<p>The military has reportedly detained incommunicado two political dissidents, one of whom is a human rights lawyer who represented a former lèse majesté convict.</p>
<p>Kritsadang Nutcharat, a human rights lawyer, told Prachatai that on 30 April 2017, his fellow human rights lawyer, Prawet Praphanukul, informed him that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) has summoned him.</p>
<p>Prawet asked Kritsadang to represent him on one of his cases before he disappeared and could not be contacted further.</p>
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<div>The junta’s National Reform Council (NRC) has <a href="http://www.tnamcot.com/view/59070b7be3f8e4ce4c20d436">given the green light</a> to a controversial bill that would subject the Thai media to a licensing system.
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<p>The Supreme Court has handed five year jail terms to an elderly couple for picking mushrooms in a protected forest in Isaan.</p>
<p>On 2 May 2017, the Supreme Court <a href="http://news.voicetv.co.th/thailand/485979.html">sentenced </a>Udom Sirisorn, 51, and Daeng Sirisorn, 48, a couple from the northeastern province of Kalasin, to five years’ imprisonment for picking wild mushrooms in Dong Ranang National Park.</p>
<p>They were arrested in July 2010 and quickly sentenced to 30 years imprisonment on the accusation of illegal logging and entering a protected forest.</p>
<p>Labour activists in South Korea and Indonesia have displayed banners to campaign for the release of Somyot Prueksakasemsuk. </p>
<p>On 1 May 2017, International Labour Day, many labour activists and others in South Korea and Indonesia displayed banners at labour rallies in support of Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a long-time labour activist imprisoned for lèse majesté.</p>
<p>The Thai military have arrested a group of people in southern Thailand who are allegedly involved in a network making false claims about the monarchy for financial gain.</p>
<p>On 27 April 2017, <a href="http://news.thaipbs.or.th/content/261984">soldiers arrested</a> Nonglak B., a radio host from Thung Song District of Nakhon Si Thammarat Province after several individuals were arrested and taken to a local military base a day earlier for interrogation.</p>
<p>Police in southern Thailand have arrested eight landless farmers for allegedly occupying the land of development companies. </p>
<p>Representatives of the Southern Peasants Federation of Thailand (SPFT) on 25 April 2017 submitted a letter to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Bangkok after the arrest of eight villagers from Nam Daeng Pattana Development Community, one of six communities of the SPFT, located in Chai Buri District of Surat Thani.</p>
<p>The Appeal Court has sentenced a man accused of defaming the monarchy on Facebook to six years’ imprisonment.</p>
<p>On 27 April 2017, the Appeal Court confirmed the verdict of the Court of First Instance in the lèse majesté case of Piya J., a 47 year-old programmer.</p>
<p>In January 2016 the lower court sentenced him to nine years’ imprisonment with the sentence reduced by one third.</p>
<p>A court in northern Thailand has handed a one-year suspended jail term to a man who posted a Facebook message deemed defamatory to a queen of an ancient kingdom in northern Thailand.</p>
<p>On 25 April 2017, the Provincial Court of the northern Province of Lamphun <a href="http://www.manager.co.th/QOL/ViewNews.aspx?NewsID=9600000041861">sentenced </a>Songpol Phoommesri, 23, to one year in prison and a fine of 5,000 baht for violating the Computer Crime Act (CCA).</p>
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<div>Police officers have detained a man claiming to have removed the historical plaque commemorating the 1932 Revolution. He will be subject to a mental health check, according to the police.</div>
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<div>On 25 April 2017, Wichan Phuwihan, a member of a group called People's Peaceful Revolution, visited the Secretariat of the Prime Minister’s Office and read a 27-page statement claiming that he was the one who removed the brass plaque commemorating the 1932 Democratic Revolution.
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<p dir="ltr">The military has summoned the leader of an environmental group opposing China’s exploration of the Mekong River for the purposes of developing a commercial shipping route. </p>
<p>On 25 April 2017, Col Jarat Panyadi, Deputy Commander of the 37 Military Circle of Chiang Rai, <a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=4107">summoned </a>Niwat Roikaew, the leader of an a local environmental conservation group called ‘Khon Rak Chiang Kong’, for a “chat” at a coffee shop.</p>
<div>Two pro-democracy groups have called for charges against seven student activists to be withdrawn.
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<p>The junta has given the green light to a new version of the Criminal Procedure Code that allows police to intercept communications. </p>
<p>On 25 April 2017, Lt Gen Sansern Kaewkamnerd, spokesperson of the Prime Minister's Office, announced that the cabinet has approved an amended draft of the <a href="http://www.unafei.or.jp/english/pages/RMS/No92_10PA_Sudti-Autasilp.pdf">Criminal Procedure Code (CPC)</a>.</p>
<p>Under the section on evidence collection, the bill allows police to intercept communications to and from criminal suspects.</p>