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Dictating the Internet:
Cases of Nan Win, Sutharee Wannasiri and others
In October 2018, Thammakaset Co. Ltd. filed a criminal defamation suit
under sections 326 and 328 of the Criminal Code against Sutharee
Wannasiri, human rights defender and a former Thailand Human Rights
Specialist with non-governmental organization Fortify Rights, for three
comments she was alleged to have made on Twitter related to a film
produced by Fortify Rights.163
The film, published in October 2017, had called on Thai authorities to
drop existing criminal defamation charges against 14 migrant workers at
a Thammakaset-operated chicken farm and to decriminalize defamation
in Thailand. These charges had been brought against the migrant workers
for alleging labour rights violations committed by the company.
In October 2018, Thammakaset Co. Ltd. filed a criminal defamation suit
under sections 326 and 328 of the Criminal Code against Nan Win, one
of the 14 migrant workers from Myanmar, for two interviews he gave in
a Fortify Rights film and during a Fortify Rights press conference on 6
October 2017.
Thammakaset Co. Ltd. also filed a civil defamation suit against Sutharee
Wannasiri citing the above-mentioned Twitter comments and demanding
five million Thai Baht (more than USD 142,000) in compensation for
alleged damage to the company’s reputation.
In related cases:
Other cases brought by the company against any individuals perceived to
have expressed dissent, conducted advocacy on or released information
relating to labour rights violations committed by Thammakaset Co. Ltd.
included criminal defamation complaints under articles 326 and 328 of
the Criminal Code against:
Ngamsuk Rattanasatiean, who had shared information on the Facebook
page of the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies;
Suchanee Rungmuanporn, a former reporter from Voice TV who had made
a post on Twitter highlighting labour rights violations by Thammakaset;
Suthasinee Kaewleklai, coordinator of the Migrant Workers Rights
163 ICJ et. al, ‘Thailand: Drop defamation complaints against human rights defenders Nan Win
and Sutharee Wannasiri’, 3 December 2018, Available at: https://www.icj.org/thailand-dropdefamation-complaints-against-human-rights-defenders-nan-win-and-sutharee-wannasiri/