Frenchman Faces Deportation for Mocking Thai Government

Yan Marchal, a 49-year-old Frenchman known for making fun of Thailand’s junta, said on Saturday he was denied re-entry and now faces deportation.

Yan Marchal, who mocked Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and the now-dissolved National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) in 2019, returned to Phuket from France. Immigration officials told him upon arrival that he was prohibited from entering because he was deemed a threat to Thailand’s national security.

In addition, he said he was also served with a legal notice that said his behavior indicated he might be a danger to the public.

According to the legal notice, Mr. Marchal will be expelled in accordance with the Immigration Act, but he has 48 hours to appeal the decision.

Marchal intends to appeal the ban. He said, however, he could not contact the French embassy for advice.

In a Saturday interview, Pol Maj Gen Achayon Kraithong, deputy commissioner of the Immigration Bureau, explained that the Frenchman is on several agencies’ blacklists, and immigration officials have decided not to grant him entry.

Mr. Marchal was flown from Phuket to Suvarnabhumi for his deportation.

In an interview with the Bangkok Post, Mr. Marchal said that Thailand is his home and that he has a Thai wife, two children, and a business here. According to him, his social media posts regarding Thai politics contributed to the re-entry ban.

In 2019, he shot to fame when he tweeted a video mocking an NCPO song. He was asked by police to remove the video after it received over 1 million views overnight.

Marchal is well-known for sharing his political viewpoints on Facebook, and he has just started making fun of politics on TikTok, which has also attracted an audience of 600,000.