What is the price of demanding justice or better services from the state? Legal action, fines -- and, in the worst-case scenario, imprisonment.
Sadly, harsh implementation of the law is a reality that many activists and villagers have come to know all too well.
Last week, 15 villagers and activists advocating for land rights, labour protection, improved state welfare, and public participation were summoned to Dusit police station in Bangkok to acknowledge charges under the Public Assembly Act.
The law prohibits demonstrations within a 50-metre radius of Government House.
This Act, passed in 2015 under the junta-led government, has been widely criticised as a tool to enable Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP), or gagging writs.
The charges stem from peaceful demonstrations held between October last year and April this year.
The group is due to report to the Office of the Attorney General next month.
Their case is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the legal consequences and hardships faced by ordinary -- often poor -- people who protest against the government.
At the same time, the court is expected to issue a verdict in August against advisers to the People's Movement for a Just Society (P-Move) for their role in the October 2023 protests.
It's not only villagers and activists who face SLAPPs -- politicians are affected too.
A case in point is Rakchanok Srinok of the People's Party, who has been outspoken in challenging the Social Security Office (SSO) over alleged budget abuse concerning a building purchase that drew wide public attention.
Nitirat Sapsomboon, an activist with the civic group We Fair, said the state is using the law to suppress people's movements -- not only P-Move, but others as well.
Reflecting on 2023, he said villagers and activists were being charged almost daily.
He said his network submitted a welfare state proposal to the Paetongtarn cabinet -- only for it to be dismissed. From his experience, street protests remain the only way to attract government attention.
Villagers from the North facing similar charges have pointed to a number of oppressive laws that have placed them in jeopardy -- particularly those related to land and forest conservation, which infringe on their ancestral rights.
Many have become landless overnight.
Labourers are also caught in the crosshairs. Workers demanding compensation after their workplaces shut down face similar difficulties under the protest law.
Former employees of Yanaphan Co, for instance, have been camping outside the Office of the Civil Service Commission opposite Government House for months, with no sign that their grievances will be addressed.
Their leader laments that the Paetongtarn Shinawatra government has turned a blind eye to their suffering.
The problems vary, but their experience is shared: indifference from state agencies, whether in their hometowns or in the capital.
Villagers, especially those fighting for land rights, say they have raised their concerns with provincial governors and relevant state bodies -- only to be told that such matters are dictated by national policy.
If they want change, they are told, they must travel to Bangkok.
"From what's going on, something is wrong with decentralisation," said one villager.
In many cases, the police overreact -- erecting roadblocks that cause traffic jams -- and yet it is the protesters who shoulder all the blame.
A female leader of the Northern Farmers Federation pointed out that persecution itself can be a form of harassment.
As a mother of three living in Chiang Mai, each trip to a police station in Bangkok costs her time and income.
And yet, the villagers are right. If local agencies had made genuine efforts to resolve these issues, they would not need to protest outside Government House.
It is the cold shoulder and indifference of the state that pushed them to this point. Indeed, gathering in public spaces -- especially in the capital -- is often a last resort, their only means of being heard.
Instead of listening to their grievances or giving them a platform to speak, these villagers are met with charges and legal punishment. It's worth noting that P-Move must hold rallies once or even twice a year simply to follow up on their demands.
Isn't it time the government asked itself what's gone wrong?