Faces of Victims of 112: An Exhibition

The sharp rise of lèse-majesté was first detected in the aftermath of the 2006 coup that overthrew Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. Then, the lèse-majesté law was used as a political weapon undermining political opponents, but as the Thai political crisis deepened, the use of lèse-majesté law became more frequent and discursive.

In 2011, I launched a nationwide campaign to reform Article 112 because of the state prosecuting “Uncle SMS.” Ten years have passed and the situation with lèse-majesté has not improved. The coup of 2014 that toppled the government of Yingluck, sister of Thaksin, indeed worsened the situation. King, Vajiralongkorn, at first seemed to want to protect his image by calling for a moratorium against the use of lèse-majesté law in late 2017. But following the mass protests that called for immediate royal reform, the law returned in late 2020. It is the intention of the state (particularly the palace) to continue to use lèse-majesté to curb criticism against the monarchy. The exploitation of Article 112 is unending. The impact it has caused on human rights has been immense. Since the return of the lèse-majesté law in 2020, lèse-majesté cases have mushroomed. In February 2023, 1,895 people were prosecuted in 1,180 political cases. Among these, 233 people were charged under the lèse-majesté law in 253 cases. Currently, the youngest accused of lèse-majesté is a 14-year-old girl.

It is now time for more vigorous advocacy in notifying the international community of the serious problems with Article 112 in Thailand. With the dire situation, in 2021 I set up this project – 112WATCH – as a platform to raise awareness regarding the issue of Article 112 by targeting multilateral diplomatic communities. It was an effort to gain consensus in efforts to deal with Article 112. 112WATCH seeks to achieve its key objective: to build an advocacy coalition to produce positive policy change regarding Article 112 in Thailand.