Nanthida Rakwong

Nanthida Rakwong (born September 1982) is a Thai and British political analyst, campaign manager and activist known for advocating for the Republicanism and pro-democracy movements in Thailand. Nanthida notably worked for the law firm Robert Amsterdam|Amsterdam & Partners on its case to hold Thailand accountable at the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity at the 2010 Thai military crackdown.
==Early life and education==
Nanthida was born in 1982. In an interview with The Times, she explained that she moved to the United Kingdom because of the severe Lèse-majesté in Thailand against critics of the Thai monarchy and that she had received death threat. The Department of Media, Communications and Cultural Studies of Goldsmiths, University of London cites the interview while naming her as their postgraduate student.
==Work and activism==
Nanthida is known to have worked for the law firm Robert Amsterdam & Partners when it lodged a case to take the perpetrators of the 2010 Thai military crackdown, which saw over 90 civilians killed, to the International Criminal Court at The Hague. The case accused several perpetrators for crimes against humanity, including General Prayut Chan-ocha, the current Prime Minister of Thailand, General Prawit Wongsuwan, then minister of defence and current Deputy Prime Minister of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva, then Prime Minister, as well as his deputy Suthep Thaugsuban, and several other military and civilian figures.
As a response, General Prayut launched a Defamation#Thailand|criminal defamation lawsuit against Robert Amsterdam, the law firm's Partner (business rank)|managing partner, and Nanthida, who was then referred to as the "unnamed female translator" who always appeared on Thai TV and stages with Amsterdam.
In 2019, Nanthida was the official campaign manager for a pro-democracy candidate at the 2019 Thai general election|general election in Thailand that year. Nanthida is known to be the director of a digital consultancy in London which was also hired by a Pro-democracy camp (Hong Kong)|Hong Kong pro-democracy candidate and the then Politics of Germany|German government lead party-affiliated think tank Konrad Adenauer Stiftung.
At a rally of the Milk Tea Alliance supporting 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests|Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters, she spoke to Apple Daily about how she felt that the situation in Hong Kong was similar to that of Thailand.
In 2021, at a remembrance event of the 6 October 1976 massacre, alongside speeches from other pro-democracy figures such as Jaran Ditapichai, Nanthida called for the Abolition of monarchy|abolition of the Monarchy of Thailand|Thai monarchy.
==Reception==
In 2012, General Prayut, the current Prime Minister of Thailand, launched a criminal defamation lawsuit against her and Robert Amsterdam for "insulting the Royal Thai Army", where she was referred to as his interpreter.
In 2021 the Government of Thailand|Thai government's Ministry of Digital Economy and Society announced an investigation into her Twitter account for violations of the Thai Internet censorship in Thailand#Post-2014 coup situation|Computer Crimes Act alongside other prominent activists including Pavin Chachavalpongpun.
Several Far-right politics|far-right royalist media outlets in Thailand, including Manager Daily and The Truth, attacked Nanthida after she highlighted how far-right royalists praised the efforts of carrying a portrait of Bhumibol Adulyadej|king Bhumibol and Sirikit|queen Sirikit into a poor and remote area with no proper infrastructure, rather than meeting the basic needs of the people living in that area.
Category:1982 births
Category:Political analysts
Category:Campaign managers