<div> <div>The Thai cabinet has passed a bill allowing courts to try cases where the defendant is absent. A human rights lawyer argues that the measure aims to facilitate the prosecution of fugitive ex-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. &nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 13 September 2016, the cabinet approved a bill to amend the Criminal Procedure Code. </div></div>

<p dir="ltr">The court has sentenced a bookseller to two years in jail for selling a banned book on the killing of King Ananda, a former king and older brother of the current King.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Southern Bangkok Criminal Court on 15 September 2016 read the Supreme Court’s verdict on the lèse majesté case of a 67-year-old man referred to as Defendant U.</p>

<div>In response to recent bomb attacks, the junta will establish a ‘front-line cabinet’ working directly under the junta’s supervision to resolve conflicts in Thailand’s restive Deep South.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The junta is in the process of establishing a ‘front-line cabinet’, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta head and Prime Minister, told the media at Government House on 13 September 2016. This cabinet is expected to work directly under the junta on the peace talks process with Deep South insurgents. </div>

<p dir="ltr">The Royal Thai Navy has accused 55 people of illegally occupying public land in a tourist town in eastern Thailand. &nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr">On 13 September 2016, the Information Office of the Naval Civil Affairs Department reported that the Royal Thai Navy (RTN) has filed a complaint against 55 individuals at Sattahip District Police Station in Chonburi Province.</p> <p dir="ltr">The RTN accused the 55 of encroaching on public land plots in Samae San sub-district of Sattahip, a popular tourist destination along the eastern coast.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Amidst the fallout of recent bombings in the restive Deep South, the military government has extended the state of emergency in the region.</p> <p dir="ltr">On 13 September 2016, the Royal Gazette website published an announcement from the military government titled ‘<a href="http://www.ratchakitcha.soc.go.th/DATA/PDF/2559/E/205/4.PDF">The Extension of the State of Emergency in Yala, Pattani, and Narathiwat except Mae Lan District [of Pattani]</a>’.The announcement was approved by Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and Prime Minister, and his cabinet.</p>

<p dir="ltr">While Thailand’s junta leader has enacted an order halting the trial of civilians in military courts, the deputy junta head has said this order could be nullified if ‘instability’ returns. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr">On 13 September 2016, Gen Prawit Wongsuwan, the deputy junta head and Defence Minister, said that Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and Prime Minister, has shown his commitment to a democratic system of governance by authorising the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Head’s Order No. 55/2016.</p>

<p>Youth activists advocating education reform have condemned those involved in the latest hazing scandal, urging the authorities to bring justice for the victim who nearly drowned.</p>

<p>Anti-mine activists in Isaan, fired back against a mining company, demanding the company 3.18 million baht for judicially harassing them.</p> <p>On 12 September 2016, about 30 members of Khon Rak Ban Koed (KRBK), translated as ‘People Who Love Their Home’, attended a hearing at Loei Provincial Court, the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.citizenthaipbs.net/node/9620">Thai PBS reported</a>.</p> <p>The hearing was held to consider the KRBK’s request not to pay the court fee in a civil lawsuit they filed against Tungkum Company, a gold mine operator in Loei.</p>

<div> <div>The junta has issued an order abolishing military court trials of civilians who commit crimes against national security, including sedition and lèse majesté cases.</div> </div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="http://122.155.92.12/centerWeb/Uploads/Image/2559/04/22/PNPOL590422002004101_22042016_070803.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 357px;" /></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <div>On 12 September 2016, the junta’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Head Order No. 55/2016 was published in the Royal Gazette. </div></div>

<div>After a long absence, military officers visited two anti-junta activists at their home to ‘adjust their attitudes’. The soldiers said they will visit the house again with their superior officer.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 10 September 2016, seven soldiers visited Payao Akhad and her son, Nattapat Akhad, at their home in Prachinburi Province. The two are political activists who have participated in various anti-junta campaigns. Soldiers asked them whether they will host any political campaigns in the near future. </div>

<div> <div>An insurgent umbrella organisation in Thailand’s restive Deep South has insisted it was not involved in a recent bomb attack that killed a 4-year-old girl and her father.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 9 July 2016, the Mara Patani group posted on its official&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/Mara-Patani-OfficialPage-209905189404553/?fref=nf">Facebook page</a>&nbsp;a statement condemning the bomb attacks. The bombing occurred three days earlier at a school in Tak Bai District, in the Deep South province of Narathiwat. </div></div>

<div>Residents of the Pom Mahakan community have filed a petition to the PM, pleading for a multilateral steering committee to review their eviction by Bangkok authorities.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 6 July 2016, representatives of the Pom Mahakan community submitted a petition to the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) disputing the demolition of the community, reported&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/BBCThai/photos/pcb.1818433451711020/1818433321711033/?type=3&amp;theater">BBC Thai</a>.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>According to the petition, the community wants the government to </div>