<p>A new report published by Scholars at Risk (SAR) found that students in Thailand who criticize the monarchy and demand democratic reforms face legal prosecution and state violence, while academic research regarding the monarchy is met with lawsuits and investigations, eroding academic freedom in the country.</p>

<p>Student activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul has been granted bail to allow her to complete class projects and take her final examinations, after spending 17 days in detention.</p>

<p>A student at Prince of Songkla University&rsquo;s Hat Yai campus has been arrested on a royal defamation charge while receiving a Covid-19 vaccine at the university&rsquo;s vaccination centre.</p>

<p>Amnesty International has launched its 20th Write for Rights campaign, which includes a call for justice for Thai student activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, currently <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/9558">detained pending trial</a> on royal defamation charges.</p>

<p>Student activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul has been denied bail on a royal defamation charge relating to a protest on 20 December 2020, in which activists wore crop tops at Siam Paragon shopping mall to campaign for the repeal of the royal defamation law.</p>

<p>Student activists Benja Apan and Nutchanon Pairoj have been sentenced to jail on contempt of court charges stemming from <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/9213">a protest at the Ratchadapisek Criminal Court on 29 April 2021</a> to demand the release of detained activists.</p>

<p>On Monday, 1 November, student activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul and representatives from <a href="https://www.amnesty.or.th/en/latest/news/965/">Amnesty International Thailand</a> submitted a petition to the prime minister to demand the release of detained activists and an end to the prosecution of protesters.</p>

<p>On Saturday (31 October), activists held a memorial for Nuamthong Praiwan, a taxi driver who intentionally crashed his vehicle into a tank and later committed suicide to protest the 2006 military coup.&nbsp; The event was held at the overpass where he hung himself.</p>

<p>Student activist Benja Apan was arrested yesterday (7 October) on a lèse majesté charge in connection with <a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/9393">the 10 August 2021 protest</a>&nbsp;and has been denied bail.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Student activist Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul was arrested on Wednesday (22 September) and charged with sedition due to her involvement with the Facebook page of the student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD).</p>

<p>The Thammasat University Student Council has awarded the 2021 Jarupong Thongsin Award to student activist and protest leader Parit Chiwarak to honour his role in the 2020 &ndash; 2021 pro-democracy movement.</p>

<p>On Friday morning (17 September), police officers raided the house of members of the student activist group United Front of Thammasat and Demonstration (UFTD), confiscating mobile phones and computers and arresting one person.</p>