Man charged for anti-112 graffiti at Wat Phra Kaew

Two police officers rush to arrest a man using black spray paint to write and then cross out the number 112 on the wall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok on Tuesday evening. (Capture from video)
Two police officers rush to arrest a man using black spray paint to write and then cross out the number 112 on the wall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok on Tuesday evening. (Capture from video)

A 24-year-old man arrested for spray-painting the number 112 on the wall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in Bangkok on Tuesday evening has been hit with police charges carrying up to seven years in prison.

The number 112 is used by protesters in referring to Section 112 of the Criminal Code, the lese-majeste law under which many of them have been charged and which they want revoked.

Suttawee Soikham, from Khon Kaen, was seen by two police officers about 5.40pm using black spray paint to write and then cross out the number 112 on the wall outside the temple.

He was immediately arrested.

A 15-year-old girl who was at the scene was also arrested. Police said later that she was wanted for lese-majeste in connection with a pro-democracy demonstration near the Giant Swing on Oct 13 last year. She is believed to be the youngest person among the 200-plus people charged with royal defamation in the past three years.

A video of Mr Suttawee painting the numbers went viral on social media on Tuesday night. Police said he was a freelance artist and a member of the Free Youth movement.

By Wednesday afternoon the graffiti — including an anarchist symbol — had been removed and the white wall repainted.

Police on Wednesday pressed two charges against Mr Suttawee — violating the Cleanliness Act, which carries a penalty of up to one month in prison and/or fine of 10,000 baht, and a charge under Section 32 of the Ancient Monuments Act, which can bring a prison term of up to seven years and/or a fine up to 700,000 baht.

The teenage girl, identified only as “Yok”, was held overnight at the police station. She appeared on Wednesday in juvenile and family court, where she refused to recognise the proceedings, sitting with her back to the judge. She was ordered into juvenile detention.

Vocabulary

  • anarchist (noun): a person who believes that laws and governments are not necessary - ผู้นิยมลัทธิอนาธิปไตย
  • ancient: very old - ที่เก่าแก่ ที่โบราณ
  • arrest: (of the police) taking someone to a police station because they are believed to have committed a crime - การจับกุม
  • Criminal Code: the systems of laws dealing with crimes and their punishment - ประมวลกฎหมายอาญา
  • defamation: the offence of writing or saying something bad about someone that is not true and makes people have a bad opinion of them - การใส่ร้าย
  • democracy (noun): a system of government in which all the people of a country can vote to elect their representatives - การปกครองแบบประชาธิปไตย
  • demonstration: an occasion when a group of people gather together to support or protest about something - การชุมนุม
  • detention (noun): the condition of being forced officially to stay in a place - การกักตัว
  • judge: someone whose job is to make decisions in a court of law - ตุลาการ, ผู้พิพากษา
  • juvenile (noun): a young person/animal who is not yet an adult - เยาวชน
  • lese-majeste (adj): the crime of offending, threatening or showing disrespect for a member of the royal family - หมิ่นพระบรมเดชานุภาพ
  • proceedings: an event or a series of actions - กิจกรรมที่ดำเนินต่อเนื่องในระยะเวลาหนึ่ง
  • protester: someone who shows that they disagree with something by standing somewhere, shouting, carrying signs, etc - ผู้ต่อต้าน, ผู้ประท้วง
  • recognise: to give praise or approval to someone or something - เป็นที่ชื่นชม ยกย่อง
  • revoke: to officially say that something is no longer legal - เพิกถอน
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