<p>A <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/9616">draft bill</a> criminalising torture and enforced disappearance has completed a reconciliation process and now goes to a second reading in parliament expected on 23-25 February, according to the committee scrutinizing the bill.</p>

<p>The Thai parliament voted yesterday (9 February 2022) to forward the marriage equality bill, proposed by Move Forward Party (MFP), to the Cabinet for consideration, delaying the bill&rsquo;s first reading.</p>

<p>Shero Thailand, a non-profit organization which aims to eliminate gender-based violence in Thailand, launched the Lawyers for Women&rsquo;s Rights (LWR) network on 29 January 2022 to train lawyers to provide legal aid and advocate for survivors of gender-based violence.</p>

<p>The activist group Thaluwang (&ldquo;Through the palace&rdquo;) conducted a poll yesterday (8 February 2022) at Siam Paragon shopping mall on whether people think they face trouble from royal motorcades, but were obstructed by mall security and the police.</p>

<p>Royal defamation case defendants indicted for reading a statement in German and wearing a crop top said that they were unable to obtain passports because of their ongoing court cases.</p>

<p>At least 9 activists in Nakhon Sawan Province have reported visits and intimidation by police officers throughout the past week ahead of Princess Sirindhorn&rsquo;s visit to the province on Monday (7 February 2022).</p>

<p>Members of the Bang Kloi indigenous Karen community who came to join the protest organized by the People&rsquo;s Movement for Just Society (P-Move) returned home yesterday (3 February 2022) after the government agreed to set up an independent committee to solve community rights issues facing them.</p>

<p>A draft amendment on excise taxes proposed to parliament by the Move Forward Party (MFP) on 2 February received positive feedback from members of parliament, but the reading was adjourned for lack of a quorum.</p>

<p>The Khon Kaen Provincial Court began its trial of 3 Khon Kaen University students for desecrating the national flag.&nbsp; The students were charged after they replaced a national flag with a &lsquo;monarchy reform&rsquo; banner on a flag pole during a protest at Khon Kaen University in February 2021.</p>

<p>Khoukham Keomanivong, a UN-recognised Lao political refugee living in Thailand who was arrested last Saturday (29 January), was released on bail but restricted from traveling, Benarnews reported on 2 February.</p>