<p>Pannika Wanich, Piyabutr Saengkanokkul and Thanathorn Juangrungruankit, former MPs from the dissolved Future Forward Party (FFP), have had their passports revoked after being accused of sedition.</p>

<div> </div> <div>Despite close ties with the military government, an anti-election hyper-royalist monk has been detained for criminal association, extortion and counterfeiting a royal emblem. The incident has raised the question of whether the junta is still in full control of Thai politics.</div> <div> </div>

<p>A Buddhist foundation has accused Buddha Isara, an ultra-royalist monk and a key leader of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), of royal defamation over a ritual to bless Buddha amulets.</p> <p>On 10 April 2017, Wichai Prasertsutsiri, coordinator of the Centre for the Promotion of Buddhism Foundation, filed a complaint under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the lèse majesté law, against <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/category/buddha-issara">Buddha Isara</a>&nbsp;at the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok.</p>

<p>The police have said that they will summon a key leader of a rally of monks for allegedly breaking the Public Assembly Act, while Buddha Issara, a well-known ultra-royalist monk, is pressing criminal defamation charges against him.</p>

<p>An ultra-royalist has urged the police to investigate the US Ambassador to Thailand over his criticism of the lèse majesté law, saying the police should proceed if the criticism breaches the law. &nbsp;</p>

<p dir="ltr">An ultra-royalist organisation and a pro-coup monk have organised rallies in front of the US embassy in Bangkok, calling the US and human rights groups not to criticise the lese majeste law and to send back people allegedly defaming the Thai monarchy believed to be in the US. &nbsp;</p>

<p>A pro-coup Buddhist monk known for leading anti-election mobs prior to the 2014 coup d’état has urged the US and Human Rights Watch, a human rights civil society group, not to touch Thailand’s lèse majesté law or intervene in its domestic affairs. &nbsp;</p>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div><a href="http://Khaosod English">Khaosod English</a> Buddhist monk and former anti-government activist Buddha Issara has filed criminal charges against two men responsible for an anti-royal video.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Buddha Issara was accompanied by a dozen supporters when he met with police officers at the Crime Suppression Division in Bangkok today and urged them to take legal action against the men in the video.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>In the video clip, posted on Youtube on 1 August, two unidentified men in suits say they are members of the "Thai Allia </div>

<p>PDRC “Buddha Issara” apologizes to military personnel for gun attack | “Man of the State” fails, next is Abhisit's turn at mediation | Yingluck supports Abhisit's role but Suthep won't | EC and Government agree to hold elections on 20 July amid Abhisit’s call for delayed polls</p> <p></p>

<div>The involvement of a controversial monk Buddha Issara as an anti-government protest leader sparks fierce debate on the function of Buddhism in this turbulent country.</div> <p></p>