthanit Duangmusit, will be shown as part of the event. Rachata interviewed Netiporn and Nutthanit while they were out on bail after their initial hunger strike. Netiporn tells him: “I thought... do we really have to starve to death, before we get bail?”

This will be the film’s second screening in Thailand; it was previously shown on 10th November 2024 at the House of Wisdom community space on Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus. A large portrait of Netiporn was included in last year’s Murdered Justice (วิสามัญยุติธรรม) exhibition, held at BACC just a week after her death.

Netiporn and Nutthanit conducted public opinion polls, asking people to vote with coloured stickers whether they supported or opposed lèse-majesté prosecutions. It was this activity that resulted in lèse-majesté charges against the pair, though two of their sticker boards are on display at Remembering Her, Remember Us. (Murdered Justice featured a similarly controversial exhibit: the t-shirt worn by Tiwagorn Withiton that led to lèse-majesté charges against him.)

Hungry for Freedom is one of several documentaries that focus on individual protesters. We Need to Talk About อานนท์ (‘we need to talk about Arnon’) and The Letter from Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ), both released last year, are about Arnon Nampa. The Cost of Freedom — which was screened in New York in 2023, but has not yet been shown in Thailand — is about Panusaya Sithjirawattanakul.

The Day the Sky Trembled

Nutchanon Pairoj, a founder member of the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration protest group, has been found guilty of lèse-majesté and sentenced to two years in prison. He was originally found not guilty by the Thanyaburi Provincial Court on 8th November 2023, though that verdict was overturned today by the Court of Appeal.

Nutchanon was one of several people in a truck that was stopped by police in Pathum Thani on 19th September 2020. They were en route to Thammasat University, intending to distribute copies of the booklet The Day the Sky Trembled (ปรากฏการณ์สะท้านฟ้า 10 สิงหา) to protesters gathered at the university. Police confiscated 45,080 copies of the booklet, and detained the occupants of the truck, though ultimately only Nutchanon was charged.

The Day the Sky Trembled — so notorious that it has become known simply as ‘the red booklet’ — contains transcripts of speeches given by UFTD protest leaders at Thammasat on 10th August 2020. Nutchanon is not quoted in the booklet, though today’s judgement convicted him of knowingly attempting to distribute material that contravened the lèse-majesté law.

To a Friend I Have Never Met

Today is New Year’s Eve, though lèse-majesté suspects, and those who have fled the country to avoid lèse-majesté charges, are unable to celebrate with their families. Chatchawan Thongchan, director of From Forest to City (อรัญนคร) — who also spells his name Chatchawal Thongjun — has made a new short film for the new year dedicated to lèse-majesté prisoners: To a Friend I Have Never Met (แด่เพื่อนที่ไม่รู้จัก).

The documentary shows protesters campaigning for the release of Arnon Nampa and all other political prisoners. In one sequence, Chatchawan appropriates footage of a state occasion, altering the framing for a satirical effect. In another witty shot, he films the back of a protester; the strap of the man’s bag partially covers the “112” logo on his t-shirt, making it look like a sign with a different message.

The film’s soundtrack is a conversation about the plight of those in self-exile who are unable to return to Thailand. The speakers compare the dire situation to dystopian fiction: “It’s as hard as in Squid Game [오징어 게임]. If you want to stay here you have to bow your head and respect them. No questions allowed. No doubts allowed. Because otherwise, it’ll be like in 1984.”

With its compassionate focus on the plight of those charged with lèse-majesté, To a Friend I Have Never Met is similar to Koraphat Cheeradit’s Yesterday Is Another Day, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Ashes, and Vichart Somkaew’s Contemporary Thai Political Trilogy (ไตรภาคการเมืองร่วมสมัยไทย). (Thai Cinema Uncensored discusses the impact of the lèse-majesté law on Thai filmmakers, and their responses to it.)

The Letter from Silence

Vichart Somkaew’s latest short film The Letter from Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ) features extracts from letters by lawyer and pro-democracy campaigner Arnon Nampa to his family, written while he serves a prison sentence for lèse-majesté. Arnon’s letters are often heartbreaking, as he faces the prospect of many years in jail if convicted on further charges, separated from his wife and their two young children.

The film is silent, except for ambient sounds recorded at night in a quiet neighbourhood. It avoids the explanatory captions of Vichart’s previous films 112 News from Heaven and Cremation Ceremony (ประวัติย่อของบางสิ่งที่หายไป), instead letting Arnon’s words stand alone. This makes the film all the more powerful, and emphasises the hopelessness of Arnon’s situation.

The Letter from Silence’s focus on Arnon’s letters themselves has echoes of another short film with a similar title, Prap Boonpan’s Letter from the Silence (จดหมายจากความเงียบ). Prap’s film documented the suicide note left by Nuamthong Praiwan, who had protested against the 2006 coup by crashing his taxi into a tank.

The Letter from Silence, which is dedicated to Arnon and other political prisoners, was shown as part of this year’s online Short Film Marathon (หนังสั้นมาราธอน) on 5th November. Vichart has announced plans to combine it with 112 News from Heaven and Cremation Ceremony into an hour-long portmanteau film, Contemporary Thai Political Trilogy. Arnon’s letters have been translated into English by the Article 112 Project website.

Arnon led a protest at Democracy Monument on 3rd August 2020, one of the first rallies calling for reform of the monarchy. The speech he delivered at that event was published as The Monarchy and Thai Society (สถาบันพระมหากษัตริย์กับสังคมไทย). He has also written a book of poetry, เหมือนบอดใบ้ไพร่ฟ้ามาสุดทาง (‘we subjects, as if mute and blind, have found ourselves at the end of the line’). A documentary about him, We Need to Talk About อานนท์ (‘we need to talk about Arnon’), was screened at Phatthalung Micro Cinema earlier this year. Last year, Arnon’s portrait, titled The Lawyer, was painted by Wana Wanlayongkoon.

Lazada

Today the Criminal Court in Bangkok dismissed lèse-majesté charges in relation to online videos promoting the shopping website Lazada and Nara skincare. Lazada had posted a video on 5th May 2022 featuring Thidaporn Chaokhuvieng in a wheelchair, which led to allegations that it was mocking Princess Chulabhorn and disabled people in general. Another TikTok campaign showed images of Thidaporn alongside Kittikoon Thammakitirad, who was dressed similarly to Queen Sirikit.

The video campaign was surprisingly audacious for a mainstream, market-leading company like Lazada, as lèse-majesté is rigorously enforced and the references to Chulabhorn and Sirikit were unambiguous. Two days later, Srisuwan Janya filed lèse-majesté charges against Thidaporn and Kittikoon, amongst others, and they were arrested on 16th June 2022.

The Criminal Court’s decision today was as surprising as the initial Lazada campaign. Previously, lèse-majesté has been broadly interpreted, though today’s judgement followed the precise letter of the law (article 112 of the criminal code). Article 112 specifies that only defamation or insults directed at the King, Queen, heir to the throne, or regent are illegal, and the court today made clear that it would only prosecute lèse-majesté cases related to those named individuals.

Therefore, as Chulabhorn is not the heir to the throne, the case against Thidaporn was dismissed, perhaps setting a precedent that criticism of some royals is not a crime. The court also ruled that the imitation of Queen Sirikit was not disrespectful, and therefore dismissed the charges against Kittikoon. Again, this was unexpected, as it seems to permit the impersonation of a senior royal, even for commercial purposes.

ปฏิทินพระราชทาน(‘royal calendar’)

The Court of Appeal yesterday upheld a two-year jail sentence for a man charged with lèse-majesté for distributing a calendar featuring a cartoon duck. The 2021 desk calendar, published by the Khana Ratsadon pro-democracy protest group, was titled ปฏิทินพระราชทาน (‘royal calendar’), in what the police claimed was an attempt to imitate an official royal publication.

The lèse-majesté charge related to five of the calendar’s cartoons, illustrating the months of January, March, April, May, and October. (The images cannot be reproduced or described, as this would constitute a repetition of the offence.) The man was arrested on New Year’s Eve 2020, and sentenced on 7th March 2023, though he was granted bail pending an appeal. He did not attend court yesterday, and was sentenced in absentia.

This is the third calendar to be confiscated by the Thai authorities in recent years. Wall calendars featuring photographs of former prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawawtra were seized in 2018 and 2016.

Artn’t

Chiang Mai’s Provincial Court yesterday upheld an earlier dismissal of lèse-majesté charges against Vitthaya Klangnil, a member of the performance art group Artn’t. The case against Vitthaya was originally dismissed on 23rd May last year. (He was previously convicted of lèse-majesté in relation to another case — displaying a modified version of the Thai flag — and received a suspended sentence.)

Charges against Vitthaya were filed after a performance on 1st May 2021, during which he climbed onto Chiang Mai University’s main entrance and poured red paint over himself. Three members of university staff noticed that, at one point, Vitthaya lay on his back and raised one of his feet in the air. There is a portrait of King Rama X above the entrance, and the staff members filed a police complaint noting that pointing a foot at someone is considered offensive in Thai culture. The case was dismissed as the court ruled that, although his gesture was disrespectful, there was insufficient evidence that Vitthaya deliberately intended to insult the King.

The performance is featured in Red Poetry (ความกวีสีแดง), a documentary by Supamok Silarak about Vitthaya’s various legal cases. Supamok’s film was screened in the Short Film Marathon 27 (หนังสั้นมาราธอน 27), at The 27th Thai Short Film and Video Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์สั้นครั้งที่ 27), in the Short 27 Awarded Film Screening programme, and at Wildtype Middle Class 2024. It has also been shown in Chiang Mai (most recently in February), Salaya, and Phatthalung. A shorter version of the film — Red Poetry: Verse 1 (เราไป ไหน ได้) — had its premiere at Wildtype 2022.

บทปราศรัยคัดสรรคดี 112 (‘speeches on 112’)

A student has received a three-year prison sentence, suspended for two years, after being found guilty of lèse-majesté for attempting to distribute copies of a booklet, บทปราศรัยคัดสรรคดี 112 (‘speeches on 112’). The booklet, published by the United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, features a collection of speeches calling for the abolition of the lèse-majesté law, which is article 112 of the Thai criminal code.

The graduate student, whose name has not been released, was accused of carrying a box containing copies of the booklet at a Naresuan University commencement ceremony on 30th December 2021. Police confiscated all copies before they could be handed out to anyone attending the event. (Copies had previously been distributed at Three Kings Monument Square in Chiang Mai, and at the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.) The student was sentenced yesterday, though the booklet itself has not been banned from publication.

“Thaksin is ready to prove his innocence...”

The Office of the Attorney General confirmed today that former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra will be indicted for lèse-majesté and violation of the Computer Crime Act, in relation to an interview he gave in South Korea almost a decade ago: speaking to The Chosun Daily (조선일보), he implied that a “palace circle” was behind the 2014 coup. An OAG spokesman said this morning: “The attorney general has decided to indict Thaksin on all charges”. Thaksin was not present to answer those charges, as he tested positive for coronavirus yesterday. His hearing has been postponed until 18th June.

Thaksin’s passports were revoked by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on 27th May 2015, in a preemptive decision pending a police investigation into the Chosun Daily video. Two days later, lèse-majesté charges were filed against Thaksin on behalf of Udomdej Sitabutr, army chief at the time (raising questions about the politicisation of the military). After Thaksin was indicted today, his lawyer Winyat Chartmontri said: “Thaksin is ready to prove his innocence in the justice system.” That stance may change if the case goes to trial, as those accused of lèse-majesté almost always enter guilty pleas. (Defendants pleading guilty often receive reduced sentences.)

When Thaksin returned from self-imposed exile on 22nd August 2023, it seemed that he and the military had reached a mutually beneficial truce. However, the military giveth and taketh away: Thaksin has been wrong-footed several times, and every act of leniency granted to him has come with strings attached. He was released on parole on 18th February, yet the very next day he appeared at the OAG (in a wheelchair) after the Chosun Daily case was suddenly revived. His application for a royal pardon was accepted, though it only partially commuted his prison sentence. Senators endorsed Srettha Thavisin, the leader of his proxy party, as Prime Minister, though a group of forty senators has now petitioned the Constitutional Court to investigate Srettha.

Srettha is accused of violating article 160 of the constitution by appointing Pichit Chuenban, Thaksin’s disgraced former lawyer, as Prime Minister’s Office Minister. Pichit was jailed for six months in 2008 after blatantly attempting to bribe a judge on Thaksin’s behalf with ฿2 million in cash. Article 160 states that government ministers must “not have behaviour which is a serious violation of or failure to comply with ethical standards”, which would seem to apply in Pichit’s case.

The court accepted the petition against Srettha on 23rd May. With both Thaksin and Srettha now under investigation, it seems clear that a warning message (at the very least) is being sent, reminding Thaksin that his deal with the military was not made on equal terms. Thaksin upheld his side of the Faustian pact when his proxy party Pheu Thai prevented the anti-military Move Forward Party from forming a government, but Move Forward is now facing the prospect of dissolution by the Constitutional Court. This would be a more effective neutralisation of MFP, and could be achieved without Thaksin, who may therefore become surplus to the military’s requirements.

Red Poetry

Supamok Silarak’s film Red Poetry (ความกวีสีแดง) will be shown at Doc Club and Pub in Bangkok, Lorem Ipsum in Hat Yai, and Alien Artspace in Khon Kaen on 26th May, as part of the Wildtype Middle Class 2024 season. It will also be screened at Chiang Mai University’s Department of Media Arts and Design on 4th June, at dot.b in Songkhla on 6th June, at Vongchavalitkul University’s Faculty of Communication Arts in Korat on 7th June, at the University of Phayao on 13th June, and at Bo(ok)hemian Arthouse in Phuket on 23rd June. The documentary is a profile of performance artist Vitthaya Klangnil, who co-founded the group Artn’t. A shorter version of the film — Red Poetry: Verse 1 (เราไป ไหน ได้) — had its premiere at Wildtype 2022.

Red Poetry shows the intense endurance and commitment Vitthaya invests in his protest art. A durational performance — sitting near Chiang Mai’s Tha Pae Gate for nine full days — led to his collapse from exhaustion. In another action, he climbed onto Chiang Mai University’s main entrance, repeatedly slapped himself in the face, and jumped into a pond. Before reporting to the police to answer charges of sedition, he vomited blue paint outside the police station.

The film ends with Vitthaya’s most extreme action: he carved “112” into his chest, in protest at the lèse-majesté (article 112) charges he faced after exhibiting a modified version of the Thai flag in 2021. He was convicted of lèse-majesté last year, and received a suspended sentence.

Supamok’s film was screened three times as part of The 27th Thai Short Film and Video Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์สั้น ครั้งที่ 27): in the online Short Film Marathon (หนังสั้นมาราธอน), at the main festival itself, and in the Short 27 Awarded Film Screening programme. It has previously been shown in Chiang Mai (most recently in February), Salaya, and Phatthalung.

Office of the Attorney General:“The police notified Thaksin about the allegation...”

Former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is expected to be paroled later this month, though in another twist to his legal drama, he also faces lèse-majesté charges that could extend his custodial sentence. Thaksin returned from self-imposed exile in August last year, and the Supreme Court sentenced him to an eight-year prison term for corruption and abuse of power.

However, on his first day in jail, Thaksin was transferred to a police hospital for unspecified medical reasons, and has remained there ever since. After he applied for a royal pardon, his eight-year sentence was reduced to one year, and the Department of Corrections confirmed last month that, given his age (seventy-four), he was eligible for parole. (These events were presumably not unrelated to Pheu Thai’s cooperation with the military’s political wing.)

This apparent leniency may have reached its limit, as the Office of the Attorney General announced today that an investigation will be opened into lèse-majesté charges first filed against Thaksin in 2016. An OAG spokesman said that “senior officials from the Office of the Attorney General and the police notified Thaksin about the allegation” on 17th January, and the charges relate to an interview he gave to South Korean media in 2015, when he implied that a “palace circle” was behind the 2014 coup.

Red Poetryยังมีจิตใจจะใฝ่ฝัน(‘still having a mind that will dream’)

After a screening last week in Chiang Mai, Supamok Silarak’s film Red Poetry (ความกวีสีแดง) will be shown in Phatthalung this weekend. The feature-length documentary is a profile of performance artist Vitthaya Klangnil, who co-founded the group Artn’t. A shorter version of the film — Red Poetry: Verse 1 (เราไป ไหน ได้) — was screened at Wildtype 2022.

The documentary shows the intense endurance and commitment Vitthaya invests in his protest art. A durational performance — sitting in front of Chiang Mai’s Tha Pae Gate for nine full days — led to his collapse from exhaustion. In another action, he climbed onto Chiang Mai University’s main entrance, repeatedly slapped himself in the face, and fell into a pond. When he reported to the police to answer charges of sedition, he vomited blue paint outside the police station.

The film ends with Vitthaya’s most extreme action: carving “112” into his chest, in protest at the lèse-majesté (article 112) charges he faced after he exhibited a modified version of the Thai flag in 2021. He was convicted of lèse-majesté last year, and received a suspended sentence.

Red Poetry will be shown at the Swiftlet Book Shop on 10th February, at an event titled Red Poetry ยังมีจิตใจจะใฝ่ฝัน (‘still having a mind that will dream’). Swiftlet was also the venue for the inaugural Phatthalung Micro Cinema screening last month.)

Supamok’s film was screened three times as part of The 27th Thai Short Film and Video Festival (เทศกาลภาพยนตร์สั้น ครั้งที่ 27): in the online Short Film Marathon (หนังสั้นมาราธอน), at the main festival itself, and in the Short 27 Awarded Film Screening programme. It has previously been shown in Chiang Mai, Salaya, and Phatthalung.

“The law is not a fax paper sent from God...”

The Constitutional Court has ruled that the Move Forward Party’s pledge to amend the lèse-majesté law violated article 49 of the constitution, according to which it is forbidden “to overthrow the democratic regime of government with the King as Head of State.” The court has ordered Move Forward and its former leader, Pita Limjaroenrat, to cease all activities and campaigns related to lèse-majesté reform.

The court’s investigation into Move Forward began in July last year, when a petition was filed by Theerayut Suwankesorn, lawyer for the disgraced former monk Suwit Thongprasert. (Last week, in an unrelated case, the court ruled that Pita’s ownership of shares in a defunct media company was not unconstitutional.)

Theerayut’s petition did not call for Move Forward’s dissolution, though now that the court has deemed the party’s agenda tantamount to treason, others may take the opportunity to do so. Since the election, there has been a concerted effort to muzzle Move Forward, and the Constitutional Court has a long history of dissolving anti-establishment parties, namely Thai Rak Thai, People Power, Thai Raksa Chart, and Move Forward’s predecessor Future Forward.

Move Forward is not a republican party, and had not sought to abolish the lèse-majesté law, only to reduce the fifteen-year maximum sentence for offenders, and to restrict those who can press charges. This was a key policy in Move Forward’s election-winning manifesto, though today’s verdict will significantly restrict the party’s progressive agenda.

At a press conference today, before the verdict was announced, former Future Forward leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit said: “The law is not a fax paper sent from God. It’s written by human hands, therefore people can amend it”. (Thanathorn was disqualified as an MP by the Constitutional Court in 2019.)