<p><em>Royalists, liberals savaging rivals with angry attacks, unsubstantiated claims</em></p> <p>It is becoming increasingly normal to see hate speech and slanderous remarks posted on social-networking sites in Thailand.</p>

<p>A new group of royalist academics from eight universities issued a manifesto yesterday attacking those who want to amend or abolish the lese majeste law and vowing to fight what they called the monopoly of Thai politics by a &quot;capitalist political party&quot;.</p>

<p>A group of officials at the National Human Rights Commission have expressed discontent in a letter sent to the media over the fact that two members of the Nitirat group were invited to give lectures in the orientation for new recruits on 13-14 Jan.</p>

<p>The National Human Rights Commission will take a stance on what to do with the lese-majeste law by the end of this year, NHRC chairperson Prof Amara Pongsapich said yesterday(Thursday).</p>

<p>These days any online search in Thai or English for Article 112 usually leads to updated news from one day to the next. We just learned, for example, from <a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/NHRC-needs-rest-of-year-to-consider-lese-majeste-l-30173657.html">The Nation</a> that Thailand&rsquo;s lackluster human rights commission will need all this year to define its position on an issue worthy of such attention several decades ago.</p>

<p class="rteleft">January 10, 2012 -- UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Opinion and Expression, Frank La Rue, said he will continue to pressure the Thai government to amend the l&egrave;se majest&eacute; law, as well as provide technical support for the authorities where necessary.</p>

<p>Somyot Pruksakasemsuk's letter from Petchaboon Prison.</p>

<p>First year Thammasat University student Kan Thoop, her cyber nickname, who was summoned by police for her internet posts allegedly offensive to the monarchy, has postponed the date for her to report to police to February as she has exams to do this month. </p>

<p>So who is Kan-thoop? Kan-thoop is a name that is familiar to those who have closely followed Thai politics over the past two years, especially if they are embedded in the social media.&nbsp; </p>

<p>Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul, who was given a <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/2950">new sentence</a> of 15 years&rsquo; imprisonment for l&egrave;se majest&eacute; in December last year, has decided to appeal her case, according to her lawyer Prawase Praphanukul. </p>

<p>Nobody should be surprised that the ongoing move to abolish or at least amend the controversial lese majeste law is meeting with staunch opposition from many royalists, who hold an almost god-like regard towards His Majesty and the institution of the monarchy.</p>

<p>L&egrave;se majest&eacute; charges have been filed by a Prachatai reader and information from the police reveals that he has filed l&egrave;se majest&eacute; charges against at least 15 people based on comments on three articles on Prachatai.</p>