The leader of the dissolved Future Forward Party Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit, who is currently in France, is facing two additional lese majeste charges over a statement he made earlier this year about the production of the AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine by the monarchy-owned Siam Bioscience Group.
Mr Thanathorn, who is representing Thailand in France's Ultra Trail du Mont Blanc marathon foot race from Aug 23–29, said on Twitter he will return to Thailand to hear the charges after completing the event.
His lawyer, Kritsadang Nutcharas, said on Thursday his client is charged with lese majeste and entering data that harmed the kingdom's security in relation to comments made during a Jan 18 livestream about the vaccine.
Mr Thanathorn was also summoned on Aug 10 by Phahon Yothin police over another lese majeste charge filed by Thossapol Pengsom, a legal adviser to the ruling Palang Pracharath Party, he said.
Mr Kritsadang said he does not know what prompted the latest charges to be filed, but it might be related to criticism of the government's vaccine management.
Prior to this, Mr Thanathorn was charged with lese majeste for earlier comments he made about Siam Bioscience, also in January.