<div> <div>A royalist academic said he had no other choice but to petition the King to encourage the junta to end a prosecution against him for lèse majesté.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>After a military prosecutor dropped a royal defamation charge against Sulak Sivaraksa, the renowned social critic and historian posted on 24 January on his Facebook page an article entitled “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/sulak.sivaraksa/photos/a.10151360922012798.1073741826.114459752797/10155754777807798/?type=3&amp;theater&amp;ifg=1">Lessons from the latest political lawsuit of S. </a></div></div>

<div> <div>The police have issued a summons for an anti-junta historian and former rector of Thammasat University for sharing a fake news report about a purse of Prayut’s wife.&nbsp;&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 23 January 2018, Pol Col Olarn Sukkasem from the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) revealed that investigators had summoned the renowned historian, Charnvit Kasetsiri, to report on Friday.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Charnvit was accused of disseminating forged computer data likely to cause damage to a third party, a violation the Computer Crimes Act. </div></div>

<div>Organisers of the civil rights march are facing prosecution for violating the junta’s ban on public assembly. One organiser stated that the march will continue despite the lawsuit.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>An army officer representing the military filed complaints against eight activists identified as organizers of the march Monday. Police said they have yet to formally charge the campaigners, and one of them pledged to fight the case.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“We have been expecting this,” Anusorn Unno, who works as a university lecturer, said in an interview. </div>

<div> <div>A traditionally conservative and royally-connected Thai university has exhibited some progress after its Faculty of Arts eased uniform regulations in response to an online campaign.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Faculty of Arts of the most conservative university in Thailand has decided to stop enforcing the wearing of uniforms.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Last week, a group of anonymous students from Chulalongkorn University (CU) initiated a campaign on Change.org, urging the university to stop forcing students to wear uniforms. </div></div>

<div>The anti-junta march has called for legal protection after the authorities searched their supply trucked, detained four protesters and intimidated a temple that sheltered them.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 22 January 2018, the third day of the rally “<a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/7559">We Walk, A Walk for Friendship</a>” from Bangkok to Khon Kaen, the march organiser, petitioned the Administrative Court to grant them legal protection after facing repeated intimidation from the authorities.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Organised by a group of civil rights activists called the </div>

<div> <div>The junta and the Digital Ministry have denied involvement in the disappearance of a satirical cartoon page mocking the military government.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 19 January 2018, a day after the disappearance of the Khai Maew Facebook page, Colonel Winthai Suwari, spokesperson of the National Council for Peace and Orders (NCPO), told Voice TV that the NCPO never issued an order to take down the page.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Meanwhile, Wing Commander Somsak Kaosuwan, spokesperson of the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society, also told the media that the Ministry is not r </div></div>

<div> <div>A draft environmental law being considered by the NLA is being pushed for approval on 19 January 2018. Community members, scholars, and activists have criticized the bill for failing to resolve environmental problems and for an EIA process that cannot be trusted. They add that the environmental protection law is an investment promotion law in disguise.</div> </div>

<div> <div>The three provinces in the restive Deep South will have the lowest minimum wage in the country, according to an announcement by the Labour Ministry. </div></div>

<div> <div>Citing weak evidence, a provincial court has dismissed sedition charges against three red shirts who were accused of hanging a separatist banner in Phayao.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 18 January 2018, Phayao Provincial Court acquitted three red shirts of sedition under Article 116 of the Penal Code. They were accused of hanging a banner with a separatist message reading “This country is unjust. I want to separate as Lanna Country” in front of a school in Phayao Province. </div></div>

<div> <div>Former Thammasat University rector says he will fight the case if the police accuse him of sharing fake news about the purse of Prayut’s wife.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 17 January 2018, Pol Col Olarn Sukkasem from the Technology Crime Suppression Division (TCSD) revealed that he had received an order to prosecute those who publicly share on Facebook the fake news that Naraphon Chan-o-cha, wife of the junta’s leader Prayut Chan-o-cha, carried a luxurious brand name handbag during the visit to the US. </div></div>

<div> <div>A civil society network will march from Bangkok to Khon Kaen next week to demand the return of civil rights and public participation after these rights have been taken away during over three years of the junta. The march will also gather 10,000 signatures to propose a people’s version of the Environmental Law.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>A series of activities called “We Walk, A Walk for Friendship” is organised by a group of civil rights activists called the People Go Network. </div></div>

<div>All charges were dropped Wednesday morning against Sulak Sivaraksa, renowned social critic and historian, who questioned whether an ancient story of a Thai king’s elephant battle was apocryphal.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Sulak&nbsp;walked out of a military courtroom just before 10am after charges of royal defamation and computer crimes were dropped three years after he publicly suggested a story involving 17th century King Naresuan didn’t actually happen.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><em>Read more at <a href="http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/crimecourtscalamity/courts/2018/01/17/charges-</p> </a></em></div>