According to the Bangkok Post, “[p]rosecutors have charged six pro-election activists who rallied on Ratchadamnoen Avenue in February with sedition.”
The six were Sirawith Seritiwat, 25; Anon Nampa, 33; Chonthicha Jaengreo, 25; Sukrit Piansuwan, 24; Nattaa Mahattana, 39; and Karn Pongprapapan, 25.
Under the junta, sedition now means ” violating an NCPO order banning political assembling of more than five.” Sedition can mean 7 years in jail. Clearly, the junta thinks itself inviolable. How very monarchical!
These six just happened to be singled out from about 400 who rallied “for an early general election at the Democracy Monument on Feb 10.” 50 were “charged with violating the assembly ban but the co-leaders also faced the sedition charge.”
The Nation reports that there are now 15 political activists who “face sedition charges in six different cases in connection with their pro-election gatherings.”
Sedition is the new lese majeste for the junta when it suppresses its opponents.
Political Prisoners in Thailand 
[…] The second story is not particularly new but makes a point about the regime’s current lese majeste strategy. As we have noted, the military dictatorship, probably prodded by the palace, has decided to ease up on its use of lese majeste, replacing it with other charges like sedition and computer crimes. […]
[…] The second story is not particularly new but makes a point about the regime’s current lese majeste strategy. As we have noted, the military dictatorship, probably prodded by the palace, has decided to ease up on its use of lese majeste, replacing it with other charges like sedition and computer crimes. […]