<p>ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR) urges the Thai government to listen to the demands of two hunger striking activists and amend the&nbsp;lèse-majesté, or royal defamation, law.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Tantawan &lsquo;Tawan&rsquo; Tuatulanon, and Orawan &lsquo;Bam&rsquo; Phuphong have announced that they will continue their no food or drink protest outside Thammasat University Hospital if political detainees are not released within 3 days.</p>

<p>On the iconic red bricks of USC village in sunny southern California, members of the Association for Thai Democracy (ATD) and Los Angeles locals staged a protest in support of activists Tantawan &lsquo;Tawan&rsquo; Tuatulanon and Orawan &lsquo;Bam&rsquo; Phuphong.</p>

<p>An open letter to the judges from Kritsadang Nutcharus, a lawyer of Tantawan Tuatulanon and Orawan Phuphong in regard to their continuous dry fasting to demand bail rights and justice reform.</p>

<p>Activists Tantawan Tuatulanon and Orawan Phuphong, who are undergoing a hunger strike to demand the release of political prisoners and judicial reform, will continue their hunger strike until every political prisoner is released, said their lawyer during a press conference on Saturday (4 February).</p>

<p>A 29-year-old activist in Chiang Rai has been sentenced to 28 years in prison on royal defamation charges resulting from a number of Facebook posts about the monarchy. The Chiang Rai Provincial Court found him guilty on 14 counts.</p>

<p>A food delivery rider accused on a royal defamation charge of setting fire to a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida and detained pending appeal has gone on a hunger strike to protest his own detention.</p>

<p>To show support for the demands made by two activists now on a dry hunger strike in prison, activists in several provinces have staged protests to demand the release of all political prisoners and reform of the judicial system.</p>

<p>Thai&nbsp;authorities should immediately drop the charges and release two democracy activists detained for criticizing the monarchy, <a href="https://www.hrw.org/news/2023/01/20/thailand-free-detained-critics-monarchy">Human Rights Watch</a> said on Friday (20 January).</p>

<p>A food delivery rider has been found guilty and sentenced to prison on a royal defamation charge for allegedly attempting to burn a portrait of King Vajiralongkorn and Queen Suthida during a protest in July 2021. The court ruled that a portrait of the King is worth the same as the King&rsquo;s person.</p>

<p>Thailand should dismiss the case against 22 protest leaders charged with insulting the monarchy and a range of public order offences, and adhere to its international human rights obligations, the Clooney Foundation for Justice (CFJ) and TrialWatch Expert the Honourable Kevin Bell AM KC stated.</p>

<p>A man who was <a href="https://prachataienglish.com/node/10055">arrested in October 2022</a> for refusing to sit down and shouting at King Vajiralongkorn&#39;s royal motorcade has been indicted for royal defamation and resisting arrest.</p>