Rangsiman Rom continues to fight the defamation case filed by Ben Smith demanding 100 million baht in damages over exposing involvement with a scammer gang, affirming he has key financial trail witnesses to support his case.
On 23 February 2026 at the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road, Rangsiman Rom, a party-list MP candidate for the Prachachon Party, appeared to give testimony and review evidence in the defamation case filed by Ben Smith’s lawyer. Ben Smith accuses him of defamation by advertising and demands 100 million baht in damages regarding parliamentary debate claims linking him to a scammer and money laundering ring.
Rangsiman said he is not worried and denies all allegations. He insists his parliamentary debates and interviews were performed honestly in his capacity as an MP to protect the nation’s interests, which suffered greatly from the scammer gang. He also questioned whether this lawsuit is being used as a judicial tool to silence those exposing the truth.
During today’s evidence review, Rangsiman submitted a list of nine witnesses, including notable individuals such as American journalist Tom Wright. Surprisingly, he also named Ben Smith’s wife and child, as well as Ben Smith himself, as defense witnesses. He explained that family members are connected to share ownership and frozen bank accounts, making their testimony necessary to clarify the financial trail.
Additionally, Rangsiman raised concerns about the expansion of the Huione pay case, which is estimated to involve damages as high as 3.3 trillion baht, far exceeding the 10 billion baht recently seized by the Anti-Money Laundering Office. He believes the central police investigation unit has enough detailed information to dismantle this network more thoroughly than currently known.
The court has scheduled four hearing dates in total, with the plaintiff’s witnesses set for 11 May 2027 and the defendant’s witnesses for 12 to 14 May 2027. Rangsiman affirmed he will fully fight the case and that it will not affect his political work, even though the party implicated may become part of the opposition coalition in the future.