Background

Cases of Defamation are commonly defined according to Thailand law as follows:  "to impute anything to another person to a third party in a manner likely to impair that person's reputation or to expose such person to hatred or contempt." 

Incidents of defamation usually occur in a business context and can result from a business dispute.  However, defamation may also occur in a political dispute or in the course of a commercial or non-commercial presentation to the public.  In Thailand, unlike many Western jurisdictions, defamation may be both a criminal offense and/or a civil offense.

Defenses

There are a number of exceptions to Thailand defamation law and the following situations are generally not considered to be defamation:
Whoever in good faith, expresses any opinion or statement  in the following contexts shall not be guilty of defamation:

1. by way of justification or defense, or for the protection of a legitimate interest.
2. in the status of being an official in the exercise of his functions
3. by way of fair comment on any person or thing subjected to public criticism
4. by way of fair report of the open proceedings of any Court or meeting

Written Defamation vs. Oral Defamation

When the defamatory statement is recorded by way of a document, audio or visual recording, the offense is considered more severe.  In I cases where the defamatory statement exist in electronic form, such as on a website, the case may be prosecuted under basic defamation law, and, potentially, under special legislation related to Internet and electronic communication.