Name: Mongkol Thirakot (Age 31)
Occupation: Clothing Vendor
Case: Lèse Majesté (Article 112) – Computer Crimes Act from Posting to Facebook
Date of Imprisonment: 14 January 2024
Location of Imprisonment: Chiang Rai Provincial Prison

“Busbas” Mongkol Thirakot was born and raised in the Onnut neighborhood of Bangkok before returning to Chiang Rai Province, his mother’s home, in recent years. He supported himself through a range of jobs beginning in early secondary school. This included working at his aunt’s auto repair shop during school holidays, working as a cook grilling steak, and being an assistant chef in a Japanese restaurant.

After completing secondary school, Busbas began vocational school at Thaivichitsilp Technological College in the design department. He fully admitted that his life during that time was as a delinquent. His first experience in prison came during that time as a result of fighting with students from other schools.

Busbas first became interested in politics during the protests of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) in 2014. At that time, he was a military conscript. He later and searched for information on politics through reading books and various forms of media. Then, at the end of 2020, he went on stage to speak at a demonstration in Chiang Rai and spoke openly about the institution of the monarchy. This caused him to be of interest to the authorities who followed him both online and offline. During Songkran in 2021, he traveled to Bangkok to go on hunger strike in front of the Criminal Court to call for the release of protest leaders, but was himself then arrested on an Article 112 charge.

On 26 March 2023, Busbas was found guilty by the Court of First Instance of violation of Article 112 in relation to 14 posts, with each post treated as a count of violation. He was sentenced to 2 years per count for a total of 28 years imprisonment; the punishment was reduced from originally being 3 years per count as Busbas was of benefit during the trial. On 18 January 2024, the Appeal Court found him guilty of an additional 11 counts which the Court of First Instance had initially dismissed. He was sentenced to 3 years per each additional count; the punishment was reduced by 1in 3 as he was of benefit during the trial. This led to additional imprisonment of 2 years per count, for a total of 22 years.When combined with the earlier, his sentence became a total imprisonment of 50 years.

Busbas’s punishment in the Article 112 case is the longest imprisonment to date. As far as is known, the previous record of imprisonment was in the case of Anchan, who was sentenced by the Criminal Court to 87 years imprisonment for disseminating the voice clips of “Banpot,” an underground DJ. She was found guilty of 29 counts of violation of Article 112. As she confessed, the Court reduced her punishment to 29 years and 174 months (approximately 43 years and 6 months). Busbas’s punishment is greater than Anchan’s.