68 Dictating the Internet: Case of Thanakorn In December 2015, Thanakorn, a factory worker, was arrested at his house in Samut Prakan province for ‘liking’ a Facebook page that had allegedly contained lesè majesté content and for sharing content on Facebook that was deemed “sarcastic” and “defamatory” of the King’s dog. This included clicking the ‘like’ button on a doctored image of the King.221 He was held incommunicado in military custody soon after his arrest.222 Thanakorn was charged under article 112 of the Criminal Code and the CCA, and also article 116 of the Code for alleged sedition for posting an infographic on his account alleging corruption by high-ranking military officers with respect to the creation of Rajabhakti Park.223 He faces up to 37 years’ imprisonment in total under the charges.224 In November 2016, Samut Prakan Provincial Court ruled that his case was to be tried by the military court as it related to ‘national security’. In June 2017, Thanakorn’s final appeal for his case to be heard in a civilian court was rejected.225 With the passage of the Prime Minister’s order in 2019 to end trials of civilians by military courts, however, his case is likely to be transferred to a civilian court. Thanakorn was released on bail after three months in detention, following multiple rejections of previous bail requests.226 221 Col. Burin Thongprapai, legal officer for the National Council for Peace and Order, noted “On December 2, he clicked ‘Like’ link on a doctored photo of the King and shared it with 608 friends”. See Bangkok Post, ‘Facebook user faces 32 years in prison for clicking ‘Like’’, 10 December 2015, Available at: https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/politics/790833/facebook-user-faces-32years-in-prison-for-clicking-like 222 Human Rights Watch, ‘Thailand: Junta Critic Feared ‘Disappeared’’, 11 December 2015, Available at: https://www.hrw.org/news/2015/12/11/thailand-junta-critic-feared-disappeared 223 [Thai] TLHR, 2016, Available at: https://tlhr2014.wordpress.com/2016/03/08/like112/ 224 Prachatai English, ‘Man accused of mocking late King’s dog to be tried in military court’, 30 November 2016, Available at: https://prachatai.com/english/node/6748 225 Prachatai English, ‘Man charged for mocking late King’s dog to face military court’, 27 June 2017, Available at: https://prachatai.com/english/node/7240 226 PPT, Thanakorn Siripaiboon.