Activists and politicians, including former PM candidate Pita Limjaroenrat, former Future Forward members and other 3 individuals, have been sentenced to four months in prison over a 2019 flash mob protest. The sentence was suspended for two years.

<p>In Freedom House&rsquo;s 2021 global freedom analysis, Thailand scores 30 out of 100, 2 points less than last year, due to a poor performance in many aspects of political rights and civil liberties. This has brought down the country&rsquo;s status from &lsquo;Partly Free&rsquo; to &lsquo;Not Free&rsquo;.</p>

<p>Twitter has taken down 926 Thai Twitter accounts which are deemed to be part of a state-linked information operation. The analysis shows that they target opposition parties and pro-democracy movements and try to counter criticism of the military and the government.</p>

<p>Wirada Saelim on how young people living in the culture of fear&nbsp;in Thailand are using Twitter to engage in politics and speak about issues that are often seen as controversial.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;Thai&nbsp;authorities should drop politically motivated criminal charges against the leader of the dissolved opposition Future Forward Party, Human Rights Watch said today. The United States, European Union, United Kingdom, Japan, and other governments should call on the Thai authorities to drop the charges and the arbitrary ban on the Future Forward Party.</p>

<p>Thousands of university and high school students holding demonstrations in campuses all over the country shows that the tide is turning in Thailand. Although big change has yet to come, the agents of change are getting ready.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Regional lawmakers expressed extreme disappointment at today&rsquo;s decision by Thailand&rsquo;s Constitutional Court to <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/8375">dissolve</a> the Future Forward Party (FWP), calling on authorities in the country to end their harassment of pro-democracy and opposition groups.</p>

<p>Following the <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/8375">dissolution</a> of the Future Forward Party (FFP) on Friday (21 February), several human rights organizations, along with the European Union External Action Service (EEAS) and the Embassy of the United States in Thailand, have spoken out against the Constitutional Court&rsquo;s decision to dissolve the popular opposition party, a decision which has been seen as damaging to the country&rsquo;s return to democracy and as disenfranchising a large number of voters.</p>

<p>The Constitutional Court of Thailand ruled to dissolve the Future Forward Party on the grounds that the party has broken Article 72 of the 2017 Organic Law on Political Parties by taking a loan from its leader Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit. The Court also banned its leaders for ten years.</p>