Since the May 2014 coup d’état, Thailand’s human rights record has dramatically deteriorated. Military rule has had a wide-ranging, negative impact on the country’s human rights situation, particularly through the imposition of numerous orders and announcements issued by the ruling junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). These decrees and other repressive legislation, such as the Public Assembly Act, the Computer Crimes Act, and various provisions of the Criminal Code, including ‘defamation’ and ‘sedition’ have been frequently used to target human rights defenders, including lawyers, pro-democracy activists, journalists, and community-based defenders...

Harassment by Thammakaset:

At least 14 cases, 22 defendants Since 2016, Thammakaset Co., Ltd., a poultry farm in Lopburi Province, Thailand,1 has used criminal defamation laws to intimidate and silence human rights defenders and workers who exposed exploitative working conditions at its poultry farm. Thammakaset has filed complaints with the police, the Criminal Court, and the Civil Court against at least 22 individuals – including its workers, human rights defenders, and two reporters – for alleged defamation of the company. Despite advocacy and other actions undertaken by a number of European companies in support of various defendants in cases filed by Thammakaset, the company’s harassment against human rights defenders and workers has persisted - a fact that reveals the need for stronger action to curb these attacks...