A 20-year-old Thai student whose father has been detained for ten months under the kingdom’s strict lese majeste laws began a hunger strike on Saturday in Bangkok against the controversial legislation.
Activist Somyot Prueaksakasemsuk, the former editor of two now-defunct “Red Shirt magazines, was arrested last April and charged under article 112 of the Thai criminal code over two articles deemed critical of the Thai royals. His son Panitan, a law student, began his strike on Saturday afternoon in front of Bangkok’s criminal court, and was set to fast for 112 hours to highlight the point of law in question. His protest, which a few dozen people came out to support, comes after the seventh request for his father’s bail was denied last month. “My hunger strike is to call for the right to bail and to show society the injustice on someone who was charged with lese majeste,” he told AFP before starting the protest.
He wore a white T-shirt with the message: “Give my dad the right to bail”. Lese majeste carries a penalty of up to 15 years for each count and is designed to protect senior royals from insult, but academics say it has been politicised in recent years.
Thai student on hunger strike over royal insult law
