Curtailing Free Expression, Opinion and Information Online in Southeast Asia Case of Vichai In June 2017, Vichai, a former insurance salesman, was sentenced to 35 years in jail under article 112 and the CCA – the longest sentence recorded for a lesè majesté offence – after he was found guilty of ten counts of posting information, including images and text, on Facebook deemed insulting to the monarchy. Vichai was arrested in Chiang Mai province, but his sentence was handed down following a trial in camera at Bangkok Military Court.217 He was sentenced to 70 years in prison – seven years per count – a term that was commuted by half after he pleaded guilty at trial. Case of Jatupat Boonpatararaksa (Pai Dao Din) In December 2016, Jatupat Boonpatararaksa, a student activist and human rights defender, known also as ‘Pai Dao Din’ or ‘Pai’, was arrested and detained for ‘sharing’ a BBC Thai news article relating to the King on his Facebook page. He was thereafter moved from one police station to another for detention and interrogation on the basis that his case was “sensitive”, “concerned national security, and it could pose a great threat to the public safety and order”.218 In August 2017, Pai was convicted of violating article 112 of the Criminal Code and sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, which was reduced to two and a half years following his guilty plea. Boonpatararaksa had been in pre-trial detention from 22 December 2016.219 In May 2019, Pai was released on royal pardon.220 217 Bangkok Post, ‘Longest prison sentence ever for lese majeste’, 9 June 2017, Available at: https:// www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/1265778/longest-prison-sentence-ever-for-lese-majeste; OHCHR, 13 June 2017. 218 Communication No. THA 1/2017 from UN Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression and on the situation of human rights defenders to Government of Thailand, 24 January 2017, Available at: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=22947; See also Human Rights Watch, ‘“To Speak Out is Dangerous” – The Criminalization of Peaceful Expression in Thailand’, October 2019 (‘HRW, October 2019’), p94, Available at: https://www.hrw. org/report/2019/10/24/speak-out-dangerous/criminalization-peaceful-expression-thailand 219 Communication No. THA 7/2017 from UN Special Rapporteurs on freedom of expression and on the situation of human rights defenders to Government of Thailand, 22 December 2017, Available at: https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/TMResultsBase/DownLoadPublicCommunicationFile?gId=23525 220 The Nation, ‘Pai Dao Din released early on royal pardon’, 10 May 2019, Available at: https://www. nationmultimedia.com/detail/breakingnews/30369158 67