Thai man detained for insulting king over duck calendar

• Narathorn Chotmankongsin was sentenced to two years in prison.
• For selling calendars with sarcastic remarks and rubber ducks dressed in royal regalia.
• Which the prosecution claimed were insulting to the monarchy.

A Thai man was sentenced to two years in prison for selling calendars with sarcastic remarks and rubber ducks dressed in royal regalia, which the prosecution claimed were insulting to the monarchy.

The 26-year-old Narathorn Chotmankongsin was found guilty of insulting the Thai king.

Almost 200 people have been detained under lese majesty laws since 2020, according to critics, in what they claim is an assault on free speech. He is one of them.

The rubber duck has served as a representative of Thai pro-democracy demonstrators.

At protests where they demanded a democratic transition—a movement that also calls for monarchy reforms—activists frequently used the emblem.

For selling the calendars on the pro-democracy Facebook page Ratasadon, Narathorn was detained in December 2020.

The political parody included contentious captions and drawings of ducks dressed in royal garb.

The photos and descriptions, according to the prosecution, mocked and defamed King Maha Vajiralongkorn.

Narathorn was given a three-year sentence on Tuesday, but the judge later commuted it to two years.

According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the punishment demonstrated how the Thai government punished any behavior it considered to be an affront to the king.

“This case sends a message to all Thais, and to the rest of the world, that Thailand is moving further away from – not closer to – becoming a rights-respecting democracy,” said HRW Asia director Elaine Pearson.

Rights organizations have charged the Thai government with using the royal insult law as a tool to suppress political dissent in recent years.

The young protests that started in Thailand in July 2020 and went on into 2021 astounded traditional royalists. For the first time, youthful activists called for changes to the nation’s powerful monarchy and publicly insulted members of the royal family during their street protests.

Opponents also believe the scope of what counts as an offence is broadened.

For instance, demonstrators who wore short crop tops resembling those the king occasionally wore and a protester who wore a pink dress resembling that of Queen Suthida both faced legal action.

The criminalization of cartoons showing yellow ducks is another leap in the application of the law.

The enormous inflatable ducks were introduced to the 2020 protests as a way to inject some humor and mockery into the proceedings in contrast to the harsh riot-control measures taken by the police.

Although the prosecution claimed during the trial that the ducks’ attire in the defendant’s calendars did suggest a connection with the king, they were not perceived at the time as mocking the monarchy.

The severity of the sentencing, the secrecy of the trials, the routine rejection of bail, and Thailand’s virtually 100% conviction rate are all reasons why it is widely criticized.

It is also criticized for the very broad interpretations of the lese majeste statute that it permits.

Yet, this critique has been refuted by Prime Leader Prayuth Chan-ocha. The monarchy’s continued existence is regarded as being crucial to Thailand’s national character, according to the government, which continues to maintain that the law is necessary to safeguard it.

Also, Thai officials have been prosecuting persons who have left critical remarks on social media sites more frequently under the nation’s computer crime laws.

Two teenage activists who are now being held on lese majesty charges began their 50th day of a hunger strike on Wednesday in opposition to the draconian law.

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