<div> <div>A teenager from Thailand's northeast has been arrested for posting a lèse majesté message on Facebook. </div></div>

<p>The Military Junta should be careful how it reacts to the passing of King Bhumibol. Emotions are high right now in Thailand which the military will no doubt aim to exploit to consolidate its political power over the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p dir="ltr">Thai police have arrested two more people accused of lèse majesté in Southern Thailand, after royalist mobs stormed a soymilk and then a roti shop to hunt for lèse majesté suspects over the weekend. Soldiers and police have also searched a house in the Northeast whose owner is accused of lèse majesté. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr">On 16 October 2016, police officers took a suspect accused of violating Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law, to a police station in Koh Samui District of the southern province of Surat Thani.</p>

<p dir="ltr">An angry mob has stormed a roti shop in Southern Thailand, accusing the owner’s son of posting lèse majesté messages on Facebook.</p> <p dir="ltr">At night on 15 October 2016, a large mob of at least 100 people stormed a roti shop in Takua Thung District of the southern Phang Nga Province to look for a seaman of the Royal Thai Navy who is the son of the roti shop owner.</p> <p dir="ltr">The mob accused the seaman of posting messages on Facebook deemed defamatory to the Thai monarchy and demanded that he apologise for such action publically.</p>

<p>An angry mob in the southern province of Phuket has demanded the arrest of a man for posting a Facebook message deemed defamatory of the late King.</p> <p>At around 11:30 pm on 14 October 2016, a large crowd gathered in front of a soy milk shop in Talat Yai Subdistrict of Mueang District in Phuket and demanded that the owners of shop hand in their son to the police.</p>

<p><section> <div> <div> <div>Reporters Without Borders (RSF) calls on Thailand’s junta, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), not to restrict reporting and not to embark on a massive crackdown on all those, including journalists and Internet users, who comment on the King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s death, announced by today, and its consequences.</div> </div> </div> <p></p></section><section><br /> <div property="content:encoded"> <p>As national mourning is declared for Thailand’s 70 million&nbsp;inhabitants, RSF is concerned about possible reprisals against local&nbsp;and foreign reporters who, in the coming d</p> </div></section></p>

<p dir="ltr">A military court in northern Thailand has detained a man accused of defaming the Thai Crown Prince.</p> <p>On 11 October 2016, the Military Court of the northern province of Chiang Rai granted police permission to detain Sarawut (surname withheld due to privacy concerns), a 32-year-old optometrist.</p>

<p dir="ltr">A criminal court has handed an additional eight-year jail term to a man who was previously sentenced to six years of imprisonment for lèse majesté.</p> <p>On 10 October 2016, the criminal court on Ratchadapisek Rd, Bangkok, handed an eight-year jail term to Piya J., a 48 year-old programmer, for an offence under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law. He was accused of sending two emails with messages deemed defamatory to the King to Bangkok Bank under an online identity ‘Vincent Wang’.</p>

<p>Despite being accused of disrespecting the military court, an embattled lèse majesté suspect has refused to bow down, saying that the court should have defended democracy against coup-makers.</p> <p>On 4 October 2016, a defence lawyer for Sirapop (surname withheld for privacy concerns), 52, resubmitted his client’s closing statement to the Military Court of Bangkok,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=2358">Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported</a>.</p>

<p dir="ltr">A military court has accused a lèse majesté suspect of disrespecting the court for arguing that the courts have a role in defending democracy and resisting Thailand’s coup-makers. &nbsp;</p>

<p dir="ltr">The court has sentenced a bookseller to two years in jail for selling a banned book on the killing of King Ananda, a former king and older brother of the current King.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Southern Bangkok Criminal Court on 15 September 2016 read the Supreme Court’s verdict on the lèse majesté case of a 67-year-old man referred to as Defendant U.</p>

<p dir="ltr">A suspected accomplice in the case of an alleged royal impostor was arrested on a charge of insulting the monarch, police said Tuesday.</p> <p dir="ltr">Thaworn Puangprathim, 66, was accused of impersonating a royal palace official and helping the other suspect, Kamonthat “Kim Eng” Thanathornkhositjira, solicit donations for what they said were for members of the Royal Family.</p>