Thailand News Today | Thai university student sentenced to prison on royal defamation charges

Starting off today with some heartwarming news . . .Kindergarten students in Chiang Rai province in northernmost Thailand saved up one baht every day for a year to buy blankets for people suffering in the cold weather this winter, especially those living at high altitudes in the province’s mountainous regions.

Teachers at Chiang Rai Kindergarten invited students to join a charitable project entitled “Doing 89 Million Good Deeds for the King” to develop their social skills and teach them the importance of sharing.

In total, the philanthropic children saved up enough money to buy 200 blankets. The students and teachers handed over the blankets to the Mayor of Chiang Rai province at Chiang Rai Provincial Hall.

The mayor coordinated handing out the blankets to those who need them the most, especially those living high up in the province’s mountains.

A man high on drugs bit a police officer’s arm while under arrest for stealing electricity in Krabi province in southern Thailand yesterday afternoon.

The Provincial Electricity Authority (PEA) were informed of some suspicious wires leading into the house of 31 year old Natthaphong in Krabi province.

Natthaphong managed to tap into the PEA’s electricity for free by dangerously connecting a wire from an electric pole directly into his house. He did not install an electric metre, making the PEA unable to track his electricity usage.

Yesterday afternoon, PEA officials and officers from Mueang Krabi Police Station attempted to raid Natthaphong’s house. However, Natthaphong was high on methamphetamine and tried to prevent police from entering his house by launching at a police officer and biting his arm, causing three gaping wounds.

However, police managed to arrest Natthaphong, and now he is being prosecuted under the suspicion of theft, using drugs and attacking a police officer.

Nattaphong is looking at a 15 to 20 year prison sentence for his crimes and even life imprisonment or the death penalty if found guilty of attempted murder.

A Thai university student has been reportedly sentenced to prison on royal defamation charges.

อุกฤษฏ์ สันติประสิทธิ์กุล, a Ramkhamhaeng University Faculty of Law student was charged with royal defamation and breaking into data on a computer system.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said that he was arrested back in June 2021 and was accused of sharing at least three Facebook posts claiming that Thailand’s Head of State suffered from certain diseases. In one of his posts, he shared a photo of the Head of State, along with a message saying that quote “this is this year’s corrupt person.” End quote.

Another shared post allegedly contained photos of other members of the royal family while claiming a female member had Covid-19.

Currently, Aukit is being detained at Bangkok Remand Prison while he awaits the outcome of his bail request that was forwarded to the Appeals Court. Aukit was reportedly sentenced to three years in prison for each of the five counts of royal defamation.

His jail term is reportedly seven years and six months. And the Court has the option of suspending his sentence based on his history of never committing any criminal acts before. However, the Court chose to uphold the sentence, saying that he committed a serious offence by causing the public to misunderstand the monarchy.

And a quick hotel update before I leave, if you’re planning on visiting Chiang Mai in northern Thailand this New Year, then you had better be quick, because 90% of hotel rooms in the province are already booked up, according to the Thai Hotels Association or THA

Hotels in the province are expected to generate one billion baht in revenue during the high season, which runs from November to March, according to the association.

President of the THA‘s Northern Region, mentioned that Thailand’s tourism industry has improved by leaps and bounds over the past few months. He said that tourism revenue was closing in on pre-pandemic levels.

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