Injustice of Thailand's Article 112 Must Stop112Watch aims to halt the Thai authorities' escalating use of Article 112.
The Mission
112Watch is a coalition of people and an organisation that value human rights and democracy. 112Watch aims to halt the Thai authorities’ escalating use of Article 112, Thailand’s lèse-majesté law, which is used to punish, to sideline and to silence citizens.
In the past five years, at least 130 individuals have been charged with lèse-majesté. Its use heightened during the 2020-2021 protests in Thailand. Prominent protest leaders have been judicially harassed, some have faced countless trials and now hundreds of years’ imprisonment. The situation is monstrous.
In September 2021, Pavin Chachavalpongpun, associate professor at the Center for Southeast Asian Studies Kyoto University, set up a coalition of like-minded people who believe the discursive use of lèse-majesté law has to stop. Pavin himself has been charged with lèse-majesté for his criticism of the Thai monarchy. In the aftermath of the Thailand’s coup in 2014, he was summoned twice by the junta for “attitude adjustment.” On rejecting the summons, a warrant was issued for his arrest and his passport was revoked. He was forced to apply for a refugee with Japan. Pavin was also charged with lèse-majesté and cybercrime for his role in setting up a private Facebook group, the Royalist Marketplace, as a platform for open discussion on the monarchy. Launched in August 2020, it has 2.35 million members to date (as of September 2021). It is noteworthy that the first Royalist Marketplace was set up in April 2020. After four months and as the group reached a million members, the Thai government pressured Facebook to geo-block the group. Facebook complied with the request.
