Thai army lifts month-long ban on Lazada, influencers arrested

The Royal Thai Army (RTA) has lifted a month long ban on Lazada and allowing its personnel to resume the use of the online shopping app. It is also allowing for the delivery of Lazada purchases at military facilities. According to local media reports, the ban was lifted as the ads with the improper content were being investigated and to aid the nation’s economy growing. Lazada declined to comment on MARKETING-INTERACTIVE’s queries.

The ban was initially imposed after videos by influencer Aniwat Prathumthi, and two others Kittikhun Thamakitirat and Thidaporn Chaokovieng, went viral online. Royalists called out the video for mocking Princess Chulabhorn, as one of the characters not only resembled her but was also in a wheelchair.  The princess requires a wheelchair due to the autoimmune disease Lupus.

RTA spokesperson Sirichan Ngathong had then described the video to be "offensive to the monarchy" and "caused disunity in Thai society".

Following the uproar, Lazada also apologised swiftly for the "emotional damage" the video had caused, adding that it should have been more careful. Intersect Design Factory, which was tasked with coordinating influencer management for Lazada's 5.5 sale, also defended itself on Facebook saying that it was not involved in any of the images published online as well as Prathumthi's TikTok video.

Currently, Thailand's lese-majeste forbids any insult of the monarchy and Article 112 of the country's criminal code states that whoever defames, insults or threatens the King, the Queen, the Heir-apparent or the Regent, shall be punished with imprisonment of three to 15 years. 

Earlier last week, the Thai police also charged the three social media influencers involved in the content with lese majeste, said numerous media reports. The reports also added that trio were also freed on bail. According to Nikkei Asia, if convicted any offender could face up to 15 years in prison time.

Meanwhile, just this month, Alibaba Group appointed James Dong  as Lazada's new CEO. Dong has been with Lazada for over four years, most recently helming the role of CEO, Lazada Thailand and Vietnam. Prior to joining Lazada, he was head of globalisation strategy and corporate development at Alibaba. During that time, Dong also served as a business assistant to Alibaba CEO Daniel Zhang, both sources reported. He was also previously associate partner at McKinsey.

Li has been with Lazada for over five years and was appointed CEO in 2020. He first joined the company in 2017 as co-president. Prior to joining Lazada, he was B2B division CTO at Alibaba Group and, before that, director of product development - payment risk at Alibaba.

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