Company Employee Sentenced to Prison for Defaming Former Monarch on Facebook

On February 18, 2026, at Samut Prakan Provincial Court, the Supreme Court read its final verdict in a case brought by the Samut Prakan Provincial Prosecutor against Wuttiphat (last name withheld), a 31-year-old employee from Ayutthaya Province. The defendant was charged with insulting the monarchy through a post in the 'Royalist Marketplace' Facebook group on June 2, 2020, relating to the death of King Rama 8. The court rejected the defendant's argument that the law only protects living monarchs, ruling that insulting a monarch, whether living or deceased, constitutes a criminal offense. The court maintained the lower court's sentence of 3 years and 4 months in prison. Wuttiphat was subsequently taken to Samut Prakan Central Prison to serve his sentence.