<p>Two high school students were detained for over 6 hours yesterday (27 December) for flashing three-finger salutes&nbsp;</p><p>at an intersection on a road that was closed ahead of King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida&rsquo;s royal motorcade, while a food delivery driver said he faced police surveillance during the King and Queen&#39;s visit to the province.</p>

<p>The Nonthaburi Juvenile and Family Court has found 19-year-old activist Thanakorn (last name withheld) guilty of royal defamation for giving a speech criticizing the monarchy during a protest on 10 September 2020.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A new report published by the human rights group ARTICLE 19 has found that the Thai government&rsquo;s treatment of pro-democracy protesters violated their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly, including by exploiting the Covid-19 pandemic to enact repressive emergency measures and using the royal defamation law against protesters.</p>

<p>The Nakhon Si Thammarat Provincial Court has dismissed a defamation charge filed against art critic Pearamon Tulavardhana by Chiang Mai University lecturer Pongsiri Kiddee, who <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/9491">sued Pearamon after she wrote an article criticizing an exhibition featuring his work</a>.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A protester was arrested on Friday (25 November) and subsequently denied bail on a contempt of court charge resulting from a speech demanding bail for a detained activist.</p>

<p>Thailand is currently hosting the APEC Economic Leaders&rsquo; Week, taking place between 14 &ndash; 19 November at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC), with the 29th APEC Economic Leaders&rsquo; Meeting on 18-19 November. Meanwhile, activist groups and civil society organizations are planning series of protests over the week against what they see as an attempt by the government to boost its legitimacy and greenwash the country&rsquo;s major polluters.</p>

<p>Thai publisher Same Sky Books has won the International Publishers Association (IPA)&rsquo;s <a href="https://www.internationalpublishers.org/copyright-news-blog/1256-same-sky-publishing-announced-as-2022-prix-voltaire-laureate">2022 Prix Voltaire</a> award for publishers who uphold the freedom to publish and freedom of expression.</p>

<p>A 23-year-old man has been sentenced to 3 years in prison on a royal defamation charge for criticizing the monarchy in a post made in a Facebook group in October 2020.</p>

<p>Students, academics, and artists have demanded that Chiang Mai University (CMU) launch an investigation against Faculty of Fine Arts lecturer Pongsiri Kiddee, after he filed a defamation lawsuit against art critic and writer Pearamon Tulavardhana for an article criticizing an exhibition featuring his work. &nbsp;</p>

<p>The former dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts, Chiang Mai University, has filed a trespassing charge against two lecturers and a student for taking over the university art centre in October 2021 after the Faculty and the university administration prohibited them from showing their final theses, some of which dealt with social and political themes.</p>

<p>On Monday (7 November), the Criminal Court dismissed a sedition charge filed against 8 people linked to a Facebook page mocking NCPO leaders on the grounds that they were merely exercising their democratic rights and freedoms.</p>

<p>A 26-year-old single mother has been sentenced to 3 years in prison on a royal defamation charge for commenting on the monarchy reformist Facebook group Royalist Marketplace.</p>