“Thammakaset: Thai poultry farmer loses his 36th defamation suit”

Three Thai human rights campaigners have been found not guilty of criminal defamation over social media posts.

Poultry businessman Chanchai Pheamphon accused the women of posting comments in support of others he had sued.

The comments were about the alleged abuse of migrant workers at his chicken processing factories…

He had argued that people reading the campaigners' posts might be encouraged to go to a 107-second video, made by a human rights group, which he believed had defamed him…

This particular case began in 2016 when 14 migrant workers in the Thammakaset chicken processing plant complained that they had been made to work excessively long hours and had their passports withheld. The Thai authorities upheld their complaint and ordered the company to pay the workers 1.7 million baht ($50,000) in compensation. But Mr Chanchai then started filing criminal charges - 37 of them, against 22 individuals, who had commented about the case…

Mr Chanchai says he is only exercising his right to defend his company's reputation with his epic litigation. He has lost every case but one, and that one case was overturned on appeal…