An activist lawyer filed a complaint with police stating that an April Fool’s prank tweeted by staff members of budget airline Thai Vietjet insulted Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn, which might lead to criminal penalties.
Police will determine later whether to pursue a criminal case against employees of the airline, which is a subsidiary of Vietnam’s Vietjet Aviation JSC, under harsh “lese majeste” rules, which make defaming the monarchy punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
On April 1, Thai Vietjet’s official account tweeted that the airline was establishing a new international route between Nan, Thailand, and Munich, Germany, sparking outrage online and threats of boycotts from ultra-royalists.
The offending tweet was later withdrawn, and the airline issued an apology the next day, claiming that senior management was unaware of the message, which promised a “flight route between a province in Thailand and a city in Europe, which sparked a lot of public outrage.”
The post made no mention of King Vajiralongkorn, 69, who lives in Germany with his royal noble consort Sineenat Wongvajiraphakdi, who is from Nan province.
Shortly after the king’s coronation in 2019, Sineenat was given the title of royal consort by the king. He had married Queen Suthida, a member of his personal bodyguard squad, earlier in the year.
In recent student-led rallies, some activists have publicly criticized the king for, among other things, spending time outside the country. Since the protests began in 2020, at least 183 people have been charged with disrespecting the monarchy.