Lèse-majesté law

The pact between Thaksin's camp and the royalist establishment, which allowed the former leader to return from self-exile last year, may be starting to fray.

Both were granted bail pending an appeal, following the recent death of a monarchy-reform activist in custody.

The death of Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom has drawn attention to the Thai government's cruel use of pretrial detention to silence peaceful critics of the monarchy.

The 25-year jail term came just days after the Election Commission ordered the disbanding of a major opposition party for advocating the reform of the lese-majeste law.

The charges follow an incident over the weekend in which monarchy reform activists and ultra-royalists engaged in a public brawl in Bangkok.

Thaksin Shinawatra's name is on a list of 930 elderly inmates, who have been approved for parole due to ill health.

The pair were charged as "accomplices" to an incident last March in which an activist spray-painted an anti-royalist message inside Bangkok's Grand Palace.

Thaksin Shinawatra has been informed about a lese-majeste complaint claiming that he insulted the monarchy in a 2015 interview in South Korea.

Arnon Nampa, a prominent leader of the mass protests of late 2020, faces 14 charges under the country's draconian lese-majeste law.

Rukchanok Srinork's Move Forward Party has campaigned hard for the repeal of Article 112 of the Thai penal code, which criminalizes criticism of the monarchy.

The case was a rare example of moderation in a case involving the sensitive subject of the Thai monarchy.