From Thai Lawyers for Human Rights
July 2, 2024
Original title: Thailand: "There's nothing I fear anymore after spraypainting the palace walls that day"
"There's nothing I fear anymore, after spraypainting the palace walls that day, I can see courage, dare to take risks, dare to face them. Because even though I have to go to prison, they still can't stop me, and they can't shut down my thoughts.” A strong sentence from the interview where the Punk Art artist confirmed he was ready to accept every situation that would arise after the court decision.
On July 4, 2024, “Bangoen” (pseudonym), a 26-year-old Khon Kaen resident, will have to travel to hear the verdict in the case of being sued on 2 charges according to Ancient Monuments Act and Cleanliness Act for spray painting the walls of Wat Phra Kaew to demand rights for political prisoners on his 25th birthday on March 28, 2023, before he was arrested and prosecuted. He resisted the witness examination until the Criminal Court made an appointment to hear the verdict.
The situation that will happen from now on will be 'Bangoen' being imprisoned or continuing to be free. He insists on making art that reflects society.
Children think outside the box, grow up through the mob, before becoming rebellious in school
Bangoen, born in 1998, has been a child thinking outside the box since elementary school. He started studying at a Christian school in Khon Kaen Province and moved around many places before settling down in Bangkok to enter high school
Under care of his father “I mostly study and acquire knowledge through computers. History is not taught. When I was a child, we went to join the red shirt mob and also went to listen to the yellow shirts, to follow news from both sides. We decided to join the rally with mostly Red Shirts.”
He went along with my father to the rally in 2010, who went to sell books in the crowd- both political books and books containing various stories that happened in the country. “Father didn't teach or guide us much, because he let us listen and think for ourselves.”
Away from politics, Bangoen lived life as a high school student and was quite rebellious. At a private school in the Charoen Krung area, even though he had good grades with a grade point average of over 3, he often questioned discipline or school norms. For example, why can't students grow their hair long? Why do you have to wear a uniform? Why study scouting? As well as why respect the national flag?
“ When I was in high school, I founded the Rebel Party. We talked about opposing the issue of raising money for students for unnecessary activities. We go to study, we go to gain knowledge. They will spend half an hour saluting the national flag in the hot sun, taking up unnecessary subjects like Boy Scouts, or using child labor in order to save money. Things that seem unfair.”
The rebel party, which is just an idea against things that students shouldn't tolerate, such as Boy Scouts, forcing students to sweep up the trash that they leave behind in the school. “I argued with the teacher that they were using child labor to save money. There is a budget, why not hire a janitor? The students would be able to study what they should study instead of cleaning.”
He was scrutinized by teachers at school. Even though he did well in school, Bangoen had to leave school. He said that during Mathayom 5 in computer subjects “I am good at this. Because I'm always using the computer. The teacher taught me how to use a certain program, and then I went and told my friends how to do things like this. which from this action I was kicked out of the room by the teacher. And still got beaten on the back and slapped on the head by that same teacher. Then there was violence, and all sorts of bullying.”
From such events Bangoen decided not to go to school for a while, When it was the time when his father started doing business, he came to help his father again, before later returning to study in the non-formal education system until graduation.
Dark Art when politics is driven by still images
Despite refusing formal education, in art, Bangoen studied and went into full depth. Mostly music, such as making beat songs, before shifting to other art forms. “When I was about 15 years old, I liked tattooing. Most of the time I studied it myself, looking at pictures and various artworks. I didn't have any specific knowledge that I gained from school, but it more knowledge comes from learning on your own.”
Bangoen reflected that art always changes with history. It is a reflection of both the work itself and the artist as well as the historical stories of that time. And it has the power to reach people easily.
“During the 2020-2021 rallies, I teamed up with Liberation Arts to create an arm with three fingers raised, painted blue. Which I also joined but was not the main character. I usually went as a staff member and joined in. If there's a Performance Art event, I'll join in the performance."
Things that he happens to be good at and create the greatest interest are in the genre of Dark Art, Punk Art, and Digital Art, which are works of art outside of Thai tradition. When thinking about work, he searches for information. Sometimes it is a picture of an event at that time or about an important day in Thailand. Like Constitution Day Regime change day, October 6, 1976, and dates related to the monarchy.
“I would go and look for historical pictures. which are old pictures that create works of art I view the use of images as an artistic medium. It also has a great impact. It is another form of fighting. Which if we do it well It will have quite a wide impact on people in the country.”
As you can see in pictures created by this young artist “It hardly needed any words. Because it is communication through what actually happened. Then let's create work that reflects who we are or reflects the person we are referring to, reflects stories that happen within the country. Because pictures for me are easier to communicate than words. which maybe people still don't understand. But if it's a picture you probably couldn't argue with anything, can't say anything, or can't argue with anything. It may not be action on the street, but it is an online image that anyone can save and use. Can be passed on and spread.”
Many images reflecting politics are shared on the internet. Maybe it came from Bangoen. without people knowing him at all “Because it was not made for any one person. It was made to disseminate to everyone in the country who feels included, agrees, and understands the story. Have you ever encountered or been familiar with the story? I don't really stick to my name or copyright because what I do is from the viewer's point of view. It's already against the law. I want it to be published as much as possible.”
“Or the life of a commoner is worthless.”
There are 5 legal cases concerning his political expressions, one of which is Case 112 from works of art, and holding up shoes in front of the royal portrait posted on social media on the birthday of King Rama 10. As for the first case in which Bangoen's photos appeared widely, it was the case of spray-painting on the walls of Wat Phra Kaew Palace in March of 2023.
“That day was my 25th birthday and I wanted to act in the story Benjapes. Many people were worried, but when I was 23-24 years old, I was once attacked by officials in my room. So I showed that Benjapes has nothing to do with it. I decided right there. Fighting there, it was just me and him fighting over ideas. through expression”
He happened to tell about that time that there were many things to talk about in Thailand. He wanted to communicate the demands of the battle. “During that time, I went on a hunger strike and demanded basic rights like bail. Demanding the release of our friends release political prisoners and repeal or amend Section 112, I also support that demand.”
The day before the event “The first message I wanted to paint was 'Or is the life of a commoner worthless?' But the words were too long. That is, I would be definitely arrested first. So I thought again to be concise. Easy to understand by both Thai people and foreign countries in that area as well, so I decided to spray paint the word PEOPLE and the Anarchy symbol because this symbol is against Monarchy. Foreigners who see this symbol will easily understand it.
But that day, when Bangoen could only spray the letter P before he was arrested. As for the reason for choosing Wat Phra Kaew? Bangoen repeated that “I don't see this as a temple viewed as a Buddha room. That wall over there was like white paper. It's a canvas for me to paint works of art onto that piece of paper.”
An offense under Section 12 of the Cleanliness Act is punishable by a fine not exceeding 5,000 baht. Bangoen admitted that he had actually sprayed it, "but it was sprayed over within a few minutes. The officials took white spray and sprayed it over first. Then left it for one night before applying paint again.”
As for the accusation of guilt, Section 32 of the Ancient Monuments Act carries a prison sentence of up to 7 years and a fine of not more than 700,000 baht. “Personally, I did not think about this because It was not named in the ancient ruins, but suddenly this charge came in. It is harassment by government officials. The charges were too much. Because the evidence is clear that It is not considered an ancient site. Because there is maintenance and restoration to make it look new all the time. I was also informed that there were accomplices and co-operators, which shocked me, because I am the only person doing it. The scene was visible, and other people just happened to be passing by and were there.”
Art is more free than that
Loss resulting from litigation Bangoen said, “ There are many things, including identity, related to life. After I spray painted the palace walls that day, I had to change everything to be in line with the political struggle. Because I had to encounter something that I had never encountered. I never expected that them to play this hard? Why are you playing this hard?”
Another thing that happened to be lost was mental health. He has to continually see a psychiatrist.“ At present I like to spend time in my room and follow political news. I rarely want to go out, rarely eat, sleep early, and wake up late. And spend more time at work at night. The closer to judgment day, the more I think about it. The more information I find, I want to make pictures of various works. There isn't much going on each day. Just waiting to go to the hospital for treatment with the doctor.”
As for the Section 112 case, “I think that I must have already been branded and marked. I don't think I'll confess or accept my guilt for coming out to fight. Because I didn't do anything wrong like a criminal who commits murder or terrorism. It wasn't anything the way they saw it.”
Bangoen also mentioned, “I realized that my body wasn't very good. I don't know what will happen in the next 3-4 years before I turn 30. I might be imprisoned and then released. I think there will be another change in the next election, which may be connected with the world's rage, global warming, pollution, economy, food resources, cost of living, inflation, threats of war, that tend to get bigger and bigger. A struggle for power- holding on to old power will become even more severe.”
The young artist concluded by saying, “ "There's nothing I fear anymore, after spraypainting the palace walls that day, I can see courage, dare to take risks, dare to face them. Because even though I have to go to prison, they still can't stop me, and they can't shut down my thoughts. The Time Wheel of Change cannot be stopped. Or even if I am imprisoned, I will still be able to continue making art. Art is much more freeing than that.”
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