<p>While members of idol girl groups such as BNK48 are seen as products and are expected to be voices for the society, they neither see themselves as objectified nor obligated to advocate for social issues, but they have to adapt to a mixture of Thai and Japanese idol cultures. Idol insiders also explain the business model and its origins.</p>

<p>To protect the monarchy, the head of an ultra-royalist group has made an announcement asking volunteers to infiltrate protests and take pictures of participants in order to create a blacklist of individuals that Thai society must ban.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A professor at NIDA has written in defence of King Vajiralongkorn, saying that His Majesty prefers to keep a low profile as he works hard in his own ways.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A group of students held a &ldquo;student pride parade&rdquo; on 29 July by marching to the Ministry of Education to call for equal rights and protection for LGBT students</p>

<p>Over 1000 young people participated in a &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s run, Hamtaro&rdquo; protest on 26 July, during which they marched around the Democracy Monument singing a modified version of the theme song from Hamtaro, a Japanese animated cartoon about a band of hamsters, and called for the government to step down.</p>

<p>LGBT activists held a demonstration on Saturday (25 July) at the Democracy Monument in the name of gender equality, LGBT rights, and democracy, as well as calling the government out for their failure in handling the Covid-19 pandemic and demanding the dissolution of parliament.</p>

<p>Dozens of Triam Udom students and over 400 Kasetsart University students gathered at their schools to show their stance against the government. The protesters announced three demands corresponding with those of Free Youth, and criticized the media and police who are not standing with them in their fight against dictatorship at a time of moral crisis.</p>

<p>The wave of youth-led protests continued with four more protests on Thursday (23 July) in Pattani, Ayutthaya, Pathum Thani and Khon Kaen, showing support for other protestors across the country.</p>

<p>Around 1,000 youth and members of the public gathered at Bang Saen beach in Chonburi to collect trash while demanding that the government dissolve parliament, rewrite the constitution, and stop harassing protesters and activists. If the demands are not met by the first of August, there will be a larger protest.</p>

<p>Tiwagorn Withiton, a Facebook user who posted an image of him wearing a shirt printed with &ldquo;I lost faith in the monarchy&rdquo;, was released from a psychiatric hospital after being detained under questionable circumstances on 9 July. Meanwhile, people are being pressured by security authorities for talking and posting about it.</p>

<p>Countrywide student protests have reached even greater heights despite interference from the state and university authorities. Anger and dissatisfaction directly confront the power structure created by 2014 junta, and university authorities.</p>

<p>The Centre for Covid-19 Situation Administration (CCSA) has proposed to extend the State of Emergency for yet another month, but will no longer ban public gatherings.</p>