Overview

• Anchan Preelert, 69, walked free from Bangkok’s Central Women’s Correctional Institution with 84 other inmates under a birthday pardon for King Maha Vajiralongkorn.
• She was convicted in 2021 on 29 counts for sharing audio clips of “DJ Banpodj,” with an initial 87-year term cut to 43 years and six months after a guilty plea.
• She spent roughly eight years in custody since her 2015 arrest, with Thai Lawyers for Human Rights saying six political prisoners were covered by the July 29 pardon.
• Article 112 allows up to 15 years per offence, and courts treat each online post as a separate count, a practice criticized by rights groups.
• Rights groups welcomed her release as Thai lawmakers last month rejected a blanket amnesty for royal-insult cases and prosecutions continue, including a record 50-year sentence in 2024.