<p>Washington DC - Thailand's media freedom is categorized as "Not Free" for the year 2012, a change from "Partly Free" the previous year due to ‘court rulings that the lèse-majesté law does not contradict constitutional provisions for freedom of expression and that third-party hosts are liable for lèse-majesté content posted online’, a Freedom House report released on Wednesday said.</p>

<p>On 24 April, the Criminal Court held another hearing in the <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/3460">inquest</a> into the death of <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/category/amphon-tangnoppakul">Amphon Tangnoppakul</a>, a lèse majesté convict who died in prison in May last year.</p> <p></p>

<p>A group of activists wearing identical masks and t-shirts portraying themselves as prisoners held placards calling for the freedom to read, write and publish, amidst the bustling annual National Book Fair at the Queen Sirikit Convention Centre on Sunday.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p>An art exhibition at the Bangkok Arts and Cultural Centre illustrates the stigma and plight commonly faced by sex workers in ASEAN countries.</p>

<p>On the evening of Saturday, December 15 last year, Sombath Somphone was seen in CCTV footage being taken away by a man in plain clothes in a white truck, after he had been stopped by police officers in Thadue Road, Vientiane, Laos.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p>On 28 March, the Criminal Court gave 10 activists suspended prison sentences for their rallies against the National Legislative Assembly in Dec 2007, in which they staged a sit-in protest inside the Parliament compound in an attempt to stop the junta-installed legislative body from passing more laws.</p> <p></p>

<p>A public forum on 'Preah Vihear and Phra Viharn: Pathways to A Shared Destiny' organized by the Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) at Chulalongkorn University on 21 March 2013. &nbsp;Speakers include Chulalongkorn lecturers Vitit Muntarbhorn, Dr. Sunait Chutintaranond, and Dr. Puangthong Pawakapan and Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia&nbsp;Lutfi Rauf.</p> <p></p>

<p>March 28, 2012 - The court today sentenced 38-year-old Ekkachai Hongkangwan five years in prison term and fine of 100,000 baht for selling documentary CDs produced by Australian Broadcasting Corporation and copies of wikileaks documents deemed defaming to the Queen and the Prince. Later it reduced sentence to three years and four month imprisonment with 66,666 baht fine, stating that defendant’s testimony benefitted the court. &nbsp;</p>

<p>On 28 March, the Criminal Court sentenced Ekkachai Hongkangwan to 5 years in prison for selling CDs containing an Australian television documentary and copies of WikiLeaks documents, but reduced the prison term by one third to 3 years and 4 months due to his useful testimony during trial.</p> <p></p>

<p>On 25 March, South Bangkok Criminal Court acquitted Saichon Phaebua and Phinit Channarong in the case of the <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/3520">Central World arson</a> in 2010, citing benefit of the doubt.</p> <p></p>

<p>Academics from the Nitirat (Enlightened Jurists) group and well-known scholars are calling for whole scale reform of the courts, from legal texts to ideologies, to achieve a judicial system more in line with democracy. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p>Thai PBS television channel decided to cancel the broadcast of the last programme of its talk show series discussing the issue of constitutional monarchy, after a group of about 20 ‘Thai patriots’ protested at the station on the evening of 15 March.</p>