A Thai Man Sold Calendars With Images Of Ducks—And Was Promptly Jailed

A man from Thailand was jailed over what initially seems to be a non-issue.

The man named Narathorn Chotmankongsin, also known as Ton Mai, was sentenced to three years in prison for selling calendars with yellow ducks printed on them. He was arrested on December 31, 2020 after police raided his home and found the offending desk calendars.

Though the yellow duck calendars seemed cute to some, the police considered them an insult to the monarchy. They stated that the ducks were one of the symbols of the youth-led pro-democracy protests.

They also claimed that the images of the yellow ducks defamed the reigning king, Maha Vajiralongkorn (Rama X). Included in the calendar were pictures of a cartoon duck with dogs, a duck flying a VIP plane while two other ducks walked alongside it, and a duck with a condom on its head. The dogs were a symbol of the “lapdogs” or people loyal to the royal family.

Thailand has some of the strictest rules when it comes to publicly talking about their king. Ton Mai was charged with going against their lese-majesty law which states that it is prohibited to defame, insult, or threaten the monarch of Thailand.

His sentence was eventually reduced to just two years after he appealed to the court, with him claiming that the ducks were their own characters and not a satirical piece about the monarchy.

He is only one of 1,890 youth at the time who were arrested by police in a youth-led protest crackdown. The 228 fellow cases that fell under the lese-majesty law mostly had to do with young men and women making political speeches and online posts about the king.

Maha Vajiralongkorn’s reign in Thailand began in 2016 after the death of his father, Bhumibol.