Legal experts and activists voiced their concerns during a seminar at Chulalongkorn University's Faculty of Law on Wednesday about a lawsuit against a commissioner at the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC).
The lawsuit in question is a dereliction of duty case filed by telecommunication company True Digital Group against NBTC commissioner Prof Emeritus Pirongrong Ramasoota. The experts said the case could be part of a strategic lawsuit against public participation (Slapp), which are lawsuits designed to intimidate and silence critics -- a topic that the seminar covered in depth.
Asst Prof Kanpirom Komalarajun, a Chulalongkorn University lecturer, said in many Slapp cases, government officials unnecessarily faced lawsuits.
Many of such cases were filed in remote areas, causing interruptions to the officials' work, Asst Prof Kanpirom said.
"People said Section 157 [of the Criminal Code: law on dereliction of duty] would be a refuge for the people. It turned out to be a channel for private companies to threaten government officials forcing them to decide the way they [private companies] want," she said.
Itthaboon Onwongsa, deputy secretary-general of the Office of Thai Consumer Council, said Slapp cases have been used to silence government officials who are whistleblowers or who are working for the public interest.
Mr Itthaboon said that just facing a lawsuit at the Criminal Court for corruption and misconduct cases can discredit officials, leading to some people refraining from engaging with them, regardless of the court's eventual ruling.
Sarinee Achavanuntakul, independent researcher and co-founder of the Foundation of Internet and Civic Culture (Thai Netizen Network), who has faced Slapp cases, said the term "corruption and misconduct" is quite broad.
In a case where the complaint is not about bribery or vested interest, accusing government officials of being partial or biased would require a lot of contextual evidence from the defendant to prove their innocence, Ms Sarinee said.
"If we allow every unsatisfied person to file criminal lawsuits against government officials, what would be the protection to ensure it won't affect the government's overall ability to function?" she asked.
Ms Sarinee said hidden agendas behind many Slapp cases can be seen even more clearly if the complainants step up their demands, such as asking the government officials to be suspended from work.
What she said matches the case of the NBTC commissioner, Prof Pirongrong who is facing a lawsuit filed by True Digital Group.
True Corporation, True Digital's parent company, has requested that Prof Pirongrong be suspended from work. The company claims that being sued could affect her fairness in deciding on company-related cases. Information about the case remains undisclosed to the public.
Regarding this specific case, Prof Twekiat Menakanist, a former Constitutional Court justice, said Prof Pirongrong's suspension from her duty could make the seven-member NBTC's functions vulnerable.
He cited what happened in 2022 when NBTC chairman Sarana Boonbaichaiyapruck double-voted to break a tie when the commission considered the True-Dtac merger. Such a "double vote" was not an acceptable way to make decisions for Constitutional Court justices, he said.
Meanwhile, Thammasat University's Asst Prof Vorapol Malsukhum said four factors should be considered before deciding whether a sued government official should be suspended from work. He said the factors were private interest; a precedent of conduct showing bias towards the disputed party in public, an association that could lead to impartiality, and prejudgement on the same matters as in the disputed case.
"There must be some screening system to ensure the rights to a fair trial [impartiality of the commissioner as a national regulator considering cases related to the telecom company], but it's not that government officials must be suspended from work right away for just being sued. In that case, there would be a lot of negative consequences [to state functions]," he said.
As the speakers proposed solutions against Slapp cases, Asst Prof Kanpirom said private companies should not be allowed to directly file criminal lawsuits against government officials, but they can be co-complainant with state attorneys.
Ms Sarinee suggested the laws should be amended so that smaller steps, such as administrative appeal, should be done before a criminal case can be filed.
Moreover, when the dispute is about public interest, information about the legal cases should be made open and available to the public, not kept to only the court as a secret, she added.
The seminar at the university was titled "Government Officials and Being Sued in Criminal Cases".