By Mirafat Samoh
Napasin Trirayaphiwat was wearing a crop top. Words written on his bareback said that his father is so-and-so name, and not so-and-so. We can’t repeat it here because the authorities have summoned the 16-year-old high school student to answer a Section 112 charge over those words.
The deadline for Napasin to report himself is 17 December.
The young man’s fashion sense isn’t the only one facing the lese majeste law. A woman, Jatuporn Sae-Eung, will also answer for the crime over her fashion statement.
She wore a pink traditional Thai dress.
The incidents occurred on 29 October at the “Khana Ratsadon 2020 Arts & Performance Festival” on Silom Road.
Among the activities was a mock fashion show on a makeshift stage near the Hindu Temple, Wat Khaek. Behind the stage hung a banner that read “Ministry of Commerce,” “Sirivannavari Fashion Show,” and “13 million baht.” Thirteen million baht is the sum the Commerce Ministry used to promote Princess Sirivannavari’s namesake fashion brand.
On the same night, Princess Sirivannavari unveiled her autumn/winter 2020/21 “French Flair” collection at the Mandarin Oriental’s Royal Ballroom.
The mock fashion show was staged during a time when General Prayut Chan-o-cha said His Majesty King Rama 10 had asked the government to no longer use Section 112.
Well, time has changed, and even a youth 16 years of age cannot escape the lese majeste law, which carries the sentence of up to 15 years of imprisonment per count. (Read about lese mejeste around the world).
Other than Napasin, according to iLAW, key pro-democracy activists summoned to answer Section 112 charges include Anon Nampa (four counts, totaling 60 years maximum imprisonment), Parit “Penguin” Chiwarak (three counts, totaling 45 years), and Panusaya “Rung” Sithijirawattanakul (three counts, totaling 45 years).
By our calculation, 24 activists are up on Section 112 charges. Together, they face a total of 466 years maximum prison time. Please note that as these charges are coming out fast and furious, the numbers are continually changing.
Throw Article 116 (sedition) into the mix, which carries a maximum sentence of seven years per count, and that’s another 147 years.
Put the two together, and the activists face some 613 years of prison time (and still counting).
