<p>The Thai police have denied a rumour that an individual has been arrested for threatening to assassinate deputy junta head Gen Prawit Wongsuwan.</p> <p>On 3 February 2017, Pol Col Kritsana Pattanacharoen, Deputy Spokesperson of the Royal Thai Police (RTP), <a href="http://www.tnamcot.com/content/648190">denied rumour</a><u>s</u> about an arrest concerning a threat to kill Prawit, deputy junta head and Defence Minister.</p> <p>He told the media it was only a rumour and that the police and the military have been cooperating closely on the matter.</p>

<div> <div>Students at a northern university have been coerced into donating blood, or see their student loan payments delayed.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div> <div>On 31 January 2016, the Facebook page ‘<a href="https://www.facebook.com/AntiSOTUSPage/photos/a.531782970208763.1073741828.528009737252753/1222780007775719/?type=3">ANTI SOTUS</a>’ reported that Maejo University’s Student Loan Fund had asked student representatives to encourage students to donate blood at a university blood drive. </div>

<p>After almost three years of little progress, the Thai police have announced that they will not resist if the junta leader uses his absolute power to reform the police force, while a civil society group points out that decentralisation is the key to police reform. &nbsp;</p> <p>On 1 February 2017, Police Watch (PW), a civil society group campaigning for police reform, issued a statement urging Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and Prime Minister, to decentralise the administration of the Royal Thai Police (RTP).</p>

<div>Co-leaders of the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), an anti-election movement, will pay nearly 96 million baht in compensation for damage caused during unrest in 2014.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 31 January 2017, the Civil Court of Justice ruled that<a href="http://prachatai.com/journal/2017/02/69884"> five leaders of the PDRC were guilty </a>of trespassing on the offices of both the Ministry of Energy and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand (PTT), during the movement’s ‘<a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/multimedia/3820">Bangkok Shutdown</a>’ in 2014. </div>

<p>Amid public outcry, a provincial court has refused to release Jatuphat ‘Pai Dao Din’ Boonpattararaksa, an embattled anti-junta activist accused of lèse majesté. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>On 1 February 2017, the Khon Kaen Provincial Court in an in camera hearing granted police permission to continue the detention of Jatuphat Boonpattararaksa, a law student and key member of the New Democracy Movement (NDM).</p>

<p>After years of battle over land rights, an embattled indigenous seafarer community in Phuket has won a lawsuit filed against them by a land development company.</p> <p>On 31 January 2017,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.posttoday.com/local/south/478562">the Provincial Court of Phuket read the verdict</a>&nbsp;on a dispute over the 33 rai plot on Rawai Beach of Phuket between an indigenous seafarer community and Baron World Trade Co, a real estate development company.</p>

<p>A criminal court has sentenced two of five ‘men in black’ suspects accused of taking part in the deadly political violence on 10 April 2010 to 10 years imprisonment while dismissing charges against the rest.</p> <p>On 31 January 2017, the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Rd., Bangkok, sentenced Kittisak Soomsri, 47, and Preecha Yooyen, 26, to 10 years imprisonment.&nbsp;</p>

<div> <div>As a model for its ongoing reconciliation efforts, the Thai junta will follow the amnesty programme for communists implemented during the Cold War.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Thai government has made political reconciliation a policy priority, to resolve chronic unrest between different political movements.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Plans include a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed by various political parties and movements in acknowledgement of a promise to build peaceful relationships with each other. </div></div>

<p>Almost three years after the disappearance of a well-known Karen activist, Thailand’s Department of Special Investigation has refused to accept the case.</p>

<p>An organisation promoting accessible transportation has kick-started a campaign to demand government compensation for the inaccessibility of Bangkok’s Skytrain system for people using wheelchairs.</p>

<p dir="ltr">The Thai government has asked Laotian authorities to deport Thais wanted for lèse majesté.</p> <p dir="ltr">On 31 January 2017, Gen Thawip Netniyom, Secretary-General of the National Security Council, <a href="http://www.matichon.co.th/news/446635">announced to media</a> plans to travel to Laos to seek cooperation from the country’s government in monitoring the activities of certain Thai nationals.</p> <p dir="ltr">A group of five to six Thais residing in Laos are producing radio programs deemed defamatory to the Thai Monarchy, said Thawip.</p>

<p>Renowned pro-democracy academics have submitted a joint statement to condemn the Thai authorities for the detention of Jatuphat ‘Pai’ Boonpattararaksa, saying the country’s judicial system has failed to safeguard human rights and the rule of law. &nbsp;</p> <p>At 11 am on 30 January 2017, leading members of the Thai Academic Network for Civil Rights (TANC), including Anusorn Unno, Puangthong Pawakapan, Yukti Mukdawijitra, and Pichit Likitkijsomboon, gathered at the Supreme Court in the Chaeng Watthana Government Complex.</p>