Yingcheep Atchanont

Yingcheep Atchanont is transforming civic participation in Thailand by making democracy accessible to all. Through compelling digital storytelling and legal transparency, he empowers citizens to understand their rights, speak out on critical issues, and participate in shaping their country’s future. His work inspires collective action and fosters a culture of accountability, proving that informed citizens are the cornerstone of a thriving democracy.

Yingcheep and iLaw envision a Thailand where citizens are empowered to actively participate in shaping their governance and legal systems. He collects and documents the stories of political prisoners, while also providing legal insights that distill the complex legal issues —such as the long-untouchable lèse-majesté law and constitutional reform —into clear, accessible formats like infographics and videos, making them understandable and engaging for public education and awareness. He shifts the public mindset from political passivity to active engagement by breaking long-standing taboos and initiating conversations once reserved for legal elites. Through fact-based content shared on social media—where he reaches over one million followers—he has become a leading source of first-hand information on constitutional reform and freedom of speech, often serving as the go-to reference for national news media and broadcasters These collected stories and legal insights form a comprehensive database that serves as the “backbone” of iLaw.

Once the public becomes more informed, Yingcheep and iLaw are ready to act when urgent moments arise—using their database as a foundation to mobilize public power. This transforms citizens from passive observers into active participants in the democratic process, enabling them to challenge and reshape existing power structures through petitions, elections, and legal reform. For instance, starting from 2016, Yingcheep utilized the petition process to propose a constitutional amendment, aiming to bring the issue before Parliament. While the approach may seem straightforward, it was unprecedented in Thai society—no one had ever attempted it before. In 2024, the People’s Draft Constitution initiative, which gathered over 212,000 signatures in 3 days, demonstrated the power of citizen-led petitions in influencing the legislative process. Similarly, in response to deep mistrust of the military-appointed Election Commission after the 2019 election, Yingcheep mobilized over 100,000 citizens in 2023 to monitor vote counting at all 90,000 polling stations. More than 30,000 results were submitted to iLaw’s Vote62.com, a platform using crowdsourcing and data visualization to ensure transparency. The ideas pioneered by Yingcheep and iLaw are spreading and becoming institutionalized within Thai society. He transformed how Thai citizens engage with the legal system—shifting from having no idea how to participate in lawmaking to becoming confident contributors, making public involvement in legislative change a new norm.

What sets iLaw apart is Yingcheep’s entrepreneurial ability to complete the full cycle of creating change—from monitoring urgent issues related to the constitution and freedom of expression, to informing the public and mobilizing citizen participation. While journalists and news outlets often stop at raising awareness, Yingcheep goes further by turning awareness into action. He works closely with partners—including civil society groups and activists—as a strategic collaborator, using the iLaw database as a vital resource to support grassroots movements advocating for constitutional reform and restrictive laws.

The success of citizen-led petitions and election monitoring has sparked a ripple effect across Thailand, inspiring other organizations to embrace public participation through signature campaigns and petitions as powerful tools for civic engagement. What began as near-zero public participation has now evolved into a normalized and growing culture of civic engagement—where taking part in democratic processes is no longer the exception, but the expectation. Now, several media outlets and news organizations regularly depend on iLaw’s database and guidelines to accurately report on sensitive legal matters and civic engagement.

Thailand's political system remains heavily influenced by the military and monarchy, with 13 coups and 20 constitutions since ending absolute monarchy 92 years ago. For the past four decades, fear of prosecution has created a climate in Thailand where even mentioning the monarchy was considered too dangerous. Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code—commonly known as the lèse-majesté law—has discouraged public discourse and reinforced a culture of silence around one of the country’s most sensitive topics. This law criminalizes defamation, insult, or threats against the King, Queen, Heir Apparent, or Regent, with penalties starting at six years in prison. Bail is rarely granted, and the law has long been used as a tool to suppress dissent and silence critics.

The situation worsened after the 2014 military coup. Many citizens viewed military takeovers as normal, associating them with stability, reduced corruption, and the absence of conflict. Military rule was widely accepted, and dissenting voices were increasingly targeted. The National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) issued broad orders prohibiting criticism of its actions, shutting down media outlets, blocking websites, summoning media figures, and effectively instilling a climate of self-censorship among the public and journalists. These became powerful instruments for silencing political expression and online criticism. Moreover, the 2017 Constitution, drafted under the control of coup leaders, entrenches military power through appointed bodies such as the Senate and Constitutional Courts. It is extremely difficult to amend and favor the military by allowing the appointed Senate to participate in selecting the Prime Minister, enabling military-backed leaders to remain in power. The 2019 election, Thailand’s first since the 2014 coup, was widely criticized for lacking transparency despite following democratic procedures. Issues included delayed results, unclear vote counting, and last-minute changes to the party-list formula that favored pro-military parties.

Thus, the public’s awareness of their rights—especially regarding freedom of speech and constitutional protections—was limited. The current constitution, born out of a military coup, undermines democratic governance and restricts fundamental freedoms. It has contributed to the erosion of freedom of expression and stifled economic and political discourse, leaving citizens with limited avenues to voice their concerns or influence national leadership.

Yingcheep and iLaw have helped reshape public attitudes and behaviors by showing that ordinary citizens can actively contribute to two key goals: constitutional reform and the defense of freedom of expression. His work empowers citizens to move from passive observers to engaged participants in building a more democratic society. Yingcheep’s strategy is built around both ‘non-urgent’ periods—when the political landscape is relatively calm—and ‘urgent political moments’ marked by significant developments or tensions.

During non-urgent times, Yingcheep creates two main strategies. First, he uses real stories as a foundation to educate and engage a broad audience, raising awareness, challenging the normalization of military coups, and empowering people to understand and exercise their right to free expression. Through iLaw’s social media platforms, the stories and legal knowledge are transformed into accessible content that educates and mobilizes the public. For example, Yingcheep uses his lawyer’s license to attend court trials of individuals charged under the lèse-majesté law. He documents and shares their stories, shedding light on the harsh realities of Thailand’s judicial system and the repressive nature of laws that restrict free expression. By publishing these stories, he not only informs the public but also helps shift public attitudes toward the need for legal reform and greater protection of fundamental freedoms. Second, Yingcheep works to shift public mindsets by exposing how the military government has employed illegitimate tactics—such as manipulating an unjust referendum—to maintain power and control public perception. Drawing on his expertise as a lawyer, he gathers first-hand legal facts and information and empowers citizens to critically question authority and actively participate in democratic change. He refers to his curated collection of documented cases and legal insights as the ‘database’—a strategic resource that fuels advocacy, public education, and civic action. The database is actively accessed and shared through social media to inform the public and gradually shift their attitudes. In addition, other civic organizations utilize this information to broaden public awareness. Mass media—including national television and digital platforms—also incorporate the data into their programming, further amplifying its reach. This steady, multi-channel engagement ensures that citizens are consistently exposed to reliable legal knowledge, preparing them to respond more thoughtfully and effectively when urgent political moments arise.

When urgent times come, such as when parliamentary votes are imminent, Yingcheep and iLaw shifts its focus to direct communication with its followers and like-minded communities. The messaging takes on a more emotional tone to prompt swift responses, like signing petitions or joining demonstrations. This direct impact is achieved by rallying support from a smaller, more engaged audience, leveraging social media platforms to coordinate and amplify their voices. A concrete example of this approach is iLaw’s campaign, which successfully gathered over 212,000 signatures for constitutional reform in just 3 days—far exceeding their target. People signed the petition in coffee shops, restaurants, bookstores, and other everyday public spaces—transforming familiar venues into vibrant hubs of civic engagement. This is the impact that emerges from the “non-urgent moments”—when Yingcheep shifts public mindsets by using facts and storytelling to expose how the military government has employed illegitimate tactics. Through this approach, Yingcheep is able to cultivate “agents of change” within the community. This demonstrates how iLaw enables people to enforce their rights, self-organize and mobilize significant public support, challenge the existing political system, advocate for democratic change and encourage civic participation. The petition process, once seen as unprecedented, has now become a landmark in Thailand’s democratic development. It has played a pivotal role in driving legal reforms, including the Marriage Equality Act, the Progressive Liquor Act, and the Domestic Violence Act. Thanks to Yingcheep’s work with iLaw today, petitions are increasingly recognized as a legitimate and powerful tool for legislative change and civic engagement—empowering citizens to actively participate in shaping the country’s future.

Moreover, over the past 20–30 years, courts in Thailand have typically barred public observation of trials, and most lèse-majesté cases resulted in prison sentences of at least six years. However, after Yingcheep and iLaw’s sustained efforts to raise public awareness and understanding of Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code, public perceptions began to shift. What was once a taboo topic avoided in public discourse is now increasingly normalized, with more people openly discussing the law and recognizing its impact on freedom of expression. As a result, courts now allow public attendance at trials, and legal outcomes have improved significantly: around 90% of defendants are granted bail; average prison sentences have been reduced to about three years, and 40% of those sentences are suspended. Yingcheep also leveraged technology to boost civic engagement through platforms like Vote62.com, iLaw’s crowdsourced election monitoring tool. He mobilized over 100,000 citizens to observe vote counting at 90,000 polling stations, with more than 30,000 results submitted. The platform used secure crowdsourcing and data visualization to promote transparency, allowing citizens to independently verify election outcomes and build trust in the democratic process.

Looking ahead, Yingcheep plans to strengthen his backbone—the database—while building a community of agents of change who can play a strategic role in shifting public mindsets around constitutional reform and freedom of expression. He aims to gather over 500,000 signatures through nationwide campaigns to support future constitutional amendments and advocate for an amnesty law for individuals charged under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Code.

Born in a family deeply rooted in the legal profession, Yingcheep was immersed in the world of law from an early age—his father an attorney, and his mother a judge. This upbringing gave him a strong foundation and familiarity with Thailand’s legal system and exposed early on to critical views of the justice system. When he was in high school, Yingcheep founded an Environmental Conservation Club, where he developed his organizing and research skills gathering information on environmental issues and coordinating awareness-raising camps. This early changemaking experience inspired him to found a student club at the university that traveled to remote hill communities to explore ways to support local livelihoods. However, the experience turned out to be eye-opening: rather than being the ones offering help, he found himself relying on the wisdom and resilience of the hill tribe community. It revealed how much he had to learn, challenging his assumptions about what it means to be ‘useful.’ This experience shifted his perspective on the idea of ‘helping.’ He realized that true support means using his expertise to help those who genuinely need it, rather than seeking opportunities that simply make him feel “useful.”

After graduating, he obtained his lawyer’s license. Around that time, his friend Arnon Nampa asked him to serve as the attorney for an individual charged under Section 112, the lèse-majesté law. However, he was unable to secure bail for the defendant—an experience that sparked his growing frustration and anger toward Thailand’s repressive laws and justice system. Yingcheep joined iLaw in 2009 as its very first employee, shortly after the founder stepped down. At the time, iLaw operated as a project under the Thai Volunteer Service Foundation (TVS), with the goal of promoting public participation in the legislative process. However, under Yingcheep’s leadership, it was spun off into an independent organization, with its focus transformed to include constitutional reform and freedom of expression. He redefined iLaw’s strategy and core mission based on his pioneering idea of using databases, verified facts, and personal stories as powerful tools for driving legal and political change. At the time, public understanding of the lèse-majesté law and basic freedoms—such as freedom of speech—was still very limited. To address this, he started collecting stories of individuals imprisoned under this law and used social media platforms to raise awareness and engage the public. His guiding principle is to present “facts” only. He used stories and facts as a tool for public education to shift public mindsets toward civic engagement until the 2014 coup. When the military government took control, his strategy became more focused, centering on two main goals: to pass a constitution drafted by the people and individuals whose freedom of speech had been suppressed. He is clear that he doesn’t seek a perfect constitution—what matters most to him and iLaw is that the constitution is created through a just and legitimate process.

Now, 16 years after joining iLaw, Yingcheep is not only the director who leads the organization by crafting narratives, disseminating factual information, and developing strategies for both urgent and long-term challenges. Today, Yingcheep stands as a symbol of hope for organizations that believe in the power of people to drive meaningful change. His dedication goes beyond iLaw—he actively supports younger organizations that share the same mission of constitutional reform and freedom of speech, generously sharing knowledge, offering resources, and nurturing their growth. Embracing this role, he remains deeply committed to using his legal expertise and public platform to advocate for justice, guided by an unwavering belief that true transformation begins when ordinary people find the courage to take action.