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The Court of Appeal Region 5 on Thursday upheld a two-year prison sentence against human rights lawyer and activist Anon Nampa in a lèse-majesté case over a speech he delivered at a protest at Chiang Mai University’s Art and Culture Center in November 2020.
The appeal court affirmed the Chiang Mai Provincial Court’s March 2025 ruling, which found Anon guilty under Thailand’s lèse-majesté law. The lower court initially imposed a three-year prison sentence before reducing it by one-third to two years in recognition of his cooperation during the proceedings. The appeal judgment was delivered via video conference to Bangkok Remand Prison, where Anon has remained in custody without bail pending appeal since Sept. 26, 2023.
The case stems from a rally organized by the Mor Chor Community group on Nov. 23, 2020, during the pro-democracy movement that called for reforms to the monarchy. Prosecutors argued that Anon’s speech criticized legal changes introduced in 2017 and 2018 that transferred the management of Crown Property Bureau assets, including shareholdings in Siam Commercial Bank and Siam Cement Group, as well as state-held land, to the personal control of the King. The lower court found that the remarks conveyed the meaning that the King had appropriated state assets for personal ownership, constituting defamation and insult under the lèse-majesté law. It also ruled that constitutional protections for freedom of expression do not extend to speech that violates criminal law or undermines national security. The appeals court upheld those findings.
Throughout the trial and appeal, Anon argued that his speech was based on legal amendments enacted in 2017 and 2018 under the military government, which he said altered the management of Crown Property Bureau assets. He testified that he was expressing concern over the implications of those changes and calling for the law to be restored to its previous form, arguing that his remarks were fair criticism made in good faith under constitutional and international protections for freedom of expression rather than defamation or insult of the King. He also challenged the lower court’s interpretation of the Constitution and argued that prosecutors had failed to prove his statements were false. The appeals court rejected those arguments.
The ruling is the first appeals court judgment among the 14 lèse-majesté cases filed against Anon. He has already been convicted in 11 cases at the trial court level, receiving combined prison sentences totaling more than 31 years and eight months. All of those convictions remain under appeal, and Anon has been held without bail since September 2023.
