(Bangkok) – A senior cabinet minister in Thailand has brought criminal defamation lawsuits against two prominent journalists who reported about a bribery case, raising serious concerns for media freedom, Human Rights Watch said today. The trial court can dismiss the case if it lacks legal merit or is without basis.
On February 27, 2026, the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment, Suchart Chomklin, filed a lawsuit against Hathairat Phaholtap, editor-in-chief of the Isaan Record. The summons related to Hathairat’s Facebook posts citing the Isaan Record’s report that Thai politicians were involved in trafficking Thai berry pickers and took bribes from brokers supplying Thai workers to a berry company in Finland. Suchart later filed a separate criminal defamation case against Kowit Phothisan, another editor at the Isaan Record, for sharing Hathairat’s posts.
“The criminal defamation suits against the journalists Hathairat and Kowit highlight the danger of cases filed in retaliation for reporting on human rights abuses,” said Elaine Pearson, Asia director at Human Rights Watch. “The courts need to ensure that such cases fully respect media freedom.”
In the criminal defamation case against Hathairat, Suchart alleged that her posts made readers believe that she was referring to him. The minister seeks THB50 million (US$1.6 million) in damages from Hathairat. Suchart is also seeking THB1 million (US$31,000) in damages in the separate case against Kowit.
On January 24, Suchart filed a malfeasance complaint with the Central Criminal Court for Corruption and Misconduct Cases against the director-general of the Justice Ministry’s Department of Special Investigation and other officials for media comments implying that Suchart was involved in a bribery scheme linked to Thai berry pickers sent to Finland during 2020 and 2023. The National Anti-Corruption Commission is currently reviewing the department’s investigation implicating Suchart and several senior Labor Ministry officials for allegedly taking bribes from berry picker brokerage companies.
On April 1, the National Human Rights Commission of Thailand issued a statement raising concerns about the growing use of strategic litigation to silence public participation (known as SLAPP) and calling for the enactment of an anti‑SLAPP law to protect human rights defenders, the public, and journalists who report on issues in the public interest. The human rights commission cited the criminal defamation cases filed by Suchart against Isaan Record journalists.
During its 2021 Universal Periodic Review of its human rights status at the United Nations Human Rights Council, Thailand supported multiple recommendations regarding freedom of expression, including issues related to the abuse of SLAPP lawsuits, but has not carried them out.
Thai authorities have not protected activists and whistleblowers from harassment or retaliatory lawsuits by state agencies and private companies, despite the adoption of the National Action Plans on Business and Human Rights in 2019 and 2023, Human Rights Watch said. The absence of effective anti-SLAPP protections impedes media freedom and public scrutiny of government officials and companies.
The apparent aim of such lawsuits is to intimidate and discourage members of the public, human rights defenders, and the media from scrutinizing corruption and human rights violations, ultimately silencing reporting in the public interest. Such practices seriously undermine the right to freedom of expression under the Thai constitution and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Thailand is a party. The Human Rights Council will next review Thailand’s right record in November.
“The United Nations and concerned governments should urge Thailand to strengthen anti-SLAPP protections,” Pearson said. “The Thai government should curtail the use of such retaliatory lawsuits as its promises on business and human rights will ring hollow without forceful action.”
