The list of people facing charges of insulting the Thai royal family, a crime that can last up to 15 years in prison, is growing rapidly.
It includes a popular opposition figure, who this week questioned the process by which a company owned by the king was selected to produce vaccines against Covid-19, and a 16-year-old boy who, in a fashion show satirizing the king, wore an upper neck revealing a reference to the monarch that was scattered over the skin. The teenage protester declined to comment.
Since November, at least 54 people have faced criminal charges under the majesty law that prohibits any perceived insult to the Thai monarchy, according to the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights legal aid group. Some of them have been summoned by police, launching investigations, the group said.
Most are protesters who have changed Thailand’s political landscape in recent months by challenging long-standing social taboos and openly questioning the role and influence of the crown. The palace has traditionally had an almost sacred status in Thai society. But many in the new protest movement see the crown as part of the military-royalist elite that they say is holding back democratic progress in their country shaken by coups and frequent political unrest.