Readers who have missed Andrew MacGregor Marshall in recent months will be pleased to know he is back.

At Secret Siam, Marshall has posted The last stand of the dinosaurs. The post begins: The Move Forward partys stunning election victory has changed Thailand forever. The traditional elite will try everything they can to keep them out of power.

It is a very long read, but worth it.

Readers will recall the case of Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, indicted in 2021 for a livestream lecture on 18 January 2021 where Thanathorn was critical of the governments vaccine mismanagement. Some of his remarks were deemed to offend the monarchy. This seems to be because he questioned the governments AstraZeneca vaccine strategy, where the vaccine was being produced by Thai firm Siam Bioscience, which is owned by the king.

Now there is another case related to Siam Bioscience. Wave (pseudonym), a 30 year-old man has been indicted under Article 112 and for computer crimes over his criticism of Siam Biosciences COVID-19 vaccine production in 2021.

Wave was indicted on 13 June 2023 for his Facebook shares and posts criticizing Siam Bioscience for allegedly using taxpayer money in COVID-19 vaccine production.

The latter point is, of course, factual. Siam Bioscience was supported with taxpayer funds. It remains opaque whether Siam Bioscience actually produced large quantities of the vaccine and whether these were much used.

Wave acknowledged the charge at the Technology Crime Suppression Division on 23 May 2022. He rejected the accusation and was not apprehended.

The indictment states that on 12 May 2021, Wave publicly shared and posted on Facebo...

According to Prachatai, on 13 June 2023, Thai Lawyers For Human Rights reported Thida (pseudonym), a graduate student at Chiang Mai University has been sentenced to three years imprisonment under Article 112.

The Kamphaeng Phet Provincial Court delivered its verdict in the case that centered on the posting of a TikTok video clip lip-syncing to the song King in Fairy Tales.

Thida was indicted on 29 November 2022 following two summons for Thida to acknowledge the charges. The first summons was on 15 February 2022 for an offence under the royal defamation law. The second one, scheduled for 6 October 2022, included an additional charge under the Computer-Related Crime Act. The indictment alleged that on 9 August 2021, Thida posted a video on the TikTok application where she lip-synced or mimicked lip movements to the song with content that did not match the original song. When the public watched the video, it led to a misunderstanding that King Rama Xs behaviour was inappropriate.

Thida pleaded guilty during the first witness hearing in April 2023.

The Court has now ruled Thida guilty under the lese majeste and computer crimes laws, sentencing her on the law with the heavier penalty, resulting in three years in prison. Due to her guilty plea, the penalty was reduced to one year and six months. The court report commented on behavior, stating that Thida used TikTok to make a living. She posted the video clip solely to increase her views and her income, possibly wi...