A reporter for the Khon Kaen-based news outlet Isaan Record was visited on Saturday (15 February) by police officers who said they were ordered to monitor royal defamation defendants.

A number of People’s Party MPs and former Move Forward Party (MFP) MPs said that they have received summonses from the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) regarding an ethics probe over their submission of a bill to parliament proposing amendments to the royal defamation law. If found guilty of an ethnics breach, they could be banned for life from standing for election.

The Appeal Court has overturned a not guilty verdict on activist Nutchanon Pairoj and sentenced him to prison for royal defamation over a book of speeches given by protest leaders in 2020. He was later granted bail.

Parliament has adjourned its joint sitting of MPs and senators to debate two bills proposing amendments to the Constitution due to a lack of quorum for two days in a row, further delaying the process of drafting a new Constitution.

The Supreme Court has sentenced a 30-year-old woman to six years in prison without suspension for royal defamation over Facebook posts. In this case, neither the woman nor her lawyer had been notified in advance that the Court would render the verdict.

A 22-year-old graphic designer and activist who was charged with royal defamation for holding a protest banner during a car mob on 15 August 2021 has had his case dismissed.

The Thai parliament approved last week the Ethnic Way of Life bill in its second and third readings, despite opposition from civil society, which withdrew support for the bill following several omissions and changes to core sections, including the use of the term “indigenous” and the exemption of conservation laws in Ethnic Way of Life Protection Areas.

NBTC commissioner Dr Pirongrong Ramasoota has been sentenced to prison for wrongfully exercising authority against TrueID, an internet platform owned by a Thai corporate giant, over issuing warning letters about embedded advertisements on the platform. Several parties believe this poses a threat to media consumers’ rights.

Activist Jatupat Boonpattararaksa has been sentenced to 2 years and 8 months in prison on a sedition charge for participating in a protest on 10 September 2020 to demand monarchy reform.

The Criminal Court has dismissed a defamation lawsuit filed against People’s Party MP Rangsiman Rome by former Senator Upakit Pachariyangkun over Rangsiman’s February 2023 censure debate on Upakit’s business links to Tun Min Latt, a Myanmar tycoon with close ties to coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hliang.

The Criminal Court has dismissed charges of forming a criminal organisation and secret society against 45 We Volunteer protest guard group members who were arrested at a shopping mall before a protest on 6 March 2021.