<div>On International Women’s Day, police officers pressed charges against seven female villagers for opposing a local gold mine.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 8 March 2016, officers from Wang Saphung Police Station <a href="http://prachatai.com/journal/2017/03/70476">pressed charges against seven villagers</a>&nbsp;for protesting against a local gold mine. The seven were accused of threatening officials and violating NCPO Head Order 3/2015, the junta’s ban on public gatherings of five people or more. </div>

<p>The mother of a soldier in northeastern Thailand who was beaten to death in a military camp has filed a civil lawsuit against the Royal Thai Army.</p> <p>At the Civil Court on Ratchadapisek Road in Bangkok on 9 March 2017, Boonrueang Suthiraphan, the mother of Corporal Krittikon Suthiraphan, 25, filed the civil lawsuit against the Royal Thai Army over the death of her son in the military prison of Weerawat Yothin Army Camp in Surin Province on 21 February 2016. He was imprisoned after being accused of assisting other detainees in the military prison to flee.</p>

<div> <div>20 villagers have been found guilty of violating the junta’s ban on public gatherings by supporting a referendum monitoring campaign. The villagers pleaded guilty, but only because of the high costs of fighting the case.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div> <div>On 6 March 2016, Udon Thani Military Court <a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=3642">ruled that 20 villagers from Sakon Nakhon province were guilty</a>&nbsp;of violating NCPO Head Order 3/2015, the junta’s ban on public assemblies of five people or more. </div>

<p>The Thai junta has refused to extend a permit for the BBC to run one of its major global transmission stations located in central Thailand.</p> <p>The BBC World Service&nbsp;<a href="http://www.bangkokbiznews.com/news/detail/744153">has stopped broadcasting programmes</a>&nbsp;from its transmission station located in Nakhon Sawan Province.</p> <p>The station had been broadcasting uncensored foreign-language news into authoritarian countries such as North Korea and China, and countries which still rely significantly on radio, such as Afghanistan and Pakistan.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Citing political ills, the Thai junta has ironically proposed a so-called political culture bill, saying it could foster a democratic political culture. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr">On 7 March 2017, the junta-appointed Committee on National Reform, National Strategy, and Reconciliation<a href="http://www.matichon.co.th/news/487644"> announced 42 national reform priorities</a> from Government House.</p> <p dir="ltr">Among these 42 reform goals, a political culture bill was proposed as a solution to Thailand’s political ills.</p>

<p>After arresting 18 Uber drivers, the Land Transportation Department has announced that it might ask the junta leader to use his absolute power under the Interim Constitution to crack down on taxi or car-sharing apps. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>On 7 March 2017, Nanthapong Cherdchu, Deputy Director-General of the Land Transportation Department, told the media that the agency might propose the use of the government’s absolute power under Section 44 of the Interim Constitution to crackdown on Uber, Grab and other car-sharing application services.</p>

<div> <div>Without any explanation, Thailand has blocked access to the online edition of the New York Post.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>According to <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thainetizen/posts/10155154382983130">Thai Netizen Network</a> (TNN), the website has been blocked since 23 February by the Ministry of Digital Economy and Society. </div></div>

<p>The Thai military has dropped criminal defamation charges against three human rights defenders who exposed torture in Thailand’s Deep South.</p> <p>On 7 March 2017, Col Pramote Promin, Deputy Spokesperson for Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4, said the military has withdrawn criminal defamation charges against Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, Director of the Cross Cultural Foundation (CrCF); Somchai Homla-or, Advisor to the CrCF; and Anchana Heemmina, President of the Duay Jai group.</p>

<div> <div>According to a recent political survey, most Thai people believe Section 44 of the Interim Charter, which gives the ruling junta absolute power, is crucial to the country’s political reform. </div></div>

<p>The Supreme Court has sentenced a comedian turned red-shirt activist and politician to two years’ imprisonment for lèse majesté.</p> <p>On 7 March 2017, at the Criminal Court on Ratchadapisek Rd., Bangkok, the Supreme Court sentenced Yotwarit Chuklom, aka. Jeng Dokjik, to two years in prison without suspending the jail term.</p> <p>The court found Yotwarit guilty of offences under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law, for a speech and a gesture at a red-shirt United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) rally on 28 March 2010.</p>

<div>A coalition of human rights organisations has condemned the junta’s suspension of a bill aimed at criminalising state enforced torture and disappearance, arguing the legal gap facilitates human rights abuses.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 1 March 2017, a coalition of human rights groups including Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, the Cross Cultural Foundation, and the Human Rights Lawyers Association released <a href="http://www.tlhr2014.com/th/?p=3618">a statement</a> expressing alarm that the military government is taking steps backwards in the criminalisation of state enforced torture and </div>

<p>Bangkok is pushing ahead with the demolition of the old community of Pom Mahakan to beautify the city landmark at the cost of local residents.</p> <p>On 6 March 2017, the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA) demolished four more houses in the old community of Pom Mahakan.</p> <p>More than 100 workers hired by the BMA were deployed to demolish the houses; soldiers were present to maintain security.</p>