Thai man jailed for rubber duck calendar royal insult | Inquirer News
Court rules that toy resembled king

Thai man jailed for rubber duck calendar royal insult

/ 05:34 AM March 09, 2023

Antigovernment protesters in Thailand have adopted yellow inflatable ducks as their mascot, in this photo taken in Bangkok. STORY: Thai man jailed for rubber duck calendar royal insult

QUACK FOR DEMOCRACY | Antigovernment protesters in Thailand have adopted yellow inflatable ducks as their mascot, in this photo taken in Bangkok on Nov. 27, 2020. (File photo from Agence France-Presse)

BANGKOK — A court in Thailand has jailed a man for two years for selling satirical calendars featuring yellow rubber ducks that prosecutors said defamed the royal family.

The 2021 calendar featured a series of rubber ducks in poses that a Bangkok court ruled resembled Thailand’s king, who is protected by some of the world’s strictest lese majeste laws, which carry sentences of up to 15 years in prison.

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Narathorn Chotmankongsin, 26, was initially given a three-year prison term on Tuesday for selling the calendars on the popular pro-democracy Facebook page Ratsadon, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR).

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“But the sentence was commuted to two years without parole after the defendant gave testimony that was beneficial to the consideration,” TLHR, a legal group that acts in many lese majeste cases, said in a statement.

The yellow bath toys became an accidental symbol of 2020’s pro-democracy protest movement after demonstrators used large inflatable ducks to shield themselves from police tear gas and water cannon.

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Rubber-fowl-themed paraphernalia quickly came to dominate street marches, featuring everything from hats to hair clips.

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Thailand’s use of lese majeste laws has increased dramatically in recent years, with more than 200 people charged since 2020, according to TLHR.

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Human Rights Watch (HRW) said the court’s decision “shows that Thai authorities are now trying to punish any activity they deem to be insulting the monarchy.”

“This case sends a message to all Thais, and to the rest of the world, that Thailand is moving further away from — not closer to — becoming a rights-respecting democracy,” said HRW Asia director Elaine Pearson.

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