August 2025: Section 112 case against ‘Thaksin’ and “Toto” Piyarat dismissed, meanwhile one new political prisoner incarcerated in prison, number of individuals charged with Section 112 climbing to 284

August 2025 saw three new cases pertaining to public assembly and political expression including two Section 112 cases, one against “Aphirak”, a member of the public who just found out he was to be placed under arrest, another against Thaksin, and one case against “Ta” Kathathon for lighting flares near the Parliament.

Throughout August, rulings have been made in at least 16 cases concerning public assembly and political expression including six Section 112 cases and ten other cases.

As for Section 112 cases, two of them have been dismissed including the case against Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep’ and another against Thaksin Shinawatra. Meanwhile, there were four other convicted cases including the case against “Bai Por” who was sentenced to four years without suspension, the case against “Virus” who was sentenced to five years and 30 months with suspension, the case against Supreeya “Sand” Jaikaew who was sentenced to five years without suspension and the case against “Hom Daeng” who was sentenced to one year and six months without suspension

As for other cases concerning public assembly, at least five cases have been dismissed including the Section 116 case against Chatchai Kaewkampod and Wisarut Sawatwor for their involvement with a public assembly in Ubon Ratchathani in 2020, the case against “”Daeng Shinchan” related to an explosion during the PDRC’s rally in 2014, and the case against Putthipong related to the Thalu Gaz rally in 2022. Two other cases concerning the Serious Emergency Decree were also dismissed related to the # 16OctGatheringAtPathumwanIntersection in 2020.

Meanwhile, convicted rulings were made in at least five cases including a case with hefty punishment related to the public assembly in front of the Office of Border Patrol Police Region 1 against 12 activists who were fined for altogether nearly 300,000 baht and the case concerning explosion in front of Sam Yan Mitra Town during the rally in 2021 in which three defendants were found guilty and sentenced to 33 years four months, each, without suspension.

As a result, in the past month, four new inmates have been incarcerated including “Hom Daeng”, Natthasut, Pornchai and Weerayut, as following the verdicts, they were denied bail. As of now (3 September), there are at least 48 prisoners.

According to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights’ documentation, since the “Free Youth” assembly on 18 July 2020 until 31 August 2025, at least 1,986 individuals have been charged for participating in public assemblies or expressing their political opinions in 1,337 cases. Compared with July 2025, there have been three additional cases.

Altogether, there have been at least 4,063 legal actions against the individuals although some of them are charged for multiple offences.

Prosecution statistics in key offences;

1. Section 112 (lèse-majesté) of the Criminal Code, at least 284 individuals in 317 cases (Of this, at least 168 cases have stemmed from reports to the police made by members of the public.)

2. Section 116 (sedition) of the Criminal Code, at least 156 individuals in 56 cases

3. Violation of the Emergency Decree, at least 1,466 individuals in 677 cases

4. Violation of the Public Assembly Act, at least 199 individuals in 109 cases

5. Violation of the Computer Crimes Act, at least 216 individuals in 240 cases

6. Contempt of court, at least 45 individuals in 27 cases, and insult of the court, at least 37 individuals in 11 cases

Of 1,337 cases, 740 cases have reached their final verdicts (although some cases remain outstanding, since certain defendants decided to appeal the verdicts, while others have not).

Prosecution trend in August 2025 and key events;

3 activists charged for violating Public Assembly Act during protest against Min Aung Hlaing, as to assembly cases, #Mob16AugToToppleTyrants assembly’s participants facing retrial having to wear EM as before

In the past month, there were three new cases including two Section 112 cases and another case about lighting a flare at the Parliament as a result of which the person was accused of violating the Head of the NCPO Order.

In the first case against “Aphirak” (pseudonym), 31-year-old electrician, TLHR was informed last month of an individual being incarcerated in the Bangkok Remand Prison for violating Section 112. After initial inquiry, we have found he has been accused of posting and sharing four Facebook messages and was being remanded in custody since 11 August 2025. After filing for bail application, the Criminal Court has since allowed him to post bail on 29 August.

In the second case, a Section 112 case against Thaksin Shinawatra following his interview with a South Korean media outlet in 2015 about the underlying reasons for the NCPO to stage a military coup, TLHR has added the case into our database since 2020. Thaksin was only pressed with such charges in 2024 while being held in custody and receiving treatment on the 14^th floor of the Police General Hospital.

And in the third case against “Ta” Kathathon, for participating in the activity “Opening Parliament, Searching for Section 112 Amnesty” at the National Assembly on 11 December 2024, he was pressed with charges for “unauthorized lighting and shooting flare”, a provision according to the Head of the NCPO Order no. 27/2559. He has gone to answer to charges since 18 August and pleaded not guilty to all charges.

As for the Public Assembly Act case following the assembly at the Myanmar Embassy to protest against Senior General Min Aung Hlaing, the Myanmar junta’s leader while he came to attend the BIMSTEC meeting in Thailand on 5 April 2025, the three activists have been charged including Thitima Thongsri, Kita Kerdnak and Worakarn Panthong. On 22 August 2025, as summoned by the authorities, the three of them have gone to answer to the charges and pleaded not guilty to all of them.

Dismissing Section 112 case against ‘Thaksin’ and “Toto” Piyarat while convicting defendants in four other cases, meanwhile ‘Hom Daeng’ has gone to prison after being denied bail

Throughout August 2025, rulings have been made by the Courts in cases concerning public assembly and political expression in at least 16 cases including six Section 112 cases and ten other cases.

As for the verdicts on Section 112 cases, at least six of them have been made including three by the Court of Appeals and another three by the Trial Court. In two such cases, the Courts have acquitted Thaksin and “Toto” Piyarat.

In the case against Thaksin Shinawatra for giving an interview to a South Korean TV channel and allegedly concerning the monarchy in 2015. The Criminal Court acquitted him, citing that the statement he made did not specifically refer to the King and the prosecution witnesses used to participate in protests to oust the defendant, therefore indicating their biases against the defendant.

In the case against Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep’ for posting a message to criticize the crackdown of the #MobYangKung rally and to allude to the use of taxpayers’ money by the monarchy, on 31 December 2020, the Criminal Court dismissed the case citing the suspicion over the evidence adduced to establish that the defendant was the person who posted the message since when the message was being posted, the defendant was still held in custody.

As for the other four other convicted cases, the Courts tended to impose both imprisonment with suspension and without suspension, and tended to either grant or deny bail as follows;

In the case against “Hom Daeng” (pseudonym) for sharing posts from the “The Dimwitted Toob Government” on 17 October 2020 to demand the monarch to stay within the confine of the Constitution and laws, where he did not write any caption of the posts, the Court of Appeal upheld the previous verdict to sentence him to one year and six months without suspension, citing the defendant had failed raise his lack of intent to defame in his defense during the Trial Court’s hearings. Since the sentence imposed was the minimum allowed, the court cited there was no reason to suspend it. The Supreme Court also denied him bail and he has since been incarcerated in prison.

In the case against “Virus” (pseudonym) for sharing three Facebook posts and two Tiktok videos about King Rama IX and X, the Court of Appeal concurred with the Trial Court that Section 112 applies to previous kinds as well and upheld the previous verdict to sentence him to five years and 30 months, albeit suspending it for three years.

In the case against Supreeya “Sand” Jaikaew for hanging a banner with a statement “monarchy budget > relief funding” at the King Mangrai Monument Intersection on 4 January 2021, previously the Chiang Rai Provincial Court acquitted her on all charges. Later the Court of Appeal Region 5 overturned the verdict to find her guilty and sentenced her to three years for the violation of Section 112 and two years for the violation of the Computer Crime Act, altogether five years citing that the defendant had hung the banner and posted a message to discredit and undermine credibility of the monarchy. She was then granted bail pending the Supreme Court’s ruling.

In the case against “Bai Por” for sharing Thalu Wang Page’s two posts concerning monarchy budget during 30 and 31 March 2022, in which case the defendant denied all charges, the Criminal Court later found the two posts concerning royal family members, King Rama X and the monarchy featured content that was meant to satire, ridicule and inflict serious damage and sentenced her to three years per count, altogether six years. Given the benefit from her evidence, her sentence was reduced by one third to four years without suspension and the court allowed her to post bail pending the Court of Appeal’s trial.

A summary of verdicts on Section 112 cases

August 2025

Court	Case	Verdict
Court of Appeal Section 112	“Hom Daeng”, 59-year-old-farmer For sharing posts demanding monarchy being under the Constitution	Verdict upheld and sentenced toone-year-and-six-month-imprisonmentWithout suspension
Court of Appeal Section 112	“Virus”, 36-year-old-security worker For posting three Facebook messages and two Tik Tok videos with statements referring to Kings Rama IX and X	Verdict upheld and sentenced tofive-year-and-thirty-month-imprisonmentWith three-year-suspension
Court of Appeal Section 112	Supreeya “Sand” Jaikaew, 28-year-old former activistFor hanging banner which read “monarchy budget>relief budget	Verdict overturned, sentenced to five-year-imprisonmentAllowed to post bail
Criminal Court Section 112	Thaksin Shinawatra 76-year-old Former Prime Minister For giving interview to South Korean TV about the monarchy in 2015	Acquitted
Criminal Court Section 112	Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep’, 35-year-old MP of People’s PartyFor posting messages to criticize the monarchy during the crackdown of #MobYangKung in 2020	Acquitted
Criminal Court Section 112	Bai Port, 24-year-old activistFor sharing posts about monarchy budget on Thalu Wang Page	Sentenced to four-year-imprisonmentWithout suspensionAllowed to post bail

Five dismissed cases related to public assembly and explosive offence

In the past month, at least five cases related to public assemblies and expression of political opinions have been dismissed by the courts including one Section 116 case, one attempted murder and explosive case, one Thalu Gaz’s assembly case and two Serious Emergency Decree cases.

The Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Court dismissed one Section 116 and Computer Crime Act case against Chatchai “Lawyer Champ” Kaewkampod and Wisarut “Off” Sawatwor related to the #ChildrenSpeakAdultsListen assembly at the Ubon Ratchathani City Pillar Shrine on 22 August 2020, citing the assembly was held for making criticism, which is an exercise of the right to freedom of expression in a democratic system. In addition, prior to and after the event, there had not been any change in the government or any turbulence in society, and no public disorder.

In addition, in the case against “Daeng Shinchan” or Yongyut indicted for premeditated attempted murder and explosive offences following an explosion during the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC)’s rally on Chaengwatthana Road on 10 April 2014, the Criminal Court dismissed the case finding the defendant’s confession to the police had not been obtained at his own volition and the prosecution evidence could not be accepted. This was the first of the five cases against him that has been dismissed.

In the case against Putthipong Somboon for ‘arson’ pursuant to Section 220 during the Thalu Gaz rallies in Din Daeng area and the burning of two tires on 15 June 2022, the Court of Appeal upheld the previous verdict to acquit him citing the dubious prosecution evidence which might not prove the defendant’s guilt.

In two other cases against the Serious Emergency Decree related to the assembly # 16OctGatheringAtPathumwanIntersection on 16 October 2020 last month, the Court has dismissed both cases including “the case against 8 activists” and “the case against 6 participants in political gathering”. In both cases, the Pathumwan Kwaeng Court ruled in the same vein that the assemblies were conducted peacefully, unarmed and nonviolently, and it was considered an exercise of the right to assembly according to the Constitution.

As to the Emergency Decree cases, according to TLHR, among at least 110 cases in which defendants pleaded guilty or not guilty, the verdicts have already been delivered. Meanwhile, there are at least 73 cases that the prosecutor decided to not prosecute (Please see, Statistics of the Emergency Decree cases dismissed by courts or not prosecuted by prosecutor).

5 convicted cases: assembly in front of Border Patrol Police, defendants heavily fined for over 300,000 baht, while three other individuals sentenced to life imprisonment, before being reduced to 33 years related to Sam Yan Mitra Town’s explosion

As for the five other public assembly cases in which the defendants have been found guilty including ‘the case against 12 activists’ for participating in a rally to demand the release of members of the Thalu Fah in front of the Office of Border Patrol Police Region 1 on 2 August 2564, the defendants were charged for violating the Emergency Decree and participating in an illegal assembly and threatening to do an act of violence pursuant to Section 215. The Thanyaburi Provincial Court found all 12 defendants guilty and sentenced them to varying penalties with suspension. They were also fined altogether 311,400 baht.

In the Emergency Decree case against Peerapong “Pi” Peampoon, for participating in a public discussion on “Restoring freedom and reforming justice process” in front of the Bangkok Remand Prison on 23 October 2021, the Trial Court convicted and sentenced him to a 15-day-imprisonment and a fine of 7,650 baht with one-year-suspension. The Court of Appeal later upheld the previous verdict.

In the case against Jessadaporn Phothipet for violating the Emergency Decree, Sections 215 and 216 for participating in the ##Mob16AugToToppleTyrants assembly at the Victory Monument in 2021, as the defendant pleaded guilty, the Criminal Court sentenced him to two years and a fine of 20,000 baht, albeit it was reduced by a half to 12 months and a fine of 10,000 baht, with two-year-suspension. The Electronic Monitoring (EM) device he had been wearing during the pretrial level has also been removed.

In the case against “Kachen” and “Khajonsak” (last name withheld) for violating the Emergency Decree, an explosive offence following the #Mob30Sept21, being accused of throwing Ping Pong bombs and Molotov Cocktail into the buildings of the Phayathai Police Station and setting fire on traffic box at the Phayathai Intersection, the Court of Appeal upheld the previous verdict to sentence “Kachen” to 10 years and 6 months and a fine of 1,000 baht and “Khajonsak” to 11 years and 6 months and a fine of 1,000 baht without suspension.

Both continued to remain in custody after the verdict has been read out by the Trial Court for over two years already without being allowed to post bail.

Last but not least, in the case against Natthasut, Pornchai and Weerayut for committing premediated attempted murder against competent officials following the exposition at the Sam Yan Mitra Town during the assembly #Mob16Jan21, the Court of Appeal sentenced the three of them to life imprisonment, before reducing it by one third to 33 years and 4 months without suspension and a fine of 666.66 baht each. Previously, the Trial Court acquitted Natthasut in all charges, while convicting and sentencing the other two defendants to one year and 16 months. This stands starkly different to the verdict of the Court of Appeal. The Supreme Court also did not allow them to post bail pending the appeal, as a result of which, the three of them became new inmates.

Thanyaburi Provincial Court commencing post-mortem inquest on “Bung” Netiporn’s death, next hearing on 8-9 October

On 20 August 2025, the Thanyaburi Provincial Court commenced on the post-mortem inquest of “Bung” Netiporn, pursuant to the Criminal Procedure Code’s Section 150, following her death while being under the Department of Corrections’ custody on 14 May 2024.

Two witnesses gave evidence on that day while the other three remaining witnesses will do so during the next hearings on 8-9 October 2025.