(File photo: Piyarat Chongthep Facebook account)A People’s Party MP has been acquitted of a royal defamation charge arising from a speech he made at a protest in Ubon Ratchathani province in 2020, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR). The acquittal, announced on Friday by the Ubon Ratchathani Provincial Court, was the third for Piyarat “Toto” Chongthep. In 2023 he ran under the Move Forward Party banner and won a seat in Constituency 23 (Phra Khanong-Bang Na) in Bangkok. In the Feb 8 general election this year he was one of the 32 list-MP candidates elected for the People’s Party, the successor to Move Forward. Nawat has been detained at Bangkok Remand Prison since December 2024 for two other counts of royal defamation filed in connection with protests in 2020 and 2021.

Source: Bangkok Post March 21, 2026 08:47 UTC