<p>In a conversation with Prachatai, the President of the Blind Society Association of Thailand, who has just filed a second complaint of royal defamation against another blind person, insists that the monarchy can be criticized with proper language, reason and factual evidence. Despite sending a blind woman to jail in the past, he believes that the accused this time can adjust to prison life as it is &ldquo;the same as boarding school&rdquo;. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Student activist Wanwalee Thammasattaya has been detained pending trial on a royal defamation charge relating to a protest on 6 December 2020</p>

<p>12 pictures by Prachatai&#39;s field reporters during the protest at Sanam Luang on 20 March before the clash with crowd control police began.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The public prosecutor has postponed until 13 May 2021 the hearing of 13 people involved in the <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/8881">protest in front of the German Embassy in Bangkok</a> on 26 October 2020, as the prosecutor has yet to finish the paperwork needed to file the case against the protesters.</p>

<p>Protesters returned to the Ratchaprasong intersection on Wednesday&nbsp;night (24 March) to call for reform and release of detained activists despite police violence at recent protests.</p>

<p>On 20 March, protesters gathered at Sanam Luang demanding that the power of the monarchy be limited under the constitution. The police responded by setting up a long barrier of containers. The people faced retaliation after removing and passing beyond the blockade. Rubber bullets, tear gas, and water cannon were deployed broadly and indiscriminately.</p>

<p>A letter from Parit &#39;Penguin&#39; Chiwarak, a prominent activist, monarchy reform devoter and one among the 4 pro-democracy protest leading figures who are under indefinite detention awaiting lèse-majesté trials.</p>

<p>UN human rights experts today expressed grave concerns over Thailand&rsquo;s increasingly severe use of lèse-majesté laws to curtail criticism of the monarchy, and said they were alarmed that a woman had been sentenced to over 43 years in prison for insulting the royal family.</p>

<p>Where do the king&#39;s assets come from? In order to understand the discussion on monarchy reform and crown property, Prachatai traces the changes in how the monarchy&#39;s assets are managed through the Rattanakosin era.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Sirichai (last name withheld), a freshman at the Puey Ungphakorn School of Development Studies, Thammasat University, and a member of the student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration, was arrested during Wednesday night (13 January) on a royal defamation charge under Section 112.</p>

<p>Two students facing charges under the lèse majesté law for participating in a &ldquo;fashion show&rdquo; during a pro-democracy protest on Silom Road went to hear the charges yesterday (17 December), while members of the We Volunteer protest guard group and other protesters gathered outside the police station in Thai traditional dress to show support.</p>

<p>The number of people involved in recent protests who have been charged under Section 112 continues to rise as 31 people have now been summoned, one of whom is 16 years old. Meanwhile, the public prosecutor in Nakhon Phanom has issued a prosecution order in the case of a man accused of royal defamation for a Facebook post made in 2016.</p>