Justice Neil Calver of the King’s Bench Division said Nopporn was at times less than straightforward, but had an “understandable sense of grievance” against defendants “he trusted but who had so thoroughly betrayed him”.

Nopporn’s quest to regain the value of his company has been vindicated, although some of his claims against 17 defendants fell short. The judge ruled he should be repaid about $1.35 billion.

Critics have become more strident since the protest movement of 2020, and they increasingly include those who have had a ringside seat to how power works in the south-east Asian kingdom.

The stunning win for a man accused of insulting a palace that is both revered and feared comes as Thailand faces a political turning point. The law that protects the monarchy, lese-majeste, was the subject of this year’s election campaign, and the party urging reform won the lion’s share of the votes but has been denied the chance to form a government.

“The nature and extent of [some defendants’] lies was at times breathtaking, as was their relaxed attitude to the production of false documents in order to deceive and mislead others. It is plain that truth has become an alien concept to some of these defendants.”

The first defendant was Nop Narongdej, who was found to have deceived Nopporn into entering a share purchase agreement. Under the deal, Nop stood to make $US140 million for standing as Nopporn’s proxy. Instead, Nop repeatedly missed payment deadlines, siphoned the shares to family and business associates and to companies in Hong Kong, Belize and elsewhere beyond Nopporn’s reach.

Also named as a defendant was the Siam Commercial Bank, whose largest shareholder is King Vajiralongkorn. The bank’s CEO Arthid Nanthawithaya was among the defendants.

While the judge found Nopporn was the victim of false representations on several occasions, he ruled there was insufficient evidence to support the claim that Vajiralongkorn’s name had been invoked during the negotiations.

Nopporn was not alone in testifying about Nop’s purported relationship with the future king. Another witness said during the trial: “If you walk into his office he has a New Year card that is signed by the crown prince … And many times he has told me the story that, oh, he just had dinner with the crown prince; he just went to this place with the crown prince, etc. He led me to believe that he has a good relationship, and for us to get over this we need to find someone that could sort out what we call this soft issue out, so we can move forward.”