On July 1, 2025, at the Criminal Court, Ratchadaphisek Road, Courtroom 902, the court scheduled the first hearing for the plaintiff's witness in the case of defamation of the monarchy, black number A.1860/2567, in which the Office of the Attorney General 8 was the plaintiff and filed a lawsuit against Mr. Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister, as the defendant for the offense of defamation of the monarchy under Section 112 of the Criminal Code and an offense related to the Computer Act

In the case of 2015, Mr. Thaksin, the defendant, gave an interview to a foreign TV station in South Korea, which made contemptuous references to the monarchy. The defendant denied the charges and was granted bail. Today, Mr. Thaksin traveled to the court to hear the plaintiff's witness testify in person

Mr. Winyat Chatmontri, Mr. Thaksin's lawyer, gave an interview that today is the appointment of the plaintiff's witness examination by the Criminal Prosecutor's Office 8, who is the plaintiff suing Mr. Thaksin for the offense of Section 112. Today the plaintiff will bring about 3 witnesses out of 10 in total to testify. The examination will take 3 days. As the defense lawyer, he will have the duty to cross-examine

When asked if Thaksin needs to come to every witness examination, Mr. Winyat said that today it is Thaksin's duty to come because the defendant in this case has already been released on bail, so he needs to appear in court. We have to see if the Criminal Court will have any regulations for considering the case.

When asked if the defendant would file a request for a trial in absentia, Mr. Winyat said that according to the Criminal Procedure Code, the penalty must not exceed 10 years, but in this case, the penalty is higher than 10 years, so it may not fall into the exception. However, if necessary, if the defendant already has a lawyer, he may request a trial in absentia.

But initially, Mr. Thaksin intends to attend the hearing himself, and the entire process of this case has a total of 7 rounds, with 14 witnesses for the defendant, 4 rounds for the defendant's witnesses on the first day, July 15, and 10 witnesses for the plaintiff, 3 rounds on July 1-3. The witness examination will be completed in all 7 rounds or the process will be completed before the 7 rounds, depending on the process. The last witness examination will be scheduled for July 23.

When asked whether the defendant was still concerned with the video clip in which Thaksin gave an interview to the Korean media, Mr. Winyat said that the defendant was definitely concerned and would prove this point today and show whether the clip was credible or not and how the evidence was collected.

Reporters reported that Mr. Somchai Wongsawat, former Prime Minister, traveled to the court today. He briefly stated that he came to support Mr. Thaksin as a citizen only. Mr. Winyat did not propose his name as a witness to fight the case. In this part, it is Mr. Winyat's duty only to propose the name of a witness to use in the court.

Later at 9:18 a.m., Mr. Thaksin traveled to the court in a bronze-gold Benz, license plate number Thor Sor 267, before avoiding the media by going up the side of the court