Name: Arnon Nampa (Age 39)
Occupation: Lawyer
Case: Lèse Majesté (Article 112) from Public Speeches
Date Imprisoned: 26 September 2023
Location of Imprisonment: Bangkok Remand Prison

Arnon Nampa completed his legal training in the Faculty of Law at Ramkhamhaeng University and the Thai Bar Association. When he was a third-year university student, the 19 September 2006 coup took place. Arnon participated in protests against the coup with the “19 September Network Against the Coup.” This group had small demonstrations and Arnon wrote and read poems on stage. After he received his legal license in 2007, Arnon’s first case was in the Khon Kaen Military Court. He provided assistance to a friend who was a conscript who had violated the rules of the base.

Before he became well-known for his work on political cases, Arnon interned with rights lawyers and worked on many environmental cases. This included assisting villagers who had disputes with the state, for example cases in Bo Nok and Baan Krood and the Thai-Malay gas pipeline case. In addition, he worked on cases in which villagers were in conflict with private companies, including in Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, in which villagers opposed a steel mill; villagers in Saraburi who opposed an electricity-generating plant; and the case of the Triumph Factory Workers’ Union, in which Jittra Kotchadet was the union president. The Triumph Factory Workers’ Union held a demonstration in order to submit a letter to the prime minister and were dispersed by the use of a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD).

In 2009, Arnon began serving as a lawyer in Article 112 cases. The first case in which he was the primary lawyer was that of Suwicha Thakor, who was an engineer who was accused of lèse majesté resulting from making and posting altered photographs. The Criminal Court sentenced him to 20 years in prison. This was the beginning of Arnon’s career as a lawyer in Article 112 and political cases.

After the red shirt protests and the state crackdown in 2010, Arnon established the Ratsadornprasong Law Office to provide pro bono legal assistance and advice to villagers. He defended villagers in many cases, including those arising from participation in demonstrations and those in which villagers were accused of being terrorists. With respect to Article 112 during this period, Arnon was one of the lawyers who defended Amphon Tangnoppakul, or “Ah Kong.” Amphon was an elderly man who was accused of sending SMS messages with lèse majesté content who was sentenced to 20 years in prison. He was denied bail and died due to complications of cancer while imprisoned. 

After the 22 May 2014 coup took place, Arnon was one of those who opposed the coup and co-founded Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). TLHR was initially a group of volunteer lawyers who defended the people who were prosecuted for opposing the coup in the military court system. 

Arnon and his fellow activists also created Resistant Citizen to oppose the coup. Resistant Citizen emphasized humor in their actions. Arnon first became a defendant in a political case after the “My Dear Election” demonstration on 14 February 2015. Throughout the period in which the junta was in power, Arnon called for elections. In 2018, he founded a group, “People Who Want an Election,” which organized events from January-May 2018 to demand that the military government allow an election. He was charged in 12 cases related to demonstrations during that period.

In 2020, following the 2019 general election, laws were passed related to the state agencies under the control of the institution of the monarchy and the Crown Property Act was amended. The people began to ask questions about these matters and protest for reform of the institution of the monarchy. Arnon was one of speakers at the “Cast a Spell to Protect Democracy,” demonstration on 3 August 2020; this demonstration is known as the “Harry Potter Mob” because speakers and demonstrators dressed as Harry Potter. They spoke of he who must not be named, whom everyone knew, and compared him to Voldemort, the evil wizard in the Harry Potter series. Speaking during this demonstration led to Arnon being accused in his first Article 112 case.

Throughout the 2020-2022 period, there were hundreds of demonstrations by students and people throughout the country. Members of civil society formed the “Khana Ratsadon 2563,” with Arnon as one of the main speakers about the demand for reform of the institution of the monarchy. Arnon is being prosecuted in 26 cases, with 14 Article 112 cases relating to speech or Facebook posts critical of the institution of the monarchy. 

At present, the Court has sentenced Arnon to imprisonment from Article 112 in 4 cases has carried a punishment for a total of 14 years 1 months 20 days imprisonment. These cases arose from speaking during a demonstration on 14 October 2020, 3 Facebook posts in 2021,2 Facebook posts in 2021 and speaking during a demonstration on 3 August 2021 on the first anniversary of the Harry Potter protest (Harry Potter #2).