<div> <div>The Thai Military Court has dismissed a sedition charge against a red shirt who posted a rumour about the junta head, ruling that the post merely constitutes defamation, not the instigation of violence.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Tuesday, 17 May 2016, the Bangkok Military Court gave its ruling in the case of Rinda Parichabutr, a red shirt woman nicknamed “Lin,” 45, who was arrested on 8 July 2015 for spreading a false rumour through social networks that Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and Prime Minister, and his wife had deposited about 10 billion baht in a secret ba </div></div>

<div> <div>The suspects in the deadly bombing at a shrine in Bangkok last year have shown the Military Court marks of torture on their bodies. “I’m not an animal. I’m human. I’m human,” one of the suspects repeated.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Tuesday, 17 May 2016, Reuters reported that Adem Karadag, a Chinese ethnic Uighur, and one of the suspects in the deadly 2015 Erawan shrine bombing, struggled and chanted to the media while officials were escorting him into the Military Court.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“I’m not an animal. I’m human. </div></div>

<p dir="ltr">The Finance Ministry has proposed an austerity measure to slash out the monthly stipend for Thai elderly citizens whose monthly income is above 9,000 baht per month.</p> <p dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.matichon.co.th/news/137128">Matichon Online</a> reported that Wisudhi Srisuphan, Deputy Minister of Finance, on Monday morning, 16 May 2016, told media at the Government House about the proposal of the Finance Ministry to withdraw a monthly financial support of 600 baht given to the country senior citizens.</p>

<div> <div>The Thai right-wing political elite has raged at the US Ambassador after he publicly shamed the Thai Foreign Minister last Thursday. The right wing has also used nationalist discourse to gain public support to oust the Ambassador, saying that the lèse majesté law makes Thailand more civilized than the US. &nbsp;&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Thursday, 12 May 2016, Glyn T. </div></div>

<p>Draft charter only prolongs junta power: New Democracy Movement</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>The New Democracy Movement (NDM), a youth pro-democracy activist group, has faulted the junta-sponsored draft constitution, concluding that the draft prolongs Thai junta rule.</p> <p>The NDM on Sunday, 15 May 2016, organised a public seminar on the junta-sponsored draft constitution at Thammasat University, Tha Prachan Campus, Bangkok,&nbsp;<a href="http://www.lokwannee.com/web2013/?p=218822">Lokwanee News reported</a>.</p>

<p>A core member of Resistant Citizen, an anti-junta activist group, Pansak Srithep, and other activists commemorated the death of Pansak’s son who was killed during the military crackdown on red shirt protesters in May 2010.</p>

<div> <div>The Thai Foreign Minister has been shamed by the US Ambassador publicly confirming that a statement expressing Washington’s “concerns” on Thailand’s human rights situation is real after the Minister recently claimed that the statement was not issued by the US Department of State.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Tuesday, 10 May 2016, AFP <a href="https://in.news.yahoo.com/us-condemns-arrest-thai-activists-211618316.html">reported</a> that a spokesperson of the US Department of the State “condemned” Thailand for the arrest on 6 May of an activist's mother. </div></div>

<p>Leading women's rights advocacy groups in Thailand are urging the authorities to stop forcing pelvic examinations on female detainees.</p> <p>16 women’s rights organisations, including the Friends of Women Foundation, the Women's Movement in Thai Political Reform (WeMove), the Institute of Human Rights and Peace Studies of Mahidol University and the Foundation for SOGI Rights and Justice, on Friday, 13 May 2016, submitted a joint statement to Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, the junta leader and Prime Minister, and Gen Paiboon Khumchaya, the Minister of Justice.</p>

<p>Police officers have decided to press charges against a human rights lawyer representing anti-junta youth activists, accusing her of defying police orders.</p> <p>According to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), on Thursday, 12 May 2016, the prosecutor of Dusit District Court, Bangkok, informed Sirikan Charoensiri, TLHR lawyer, that police investigators have agreed to press charges against her under Articles 142 and 368 of the Criminal Code for propagating false accusations against investigating officers and disobeying police orders.</p>

<div> <div>A recent survey has shown that the majority of Thai people want the size and tasks of Thai military to be curtailed, and believe it should not have any responsibility other than protecting national sovereignty.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>People Poll Thailand has <a href="http://peoplepollthailand.com/poll/result/recent/70">published</a> the result of a survey on Thai military reform, revealing that more that 79 percent of respondents think that the size of the Thai military should be reduced, and only 11.9 percent think that the current size is appropriate.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div</p> </div</p></div>

<p>After the Thai representatives to the UN’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) told other nations that Thai military courts only handle serious crimes involving civilians, Thai human rights lawyers have come up with some facts to counter the lies about the military courts.</p>

<div> <div>Applaud but do not stand, take selfies politely, and chant ‘keep fighting PM Prayut’ are commands stated in the schedule of a conference between the Prime Minister and government school teachers.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The schedule of the conference called The PM meets his teacher friends,’ to be held on 13 May 2016, includes orders for participants to chant together ‘keep fighting PM Prayut’. </div></div>