Thailand still grapples with a strict law against criticizing the monarchy
BANGKOK — The day Chonthicha Jangrew got up to give a public speech in 2021 about Thailand’s politically powerful monarchy, she was prepared to go to prison. “It’s something I already knew would happen,” the 31-year-old elected parliamentarian said in an interview with NPR in May. It was days after she was sentenced to two years in prison for violating Thailand’s draconian lèse-majesté law, which criminalizes criticism of the royal institution.