The Thai Senate on Tuesday (2 April) voted 147 to 4 to approve the Marriage Equality bill in its first Senate reading.

A group of activists staged a protest at the Ministry of Culture on Sunday (6 August) to demand that Senator and poet Naowarat Pongpaiboon be removed from his position as a national artist for abstaining during the vote for Prime Minister.

The Thammasat University Student Union (TUSU) organized a protest on Wednesday (26 July) at Thammasat University’s Rangsit campus against attempts by the Senate and the Constitutional Court to block Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat from becoming Prime Minister despite his party winning the election.

As government formation remains in deadlock, protests have been taking place across the country against attempts to block the Move Forward Party from leading a government and demanding the resignation of the Senate. Activists also demand that the Pheu Thai Party, now tasked with forming a government, not bring into the coalition any parties that supported leaders of the 2014 coup.

A protest caravan visited the headquarters of the Army, Navy and Police on Sunday (16 July) to demand that military and police commanders appointed as senators resign from the Senate.

Attempts to disqualify Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat and block his bid to become the next Prime Minister have sparked a wave of protests during the past week in several provinces calling for the Senate and the House of Representative to approve his nomination as Prime Minister, as his party won the most seats in the last general election.

<p>Senator Upakit Pachariyangkun has sued Move Forward Party MP Rangsiman Rome for defamation, after <a href="https://prachataienglish.com/node/10239">Rangsiman gave a speech during Thursday&rsquo;s (16 February) censure debate on Upakit&rsquo;s business links to Tun Min Latt</a>, a Myanmar tycoon with close ties to coup leader Senior General Min Aung Hliang.&nbsp;</p>

<p>For a few tense hours last week, Thai Senator Upakit Pachariyangkun was wanted for arrest in connection with an alleged drug trafficking and money laundering ring operating out of a casino in the Golden Triangle.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Just hours after a parliamentary vote to reduce the power of the appointed Senate failed, a relentless Move Forward Party (MFP) launched a campaign to obtain the 50,000 signatures necessary to hold a public referendum on whether the country should draft a new Constitution.</p>

<p>After over 5 months, the Senate ad-hoc committee has finished amending the Prevention of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Bill, omitting certain offenses, reducing the statute of limitations, and erasing civil participation in how the law will be implemented.</p>

<p>In a meeting on 27 June, the senate <a href="https://pis.parliament.go.th/PARWeb/doc/meeting-agenda/MeetingAgendaDetailForQRCode?meetingId=uxbA2uCkraqFOgaC5gs">approved</a> an ad-hoc committee request to extend discussion of a draft act to prevent torture and enforced disappearances until mid-August so that its stipulations can be thoroughly examined. &nbsp;The bill passed the lower house on 28 February 2022 after a first reading.</p>

<p>In an era of political tension and ideological conflict, Thai society has reached a turning point. While the military government has paved its way to maintaining power, a new pro-democracy movement is trying to put rights and power back into the hands of the people.</p>