<p>The patience of family, friends and supporters was rewarded Saturday when an activist performer and Redshirt firebrand were among 138 women to walk out prison Saturday morning.</p> <p>Pornthip Munkong, a 28-year-old activist convicted over a 2013 student play; and Daranee Charncherngsilpakul, aka “Da Torpedo;” were released at about 6:45am on Saturday morning from the Central Women’s Correctional Institution in Bangkok.</p>

<div>The president of Thailand’s statesmen have urged the junta to amend the draft charter to open a channel for constitutional military intervention during political deadlocks. The statesmen reasoned that the amendment would prevent Thailand from future coups.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Friday, 26 August 2016, Kriangsak Lekkla, the representative of Gen Saiyud Kerdphol, President of Thailand’s Statesmen, filed a petition to the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC), the junta-appointed charter drafter. </div>

<p dir="ltr">The Chiang Mai military court has released members of a political clan accused of committing crimes against the state by distributing letters criticising the junta-sponsored draft constitution.</p>

<div> <div> <div>After police attempted to arrest a forest nomad in the middle of a human rights forum, a network of tribesmen in southern Thailand submitted a petition to the UN asking for protection from discrimination.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Friday, 26 August 2016, the Network of Southern Ethnic Minorities sent an urgent letter to the UN pleading for a protective measure for nomadic tribes in Thailand. </div></div></div>

<p dir="ltr">The Thai Digital Federation has urged lawmakers to amend the Computer Crime Bill draft, saying that it opens space for authorities to suppress rights to freedom of expression.</p>

<div>At a seminar held by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Thailand, police officers attempted to arrest an ethnic tribesman without an arrest warrant.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Thursday, 25 August 2016, Suracha Bunpiam, a Spring News senior journalist, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/suracha.odd/posts/1106535032770878">posted</a> on his Facebook account that five police officers, four of them plainclothes officers, raided a public forum hosted by the NHRC in the southern province of Songkhla to arrest Poy (no surname), a 27-year-old ‘Mani’ tribesman from Satun Provin </div>

<div> <div>The junta-appointed senate should have the right to propose Prime Ministerial candidates, said a spokesman for the junta’s lawmakers.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Tuesday, 23 August 2016, Jet Siratharanon, the spokesperson for the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), the junta’s lawmakers, revealed that the NLA have a unanimous stance on the issue of the controversial additional question, which was passed the 7 August referendum with a landslide. </div></div>

<p dir="ltr">Amid grim hope, student activists representing various groups have argued civil society can still take concrete steps towards repealing Thailand&rsquo;s new constitution, even if the amendment process will be hard. &nbsp;</p><p>At a public panel convened at the Foreign Correspondents&rsquo; Club of Thailand on Tuesday, 23 August 2016, former and current student activists grimly acknowledged that the junta will likely remain in power for the near future.</p>

<p dir="ltr">A military prosecutor has officially charged eight people allegedly involved in a Facebook page mocking the Thai junta leader for crimes against the state.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Military Judge Advocate General’s Office on Tuesday, 23 August 2016 indicted <a href="http://prachatai.org/english/category/the-eight-abducted-junta-critics">eight people</a> accused of being administrators of a parody Facebook page mocking the junta leader called ‘We Love General Prayut’ of Article 116 of the Criminal Code, the sedition law.</p>

<div> <div>A military court in Thailand’s northeast has granted bail for a hunger striking anti-junta student activist. A t-shirt with the word “commoners" has been also deemed a threat to national security by a court officer.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <div>On Tuesday, 23 August 2016, the military court in the northeastern province of Khon Kaen granted bail for Jatuphat Boonpattaraksa, also known as Phai, the pro-democracy activist who staged a hunger strike from 6 to 19 August. </div></div></div>

<p dir="ltr">The Thai Military Court has released the 15 alleged members of the so-called ‘Revolutionary Front for Democracy’ on bail.</p>

<p dir="ltr">The Defence Ministry has given a green light to the plan to establish an ‘Army Cyber Centre’ to boost the military’s online defence capacity and deal with online threats against national security. &nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr">Maj Gen Kongcheep Tantrawanich, spokesperson of the Ministry of Defence, announced on Monday, 22 August 2016, that the ministry has approved a draft bill called ‘2017-2021 Cyber for National Defence’, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/BBCThai/photos/a.1527194487501586.1073741828.1526071940947174/1811604159060616/?type=3&amp;theater">the BBC Thai reported</a>.</p>