<p>Student activists from Khon Kaen University have been accused of contempt of court for participating in a peaceful gathering to demand Pai Dao Din’s release. </p>
<p>On 17 March 2017, <a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=3741">Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) </a>reported that activists from the activist <a href="https://prachatai.org/english/category/dao-din?page=1">Dao Din group</a>, based in Khon Kaen University, and New Generation Citizens (NGC), another political activist group in the region, received a court notice.</p>
<p>The police have revealed that they have arrested a 14-year-old disciple of the Dhammakaya Temple for protesting against the junta’s use of Section 44 to tighten control around the Dhammakaya complex.</p>
<p>On 15 March 2017, police officers of Khlong Luang Police Station of Pathum Thani Province confirmed to Prachatai that on 8 March they arrested a 14-year-old disciple of Dhammakaya Temple, whose identity is withheld due to privacy concerns.</p>
<p dir="ltr">A police officer has accused a member of the anti-establishment red shirt of defamation after he posted comments to complain about having his house searched without a court warrant.</p>
<p>On 15 March 2017, Boribun Kiangwarangkun, a member of a red shirt group in Ban Pong District of Ratchaburi Province,<a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=3732"> reported to the local police station</a> in the district to listen to accusations against him.</p>
<p>Citing further legal protections for LGBT people, the Thai authorities have introduced a bill to ‘certify’ gender identity. LGBT experts, however, have asked why they need the state to approve their gender identity at all.</p>
<p>On 14 March 2017, leading LGBT activists and legal officers from the Office of Women’s Affairs and Family Development (OWAFD) under the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security gathered at a public forum to discuss the Gender Certification Bill drafted by OWAFD.</p>
<p dir="ltr">After a decade-long legal battle, the Supreme Court has handed one to two years suspended sentences to 10 civil society workers, including Jon Ungphakorn, Director of iLaw, former Senator and founder of Prachatai, for instigating chaos and trespassing into the parliament compound in 2007.</p>
<p>On 15 March 2017, the Supreme Court handed guilty verdicts to 10 high-profile civil society workers accused of trespassing onto the grounds of parliament during a rally against the 2007 National Legislative Assembly (NLA), appointed by the 2006 coup-makers.</p>
<p>The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand (EGAT) has filed defamation lawsuits against people accusing it of causing environmental destruction. </p>
<p>On 13 March 2017, Pranee Tangseree, Assistant Governor of EGAT’s Legal Affairs Bureau, revealed that <a href="http://energynewscenter.com/index.php/news/detail/647">EGAT had filed 15 complaints</a> to the police against people posting content on social media accusing its power plants of pollution leading to sickness and death.</p>
<div>
<div>Pawinee Chumsri, a lawyer at Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, has won the 2017 Somchai Neelapaijit Award. Pawinee urged society to action, saying that, ‘If people don’t fight, lawyers really can’t achieve anything’.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>On 11 March 2017, the Somchai Neelapaijit Memorial Fund announced <a href="http://prachatai.org/journal/2017/03/70534">Pawinee Chumsri as the winner of its annual award</a>, commending an outstanding human rights advocate.
</div></div>
<p>While the government was humiliated at the UN’s ICCPR meeting in Geneva for serious human right violations, at home a Thai court has again refused to release a student activist who has become a posterchild of the pro-democracy movement. </p>
<p>On 13 March 2017, the Provincial Court of Khon Kaen <a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=3718">rejected a 700,000 baht</a> bail bid by Jatuphat ‘Pai’ Boonpattararaksa, a law student and key member of the New Democracy Movement (NDM).</p>
<p>The doctor who conducted the post-mortem examination on the body of a drug suspect who died in custody has concluded that death was caused by serious brain injuries.</p>
<p>The Provincial Court of Nakhon Ratchasima on 3 March 2017 held an inquest into the death of Anan Koedkaeo, 34, a drug trafficking suspect who died in suspicious circumstances three days after being interrogated.</p>
<p>A criminal court has issued an arrest warrant for an anti-corruption activist who posted the results of a political survey on Facebook.</p>
<p>On 12 March 2017, Veera Somkwamkid, Secretary-General of the People’s Anti-Corruption Network, posted on his <a href="https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=1243026455795204&id=181257625305431">Facebook account</a> that the Criminal Court on Ratchadapisek Road in Bangkok has approved an arrest warrant for him.</p>
<div>
<div>Communication devices and the media have been banned from provincial consultation forums held by the junta to discuss political reconciliation, leaving the public no means to check whether reconciliation policies will reflect the people’s wishes.</div>
</div>
<div> </div>
<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/437/31652264134_7fff327293_o.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 333px;" /></div>
<div> </div>
<div>On 6 March 2017, the junta held the <a href="http://prachatai.com/journal/2017/03/70432">first of three provincial forums in Nakhon Sawa
</a></div>
<p>The head of the Subdistrict Administrative Organisation (SAO) of an area battling a gold mine company has defeated a lawsuit filed against him by a gold mine operator.</p>
<p>On 9 March 2017, the Loei Provincial Court dismissed a lawsuit against Samai Phakmi, President of the SAO of Khao Luang Subdistrict, Wang Saphung District, Loei.</p>