<div> <div>A leader of the recent protest against a coal-fired power plant has urged a high-ranking general to stage a coup against the ruling junta if it does not keep its promise to postpone the power plant project.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 20 February 2017, ML Rungkun Kitiyakara, one of the leaders of the <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/6935">recent protest</a> at Government House, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=1840318166225491&amp;set=a.1409401019317210.1073741839.100007419761220&amp;type=3&amp;theater">posted on his Facebook page</a> a message u </div></div>

<p>Human rights defenders accused by the military of criminal defamation for exposing torture in the Deep South have urged prosecutors to seek more witnesses. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>On 21 February 2017, 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,<a href="http://news.voicetv.co.th/thailand/463767.html">&nbsp;submitted a letter to the Office of Provincial Public Prosecution </a>in the Deep South province of Pattani.</p>

<div> <div>The military has released villagers detained for protesting against the junta’s plans for a coal-fired power plant in Krabi Province. </div></div>

<p>The military in southern Thailand have summoned villagers campaigning against a junta development project to a military base.</p> <p>On 19 February 2017, the Assembly of the Poor, a civil society organisation advocating for marginalised communities in Thailand, reported via its&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/ASSBMLYOFTHEPOOR/">Facebook page</a>&nbsp;that 15 soldiers have visited villagers of Tha Sae District in the southern province of Chumphon.</p>

<p>Police on Saturday apprehended three activists who led an overnight protest in front of the Government House against the regime’s plan to build a coal power plant in the south.</p> <p>In a rare act of civil disobedience in more than two years since the ruling junta came to power, more than 100 protesters from Krabi province demanded the government scrap the project, citing fears of environmental and health damages, only to be told by junta chairman Prayuth Chan-ocha on Friday the construction will go ahead as planned.</p>

<div> <div>At least seven members of the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly have failed to meet attendance requirements set by the Interim Constitution. </div></div>

<div>The Pheu Thai Party has been left broken hearted after not receiving an invite to a reconciliation forum planned by the junta to begin on Valentine’s Day. </div>

<p>The Thai police chief has filed criminal defamation charges against speakers at a discussion critical of the police force.</p> <p>On 14 February 2017, Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, Commissioner-General of the Royal Thai Police (RTP), authorized Pol Col Worawit Yanchinda, Acting Superintendent of the Directorate of Metropolitan Police Bureau, to file a legal complaint against Sungsidh Piriyarangsan, Dean of the College of Social Innovation of Rangsit University, and Pol Col Virut Sirisawatdibut, former Deputy Commander of Chainat provincial police.</p>

<p>The Student Councils Assembly of Thailand has demanded that the Thai authorities release ‘Pai Dao Din’, an anti-junta activist accused of defaming King Vajiralongkorn.</p> <p>On 13 February 2017, the Students Councils Assembly of Thailand (SCAT), an umbrella organisation representing students from Thailand’s leading universities, released a statement condemning the ongoing imprisonment of Jatuphat ‘Pai’ Boonpattararaksa.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Amidst controversy over a hijab-wearing football club in the predominantly Muslim Deep South, leading academics and activists have urged locals to be more tolerant of gender identities. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<div> <div>A study has found that 86 per cent of missing children in Thailand voluntarily run away from home to escape domestic violence.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Mirror Foundation, an NGO based in Thailand, revealed that the Foundation received 424 reports of missing children in 2016, with the number of missing girls almost three times higher than boys.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The majority of the missing children documented by the Mirror Foundation suffered from domestic violence. </div></div>

<div> <div>Students at an elite Thai university are campaigning against outdated uniform regulations, arguing they stifle creativity and intellect. The university is threatening those who fail to comply with disqualification from receiving scholarships.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 8 February 2017, a group of students from Chulalongkorn University’s Engineering Faculty released <a href="https://deklanghong.com/content/2017/02/506">a declaration</a> calling on the faculty to abolish regulations requiring students to wear school uniforms both inside and outside of the classroom. </div></div>