<div> <div>The military arrested and filed a lèse majesté charge against a 67-year-old man for writing messages in a shopping mall’s restrooms. The messages mainly criticized the junta and Article 112, or the lèse majesté law, and allegedly made reference to the King. He is likely to be tried in a military court&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The messages mainly criticized the junta leader Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha and the Democrat government which ruled the country from 2011 to 2013. They condemned the two governments for abusing Article 112. </div></div>

<p dir="ltr"><em>Please read the updated report <a href="http://prachatai.org/english/node/4415">here</a></em></p> <p dir="ltr">The military arrested and filed a lese majeste charge against a 67-year-old man for writing messages deemed defaming the monarchy in a shopping mall’s restrooms.</p> <p>Opas C., was captured by the mall’s employee on Wednesday and was later arrested by the military.</p> <p>On Friday, the military brought him to the crime suppression unit and filed a charge under Article 112, or the lese majeste law, against him. He confessed that he wrote the message.</p>

<div> <div>Jaran Ditapichai, red-shirt leader and veteran political activist, has been charged with lèse majesté in connection with the play ‘The Wolf Bride’. </div></div>

<p dir="ltr">After being threatened by the junta’s policy to reclaim National Park lands, Karen villagers who have been living in the forest for generations filed a complaint to the authorities to stop confiscating their land. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>Approximately 60 Karen tribe representatives from Mae Hong Son, the mountainous northern province, on Tuesday submitted a complaint to the Damrongtham Centre, an agency established by the Ministry of Interior to accept complaints, in Mae Hong Son provincial&nbsp;hall&nbsp;to request the junta to revise its forest protection policy.</p>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Despite the censorship and surveillance already imposed on the press and Internet users after the coup d’état in May, the junta is now exacerbating an environment of fear by further tightening its control over social media. </div>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div> <div>The Thai police on Tuesday said they intend to speed up investigation of lèse majesté cases, along with other cases related to national security.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Pol Lt Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, Acting Deputy National Police Chief, told media on Tuesday that from 2011-2014, there were 93 cases related to Article 112, or the lèse majesté law, pending with the police. The National Police have resolved on a policy to complete 50 per cent of the Article 112 cases so that only about 46 cases are left by end of this year. </div></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Five suspects, accused of being the ‘Men in Black’, recanted their confessions, and said their confessions were made under duress due to alleged torture and ill-treatment during military detention, according to their lawyer. </div>

<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Criminal Court on Monday ruled to continue the detention of two lèse majesté suspects and denied a bail request from one suspect.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Ratchada Criminal Court in Bangkok dismissed a bail request by Tanet, a lèse majesté suspect whose surname is withheld due to privacy concerns, whose friends put up 200,000 baht in cash as security. </div></div>

<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Thai military in the western province of Tak on Monday stopped a caravan of Lahu villagers travelling to Bangkok to complain to the junta’s National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), according to Thairath.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Around noon on Monday, Gen Narongsak Sasang, deputy commander of security forces in Tak, led military and police to stop a caravan of 15 vans of ethnic minority Lahu from Tak’s Mae Sot District.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The military believed that the Lahu wanted to complain about the reclamation of their farm lands, under th </div></div>

<p>&nbsp;</p> <p>Martial law, in force across the Kingdom, is being promoted in a campaign by the Tourism Authority of Thailand (TAT) as a guarantee of safety for tourists.</p> <p>Tawatchai Aranyik, the Director of TAT, unveiled on Sunday the “24 Hours Enjoy Thailand” campaign. In the campaign, TAT promotes Thailand as safe for tourists because martial law is in force, so tourists can be sure that they will be safe all day and night..</p> <p>TAT will start promoting the campaign early next year in order to attract tourists during the high season.</p>

<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr">Gen Prayuth Chan-Ocha, the Thai junta leader and Prime Minister, tried to please Burmese citizen over Koh Tao murder case by urging the media not to call them Burmese, but to call them merely migrant workers.</p> <p>On Wednesday, one day before the official visit to Myanmar, Prayuth told the press the following: &nbsp;</p>

<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr">Thai military’s attempt to silence labor activists confirms a deteriorating state of labor rights in Thailand after the coup. &nbsp; &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p>On Tuesday, labor union activists revealed that they received phone call from the military who tried to prevent them from holding dialogue with government officials on ‘the World Day of Decent Work’ on Tuesday 7 October.</p>