<p>The online shopping app LAZADA has become the target of a boycott by the Thai authorities and netizens in protest against their online sales campaign that has been seen as mocking the disabled, with royalists also angry that it somehow defames the monarchy.</p>

<p>According to a Cabinet resolution on 15 March on the 2023 annual budget, the Ministry of Defence has proposed a budget of 197,292.7 million baht, 2 per cent lower than the 2022 budget of 201,166.4 million baht. The Royal Offices under the King have also proposed a budget cut of 1.71 per cent. Some other budgets related to the monarchy generally either&nbsp;remain the same or increase.</p>

<p>The Election Commission (EC) has summoned Move Forward Party MPs to explain their comments during the parliamentary debate on the 2022 budget relating to the monarchy. This follows a petition filed by a then-member of the ruling party on the grounds that they were an affront to the Kingdom&rsquo;s democratic regime.</p>

<p>Samut Prakan Provincial Court has dismissed a lèse majesté charge against an internet user posting a comment about the late King Rama IX in a Facebook group, on the grounds that the law protects only the current monarch; instead the court imposed a jail sentence for uploading false information, a charge that was not part of the initial indictment.</p>

<p>Individuals accused of insulting the monarchy are paying astronomical sums of money &ndash; sometimes in the millions of baht &ndash; to secure their freedom while their cases are ongoing, a practice that one law scholar said could amount to violating the constitutional right to a fair trial.</p>

<p>&ldquo;Nation, religion, and king&rdquo; - &nbsp;a slogan that seems almost spiritual and sacred to Thai nationalists. &nbsp;Why? &nbsp;I don&rsquo;t think I am alone in believing that, even as we debate political topics, we feel that certain things - like our national religion and our royal institution - cannot be forgotten. Why exactly is difficult to explain.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On 26 January 2022, the Royal Gazette published a second Royal Decree Organising Governmental Affairs and Personnel Administration for Royal Service, amending Section 7 and Section 9 of the previous Decree by adding and removing organisations that personally serve the monarchy.</p>

<p>Thai authorities should immediately release lèse-majesté detainee Anchan Preelerd, the United Nations (UN) Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (WGAD) urged.</p>

<p>The Citizens&rsquo; Network to Protect the Monarchy, the People&rsquo;s Centre to Protect the Monarchy and the Thai Raksa group have submitted a letter at Government House urging the Prime Minister, Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha, to check whether the international human rights NGO Amnesty International has damaged the security of the nation and monarchy.</p>

<p>An escalation of symbolic actions by pro-democracy protesters took place after the repeated use of force against protesters by the police and legal charges against its leading figures. But when it comes to burning portraits of the King, the state uses the royal defamation law to handle the problem.</p>

<p>For a third year, Prachatai has opened all budget documents to add up all the expenses related to the monarchy that are scattered among various agencies.</p>