Name: Wannapa (pseudonym) (Age 36)
Occupation: Motorcycle Taxi Driver
Case: Sedition (Article 116) and Membership in a Secret Society (Article 209)
Date of Imprisonment: 30 November 2022
Location of Imprisonment: Chonburi Institution for Female Offenders

Wannapa (last name withheld) is a single mother who lived with her two sons, ages 13 and 18, (when the offence was committed) in a rented room in Samut Prakan. She had to provide for the rent, utilities and tuition fees of her younger son by herself for several years.

Arrested and charged since 2018, Wannapa was among those who were rounded up and detained in military barracks under martial law during the military coup years. She was deprived of her liberty and subject to arbitrary detention and interrogation for seven days. Charges were pressed that led her to have to spend years defending herself in the Court of First Instance and the Appeal Court. After the Court’s verdict, her life was made much more miserable as she was fired from her workplace and was haunted with fear while her income and joy greatly dwindled.

For her, the most difficult part was having to wear an Electronic Monitoring (EM) anklet. Aside from the discomfort and pain, she felt humiliated when she had to go outside and encounter people. The way they looked at her and r gossiped, especially when she walked through metal detectors, remain a fresh mental wound even years later.

The first time she was detained was in September 2018 when six people were held in custody on a military base. Charges were later pressed against five of them, namely Krisana, Therdsak, Praphan, Wannapa, and Jinda.

On 25 October 2018, all of them were indicted in the same case on offences of “sedition” and “being members of a secret society” according to Articles 116 and 209 of the Criminal Code, respectively. Five of them were accused of inciting members of the Organization for a Thai Federation and members of the public through the distribution of leaflets and selling of T-shirts bearing the emblem of the Organization for a Thai Federation during the period of 8 June – 12 September 2018. As Jinda failed to attend the court hearing, the number of defendants was reduced to four.

Witness hearings were held during 19-21 and 26 November 2019. Both the Court of First Instance and the Appeal Court convicted the four defendants of being members of a secret society according to Article 209 of the Criminal Code and sentenced each to three years. As Defendants No. 2 (Therdsak) and No. 3 (Praphan) pled guilty during the police investigation stage, and provided evidence beneficial to the court, their punishment was reduced by one-third to two years imprisonment each without suspension. The sedition charge, violation of Article 116, was dismissed.

The three remaining defendants decided to appeal to the Supreme Court. When the Supreme Court delivered the verdict, only Krisana and Wannapa attended. On 30 November 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the previous rulings and convicted and sentenced them each to three years imprisonment. Wannapa was initially incarcerated at the Central Women’s Prison. On 27 June 2023, she was abruptly transferred to the Chonburi Institution for Female Offenders according to the Corrections Department’s policy to address overcrowding.

วรรณภาพ้นโทษจากการอภัยโทษเมื่อวันที่ 11 พ.ย. 2567