Thailand is recuiting child 'cyber scouts' to report insults about royal family

Edit Business Insider 21 Sep 2016
Eight people charged with ridiculing junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha arrive at the military court in Bangkok ... Following the 2014 coup led by General Prayut Chan-o-cha, there was a significant increase in the level of online surveillance carried out by the National Council for Peace and Order, the junta created to govern Thailand ... The disturbingly named "SS," for instance, is an ultra-royalist group that has been active since 2010 ... ....

The surreal investigations into Thailand's unresolved bombings

Edit BBC News 17 Aug 2016
If the investigation of last week's multiple bomb attacks in southern Thailand follows the pattern of that into the bombing of the Erawan Shine in Bangkok exactly a year ago, we are in for a surreal ride ... The latest attacks took place on the 84th birthday of Queen Sirikit, an auspicious anniversary for Thais and one the ultra-royalist military had wanted celebrated openly across the country ... Very few have ever been fully investigated ... ....

Thailand: Country Singer Gets Seven Year Jail Sentence For Royal Insult

Edit Newsweek 01 Jun 2016
Try Newsweek. Subscription offers ... He was arrested and charged in July 2014, following pressure by an ultra royalist group on Thailand's Department of Special Investigation to prosecute Thanat. For much of the past decade, Thailand has been divided along political lines between the mostly rural-based red shirt movement and the royalist-military establishment in the capital and south ... (Editing by Simon Webb and Clarence Fernandez) ....

Emojis satirising Thai royal family removed from messaging app

Edit The Guardian 07 Apr 2016
Images on Line app referenced royal scandals and rumours in country which has strict laws against insulting monarchy ... Thailand’s lese-majesty legislation is the one of the world’s harshest, carrying a 15-year jail sentence for an offence. Related ... The number of lese-majesty prosecutions has soared under the ultra-royalist junta that seized power in a 2014 coup, with many Thais targeted for social media postings deemed defamatory ... ....

Defaming a dog: The ways to get arrested for lese majeste in Thailand

Edit BBC News 09 Dec 2015
He was charged under the notoriously sweeping lese majeste law and after last year's coup the ultra-royalist military has demanded ever tougher enforcement of it. This has led to many different and sometimes unexpected ways of falling foul of the law ... Nithiwat Wannasiri was once a follower of the royalist yellow-shirt movement, but switched to the red-shirt side in 2010, forming a band called Fai Yen, or Cool Fire ... ....

US has not lost Thailand to China: ambassador

Edit Yahoo Daily News 30 Nov 2015
Davies told reporters in Bangkok ... Davies has only been in the job nine weeks but has already ruffled feathers in a nation where ultra-royalist generals currently hold political sway. On Friday an arch-royalist Thai monk led a protest outside the US embassy -- despite a current junta ban on political protests -- sparked by recent criticism Davies had made of the kingdom's controversial and draconian lese majeste law ... jta/eb. ....

Second suspect in Thai royal insult case dies

Edit Yahoo Daily News 09 Nov 2015
BANGKOK (Reuters) - A man arrested as part of a high-profile royal insult investigation in Thailand has died, the justice ministry said on Monday, the second suspect in as many weeks to die in police custody ... Ultra royalist Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has vowed to stamp out critics of the monarchy but some say the crackdown is aimed at ensuring an orderly succession....

Thai fortune teller second suspect to die in custody in royal insult probe

Edit Canberra Times 09 Nov 2015
Bangkok ... Suriyan, 53, was found unconscious in his cell and taken to a hospital where attempts to revive him proved unsuccessful, the department said ... Ultra royalist Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha has vowed to stamp out critics of the monarchy and has repeatedly called for stronger prosecution of lese majeste since taking power but some say the crackdown is aimed at ensuring an orderly succession ... It did not give further details ... ....

Thai fortune teller held under royal defamation law found dead

Edit The Guardian 09 Nov 2015
Suriyan Sucharitpolwong is second high-profile figure in lese majeste inquiry to die in mysterious circumstances in custody ... Thailand’s corrections department said the 53-year-old was taken to hospital after he was discovered by guards ... Related ... Ultra-royalist junta chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha seized power in a coup that toppled the democratically elected government of Yingluck Shinawatra after months of political chaos and street protests....

Ailing Thai king has new blood infection

Edit Jakarta Post 07 Sep 2015
"The result of blood checks found that he had an infection in his blood ... Ultra-royalist generals seized power in a coup in May last year after weeks of protests against the civilian government of Yingluck Shinawatra, whose family and their proxies have won every election since 2001. The Shinawatras are loathed by the royalist elite who accuse them of widespread corruption and subverting the kingdom's political status quo ... Tweet ....

Thai man gets 30 years for insulting monarchy

Edit Taipei Times 07 Aug 2015
That number has since risen to at least 56. Critics of the law say it has been used as a weapon against political enemies of the royalist elite and their military allies and now targets those opposed to the coup ... Thailand’s ultra-royalist generals have long used their self-appointed position as defenders of the monarchy to justify coups and political interventions in the country’s often turbulent politics ... ....

Thai man jailed for 30 years for 'insulting' royals on Facebook

Edit Jakarta Post 07 Aug 2015
Now that number is at least 56. Critics of the law say it has been used as a weapon against political enemies of the royalist elite and their military allies and now targets those opposed to the coup ... Thailand's ultra-royalist generals have long used their self-appointed position as defenders of the monarchy to justify coups and political interventions in the country's often turbulent politics ... (ika)(+++) Tweet ....

Man jailed for 30 years in Thailand for insulting the monarchy on Facebook

Edit The Guardian 07 Aug 2015
Now that number is at least 56. Critics of the law say it has been used as a weapon against political enemies of the royalist elite and their military allies and now targets those opposed to the coup ... Thailand’s ultra-royalist generals have long used their self-appointed position as defenders of the monarchy to justify coups and political interventions in the country’s often turbulent politics ... ....
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