On July 18, a video of a man in a black shirt setting fire to portraits of Thai kings during a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok was posted online. In another clip, he is seen riding away with a woman on a scooter saddled with Foodpanda’s pink thermal box.
The event sparked a consumer boycott against Foodpanda—Thailand’s second largest food delivery firm—as the company later, via a now-deleted tweet, linked pro-democracy protesters to terrorism, threatening to fire the involved rider “immediately.”
Damaging portraits of the royal family is a severe violation under Thailand’s harsh lèse majesté law. Transgressions could translate into a maximum of 15 years in prison. Even so, part of the general public, labor activists, couriers, and merchants considered Foodpanda’s reaction as too severe and non-supportive of the pro-democracy movement. Since last year, demonstrators…
