Death by a Thousand Cuts: Digital Repression and Pro-Democracy Movements in Thailand (soft launch)
How does repression in the age of digital technologies undermine pro-democracy movements in Thailand? In this talk, Dr. Janjira Sombatpoonsiri presents insights from her forthcoming book, Death by a Thousand Cuts: Digital Repression and Democracy in Thailand, which offers one of the most systematic, ecosystem-based analyses of digital repression targeting the youth-led protests of 2020–2021.
Drawing on a mixed-methods approach – including social media content and network analysis, interviews, and surveys – the book examines both the production and the reception sides of digital repression. It identifies three key tactics employed by state agencies and elite-aligned actors: (1) coordinated smear campaigns on social media designed to discredit activists; (2) the weaponization of legal frameworks to criminalize online activism; and (3) the deployment of digital surveillance to monitor and intimidate dissenters.
Unlike overtly coercive forms of repression, digital repression operates insidiously, weakening movements through cumulative harms — what the book conceptualizes as “a thousand cuts.” These practices deplete activists’ socio-economic resources, deepen social isolation, and erode mental health, ultimately undermining leadership formation and organizational capacity within the broader movement. This pattern of “smart repression,” recently consolidated in Thailand, is now unfolding elsewhere in Southeast Asia, particularly in the aftermath of the Gen Z–led protests of 2025.
Speaker & chair biographies
Dr. Janjira Sombatpoonsiri is an Assistant Professor (research track) at the Institute of Asian Studies, Chulalongkorn University, and a Research Fellow at the German Institute for Global and Area Studies (GIGA). Her current research focuses on protest movements, digital repression in autocracies, and democratic resilience. Her work has appeared in Globalizations, Journal of Peace Research, Democratization, and Journal of Contemporary Asia, among other journals. Her forthcoming book, Death by a Thousand Cuts: Digital Repression and Democracy in Thailand (University of Wisconsin Press), examines how digital technologies transform state repression and civil resistance. She also regularly contributes to the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as a research network member and writes for other policy-oriented outlets.
Dr. Petra Alderman is Manager of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre and researcher with a notable country expertise on Thailand. She is the author of Branding Authoritarian Nations: Political Legitimation and Strategic National Myths in Military-Ruled Thailand (Routledge, 2023) and of articles in various disciplinary and area studies journals such as International Political Science Review, Geopolitics, Politics, and the Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs.
Prof. John Sidel is Director of the Saw Swee Hock Southeast Asia Centre, and the Sir Patrick Gillam Professor of International and Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE).
*Banner photo by note thanun on Unsplash
LSE holds a wide range of events, covering many of the most controversial issues of the day, and speakers at our events may express views that cause offence. The views expressed by speakers at LSE events do not reflect the position or views of the London School of Economics and Political Science.