Thailand monarchy

The Royal Thai Army has accused Paul Chambers, a lecturer at Naresuan University in Phitsanulok, of violating the lese-majeste law and Computer Crime Act.

The country's anti-corruption agency is investigating 44 ex-MPs from the dissolved Move Forward Party over their support for changes to the law.

Arnon Nampa has now been sentenced to more than 18 years imprisonment in six lese-majeste cases.

The return to prominence of the divisive Shinawatra clan has helped create a more conducive environment for progressive change – especially in the capital, Bangkok.

The party's name appears to be a reference to the 1932 revolution, which ended the country's system of absolute monarchy.

The popular opposition party faces dissolution over its pledge to amend the country's severe lese-majeste law.

Both were granted bail pending an appeal, following the recent death of a monarchy-reform activist in custody.

The death of Netiporn “Bung” Sanesangkhom has drawn attention to the Thai government's cruel use of pretrial detention to silence peaceful critics of the monarchy.

If disbanded over its pledge to reform the country's "sacred" institution, the Move Forward Party will simply re-emerge in new form.

The 25-year jail term came just days after the Election Commission ordered the disbanding of a major opposition party for advocating the reform of the lese-majeste law.

If the MFP is disbanded, the party's political energy is almost certain to re-emerge in an alternate, and likely more radical, form.

The charges follow an incident over the weekend in which monarchy reform activists and ultra-royalists engaged in a public brawl in Bangkok.

The detained former PM's persecution and rehabilitation have both reflected the use of the country's administrative and legal system for political ends.

The pair were charged as "accomplices" to an incident last March in which an activist spray-painted an anti-royalist message inside Bangkok's Grand Palace.

Thaksin Shinawatra has been informed about a lese-majeste complaint claiming that he insulted the monarchy in a 2015 interview in South Korea.

The Constitutional Court deemed it unconstitutional to advocate a change in the country’s lese majeste law. That is a central plank of Move Forward’s platform.

Rukchanok Srinork's Move Forward Party has campaigned hard for the repeal of Article 112 of the Thai penal code, which criminalizes criticism of the monarchy.

The case against Arnon Nampa is one of at least 257 lese-majeste cases that are currently working their way through the Thai judicial system.

Pannika Wanich, a former MP for the now-dissolved Future Forward Party, is accused of "ethical breaches" over Facebook posts she made more than a decade ago.

Residents of Thailand's capital have historically come down on the side of conservatism and reaction. They now loom as a force for reform.

The King’s estranged son visits Bangkok shortly before a dramatic realignment in Thai politics. 

Despite the PM vote setback, the success of the Move Forward Party during the election has created a new dynamic in Thai politics – one that is likely to persist.

The case was a rare example of moderation in a case involving the sensitive subject of the Thai monarchy.

Even if it puts off amending the royal defamation law for now, change is probably inevitable given shifts in public attitudes toward the monarchy.