Thai Activist Receives Record 50-Year Sentence for Insulting Monarchy

Mongkol Thirakot's sentence under Thailand's strict lèse-majesté law marks a new high in the country's crackdown on dissent.

Mongkol Thirakot, a 30-year-old Thai man and former pro-democracy activist, has been sentenced to 50 years in prison for insulting the monarchy, marking the longest sentence ever given under Thailand's strict lèse-majesté law.
Mongkol, an online clothing seller, was initially sentenced to 28 years for posts on his personal Facebook account, but an appeal court added 22 years after finding him guilty of 11 more violations.
Thailand's lèse-majesté law, often referred to as Article 112, criminalizes any negative comment about the monarchy and carries a prison term of between three and 15 years for each offence.
Since the outbreak of student-led protests in 2020, more than 260 activists have been charged under the lèse-majesté law, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.
Later this month, the Constitutional Court will rule on whether to dissolve the Move Forward Party, which won the most votes in last year's general election, over its call to amend the lèse-majesté law.