Thanaporn : Defaming soldiers in helicopter crash incident

Thanaporn was accused of posting a message on his personal Facebook account under the name of 'Suvachai Tanasiri' that insulted the military men who died in the helicopter crash incident in Phayao Province and showing the '3-fingers salute' as an anti-coup symbol.

After the incident, Thanaporn was arrested at his office on 4 December 2014 and was brought to a military camp for inquiry. After he was detained for 7 days Thanaporn was brought to the Technology Crime Suppression Division where he was informed that he violated the Computer-related Crime Charge and section 327 of the Criminal Code (by defaming the deaths of the soldiers ).

In October 2015, the Prosecutor filed a charge against Thanaporn before the court. The Criminal Court set to examine witnesses in October 2016.

On 8 December 2016, the Criminal Court found Thanaporn guilty under section 327 of the Criminal Code and under section 14(1) of the Computer-related Crime Act. Even though the defendant did not mention specifically that the military men who died in helicopter crash were bad individuals, the message he posted clearly was intended to inform readers that they were bad individuals. The court sentenced Thanaporn to 2 years in prison and a fine in the sum of 100,000 Baht. His prison sentence was however suspend for a 2-year period.