<p dir="ltr">The former fugitive Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has threatened to take legal actions against those accusing him of royal defamation.</p> <p>The former PM wrote on his twitter account on 9 October 2017 that he felt ‘extremely uncomfortable’ about the recent statement of Khemchai Chutiwongse, the Attorney General, that he will be indicted under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the &nbsp;lèse majesté law.</p>

<p>The police have decided to press royal defamation charges against Sulak Sivaraksa, a renowned royalist and lèse majesté critic, over a public speech about King Naresuan, who ruled the Ayutthaya Kingdom 400 years ago.</p> <p>On 9 October 2017, Puangthip Boonsanong, a lawyer representing Sulak, said the police took Sulak, 84, to the Military Court of Bangkok and submitted to the military prosecutor the case file in which he is accused of violating Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law.</p> <p>The military prosecutor will decide on 7 December 2017 whether to indict.</p>

<p>The Deputy Prime Minister has announced that the US has agreed to resume selling weapons to the Thai government. &nbsp;</p> <p>Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, on 3 October 2017 told the media after a meeting in which he represented the junta leader and PM, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, that the US has agreed to resume selling weapons to Thailand after the 2014 coup d’état halted sales.</p>

<p dir="ltr">A deputy junta head alleged that there are people who planed to create chaos around the upcoming Royal Funeral.</p> <p>On 2 October 2017, Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, a deputy junta head and Defence Minister, said at the meeting about security issues during the upcoming Royal Funeral for the late King Bhumibol on 26 October.</p>

<p dir="ltr">A well-known anti-corruption activist has denounced the junta’s 20-year national strategy planning, saying the selection process of the committee members is not democratic.</p> <p>On 1 October 2017, Srisuwan Janya, Secretary-General of a political group called the Association to Protect the Thai Constitution (APTC), issued a statement to denounce the appointment of 70 people into the six sub-strategy committees of the junta’s 20-year national strategy planning body.</p> <p>The appointment was published in the Royal Gazette on 28 September 2017.</p>

<p>The general who led the 2006 coup has called on the current junta to stick to the election roadmap.</p> <p>On 1 October 2017, Gen Sonthi Boonyaratglin, the leader of the 2006 coup, invited top military leaders to his 71^st birthday celebration at his residence at the 11th Infantry Regiment King’s Guard in Bangkok,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.tnamcot.com/view/59d08122e3f8e4e10807abbf">the Thai News Agency reported</a>.</p>

<div> <div>While attempts have been made to remove the memory of the 6 October massacre from Thai society and the timeline of history, a website has been created with the goal of archiving the event.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 24 September 2017, the “Documentation of 6 Oct” project launched its website www.doct6.com at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Political Science. </div></div>

<div> <div>The junta-appointed lawmakers have accepted in principle the Organic Act on the Constitutional Court which will protect the court from contempt and online criticism. Breaching the law can lead to up to one month in prison, a 50,000 baht fine, or both. </div></div>

<p>The security forces have sent a security officer to video-record the trial of activists charged with contempt of court despite the court’s prohibition.</p>

<div> <div> <div>A key Thai historian has passed away peacefully. </div></div></div>

<p>Former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra was convicted in absentia of malfeasance and sentenced to five years in prison Wednesday for corruption that occurred under her watch.</p> <p>Following a trial that ran over two years and saw its defendant flee the country, the court’s reading of the verdict began at 11am and continued for nearly four hours. In it, judges said Yingluck had been warned by the National Anti-Corruption Commission of graft in a price-pledging subsidy program overseen by her government.</p>

<p>The junta-appointed Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) has protected the Constitutional Court against contempt under the organic law.</p> <p>Udom Ratamarit, spokesperson of the CDC, revealed that the CDC has submitted the draft organic law on the procedures of the Constitutional Court to the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), <u>Voice TV reports</u>.</p> <p>He said the NLA will consider the bill on 28 September 2017. &nbsp;</p>