I have been a victim of Thailand’s abusive criminal defamation laws twice now.
After suffering for more than 10 years as both a journalist and as an advocate, I believe the only way of getting rid of SLAPP (Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation) in Thailand is by repealing the criminal defamation laws.
Anti-Slapp legislation will simply complicate a legal system that needs to be made as simple as possible. It may be that there are other solutions for other democracies, but I am convinced the criminal defamation laws need to be killed in Thailand if the country is to embrace true freedom of speech.
Civil defamation is enough. It allows people who think they have been wronged to seek justice through the system. But criminal defamation turns people whose only aim is to improve Thailand into ”criminals” as soon as an accusation is made.
I was declared a ”criminal” for the first time 10 years ago when a colleague and I on a small online news outlet were sued by the powerful Royal Thai Navy. Instead of fleeing to another country, we stayed. We fought in court, and won the case.
The Phuketwan trial was over our republication of a paragraph from a Reuters series on human trafficking that won a Pulitzer Prize. The navy could have sued Reuters, which has ten thousand times more readers than Phuketwan, but it chose to go after the little guys.
As a result of our victory, the law changed to make it impossible to sue for both criminal defamation and computer crimes. But in the 10 years since that case, many journalists, advocates and human rights defenders have been sued in Thailand and have been turned into ”criminals” without being found guilty.
I became a criminal again three years ago when I was sued by an elected local official. While working as a volunteer community advocate in Nakhon Ratchasima (Korat), I uncovered a corruption scandal. I discovered that millions of baht intended to aid poor farmers had been diverted into the pockets of others.
I blew the whistle and informed the villagers of what had happened and told them about their rights in scores of Facebook posts. I expected the bank involved to be grateful, but instead, the bank covered up the theft of its own money.
The elected local official said he sued not over the scandal but because some of my posts were ”personal and political.” Three charges were passed from police to prosecutors and many months later, I faced a trial.
After I was found not guilty, the elected local official sued me six more times. Once again, police passed on these charges to the prosecutors without serious investigation because it is ”their duty.”
This time, my lawyers made a submission to the prosecutors because the six charges were presented in four cases, which would have meant four trials.
The prosecutors wanted to kill all six charges, but a senior provincial official decided to proceed with one charge. So five charges were dropped, but I am still a ”criminal.” No date has been set yet for the trial, which will probably be in 2026.
Everything I have done over the years as a journalist and as an advocate have been to make Thailand a fairer place for everyone, a better country. Yet here I am, branded a criminal without evidence being presented and forced to endure all kinds of hardships until the long-awaited trial takes place.
Incidentally, the charge relates to a hashtag. It will probably be the first time anywhere that a judge has to rule whether a hashtag can be defamatory. I think we all know the answer.
Yet I have to face another trial for doing the right thing and for seeking to improve the lives of the people in an undereducated farming community. If I was a member of Thailand’s government I would seek to improve freedom of expression and reduce SLAPP cases by repealing the criminal defamation laws as soon as possible.
That needs to happen for the good of the country, its reputation and its citizens.
*The above is text of a speech delivered by Chutima Sidasathian on November 12 in Bangkok to conclude a three-day regional conference sponsored by the United Nations. A global campaign is being undertaken to end SLAPP.
Chutima Sidasathian shared regional human rights and investigative reporting awards for exposing the inhumane ”pushbacks” of Rohingya boatpeople from Thailand in 2008-2009. In the years that followed, she came to be regarded as Thailand’s first responder in reporting human trafficking. She later worked as field producer on the documentary ‘Ghost Fleet’ that exposed slavery at sea on Thai boats.