<p>A Provincial Court has freed a Prachatai journalist and pro-democracy activists arrested over campaign leaflets for the draft charter referendum. &nbsp; &nbsp;</p> <p>The Provincial Court of Ratchaburi Province on Monday afternoon, 11 July 2016, granted permission to the police to detain Taweeesak Kerdpoka, a Prachatai journalist, three anti-junta NDM activists, Pakorn Areekul, Anucha Rungmorakot and Anan Loked, and Phanuwat Songsawadchai, a student activist from Maejo University, Phrae campus.</p> <p>However, at around 4:30 pm the court granted bail for each of the five for 140,000 baht.</p>

<div> <div>A Prachatai journalist has been detained by police while he was reporting the activities of the New Democracy Movement (NDM) in central Ratchaburi Province. Three NDM activists have also been detained.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div><em>Update: The police accused the four of violating Article 61 of the Referendum Act. </em></div></div>

<div>Latest draft constitution has a lot of issues for us to examine: an outsider PM, increasing the power of independent state organizations, unelected senators, a Constitution that can’t be amended, extending the duration of the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA), a trick to dispose of PMs and Cabinet members, infinite amnesty for National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) members, and continued use of Article 44.</div> <p></p>

<div>This article investigates why the Khlong Sai Pattana community in Surat Thani Province has occupied a deforested protected area taken from a palm oil plantation corporation after its 30-year concession ended. Land rights activists discuss how the poor are unfairly discriminated against in their right to land to make a living, while capitalists keep reaping benefits from the land. </div>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-ef13f757-4b0b-8287-adf0-5498f9192ae8">With uncertainty about whether the Thai junta will hold a public referendum on the draft constitution or impose it without public consent, alternative media outlets and think tanks in Thailand came together to open an online forum titled ‘Prachamati’ (referendum) to let people speak their mind about the draft constitution which is currently being debated by the junta’s National Reform Council (NRC).</span></p> <p></p>