Arnon Nampa is a Thai human rights lawyer, activist, and co-founder of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights. Arnon has been arrested, convicted, and sentenced numerous times under various laws, including Thailand’s Criminal Code Sections 112 (lèse majesté) and 116 (sedition), the Computer Crimes Act, the Emergency Decree, the Public Assembly Act, and the Loudspeaker Act. From August 2020 to August 2021, Arnon was arrested numerous times following his participation in pro-democracy peaceful protests. 

Between August 2020 and February 2022, Arnon was in and out of detention on multiple separate occasions, his longest detention during this period exceeding 200 days. Arnon’s current detention has been ongoing since September 26, 2023, when he was convicted under Section 112 and the Emergency Decree for a speech he gave at a peaceful protest in October 2020 and sentenced to 4 years in prison.

In another case, on August 3, 2020, Arnon spoke at a peaceful protest, which was Harry Potter-themed and focused on the role of the monarchy as the head of state in a democratic government. At the event, Arnon spoke about challenges regarding monarchial power and the King’s role in politics, the importance of appropriate constitutional limitations on the monarchy, and the need for legal reform.

Arnon was arrested on August 19, 2020, outside of the Criminal Court, where he had been serving as a lawyer, and charged with violations of Section 116 of the Criminal Code (sedition), the Public Assembly Act, the Advertisement by Using Sound Amplifiers Control Act, and the Computer Crimes Act. On September 10, 2020, Arnon was additionally charged with violating the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situation. The police further charged Arnon with violating Section 112 of the Criminal Code on February 24, 2021. The public prosecutor described that Arnon’s speech, “distorted the facts and incited the public to oppose the monarchy.” Arnon was indicted on all charges on July 14, 2021, and found guilty on December 19, 2024. 

Arnon’s court proceedings have been fraught with due process violations. For example, in the “Harry Potter” case, the Court refused to issue subpoenas for Arnon to access evidence needed for his defense, and as a result, on November 27, 2024, defense counsel was unable to cross-examine the prosecution’s witnesses. The court then cancelled prosecution and defense counsel witness examinations. 

When Arnon removed his shirt in court in protest of the Court’s refusal to issue subpoenas, the Court ordered a “secret trial,” had the court marshal remove people from the courtroom, and issued a gag order on the media. Arnon subsequently submitted two motions to remove the judge for bias or prejudice, which were both rejected by the Chief Justice of the Criminal Court.

Arnon’s convictions have been criticized by UN human rights experts for the use of Section 112 as a violation of Thailand’s international human rights obligations. Further, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWGAD) issued an opinion in October 2024 determining that Arnon’s detention in two Section 112 cases is arbitrary and in violation of international law. One such case arose out of a speech at a peaceful protest in which Arnon called for amending the Constitution, reforming the monarchy, and the Prime Minister’s resignation. The other case concerned two Facebook posts that reportedly criticized the monarchy and challenged the use of Section 112, for which Arnon was charged under both Section 112 and Article 14 of the Computer Crimes Act. Arnon was detained pre-trial for over 100 days in each case.

Arnon is pursuing appeals of all 10 of his convictions.

The case of Arnon Nampa is representative of Thailand’s broader repression of dissent. Human rights defenders, pro-democracy and environmental activists, academics, and journalists in the country face ongoing surveillance, harassment, and prosecutions, including under Thailand’s strict lèse-majesté and sedition laws. In 2025, Thailand received a Freedom in the World score of 34/100 and was categorized as “Not Free” by Freedom House. Thailand’s lèse-majesté law, Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, which prohibits defamation of, insults, or threats to the monarchy and provides for a penalty of 3-15 years imprisonment, is frequently used to judicially harass perceived dissidents. 

Widespread protests took place in 2020–2021 in favor of democratic reform, including reform of the monarchy. In November 2020, in response to the pro-democracy protests, then-Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha declared that he would intensify enforcement of all laws and provisions against protestors, which included Section 112. Section 112 does not define what constitutes defamation, insult, or threat to the monarchy, therefore allowing authorities to arbitrarily and discriminatorily apply the law. Further, anyone may file a Section 112 case, resulting in it being used as a harassment tool, including by pro-monarchy royalist groups. From November 2020 to August 2025, 282 people were charged in 315 cases under Section 112. Section 112 is often used in conjunction with Section 116 and Article 14 of the Computer Crimes Act to target pro-democracy activists and others deemed critical of the monarchy. Section 116 prohibits expression that intends to change the law by use of force or violence, raise unrest, or cause others to violate laws, and is often also used against perceived dissidents.

U.N. human rights experts have called for an immediate moratorium on detentions and prosecutions under Section 112, as international law protects the right to criticize a monarch as a public official and to use peaceful means to advocate for reform to the monarchy.

• Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, คดี 112 “อานนท์” ปราศรัยข้อเสนอแนะปฏิรูปสถาบันกษัตริย์ ม็อบแฮร์รี่ พอตเตอร์ [Section 112 case: Arnon gave a speech proposing reforms to the monarchy at the Harry Potter protest.] (2025)
• Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, “อานนท์” ตั้งข้อรังเกียจศาลในคดี 112 #ม็อบแฮร์รี่พอตเตอร์1 หลังสั่งพิจารณาลับ-ห้ามเผยแพร่ โดยไม่มีเหตุตามกฎหมาย ทั้งห้ามโต้แย้ง “ถ้าใครพูด จะขังให้หมด” [“Arnon” raised objections to the court in the case of Section 112 #HarryPotterProtest1 after it ordered a secret trial and prohibited dissemination without legal justification, and also forbid any objections — “If anyone speaks out, they’ll all be jailed.”] (12 December 2024)
• Front Line Defenders, Arnon Nampa (2025)
• CIVICUS, Thailand: Chronology of judicial harassment against human rights defender Arnon Nampa (24 July 2025)

Opinion, U.N. Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (9 October 2024)