<div>Prachatai looked into record of those who just campagined for the media freedom -- six months after the coup.</div> <p></p>

<div> <div>Jaran Ditapichai, red-shirt leader and veteran political activist, has been charged with lèse majesté in connection with the play ‘The Wolf Bride’. </div></div>

<div>Ubon Ratchathani Court in the northeastern province in July gave an unprecedented sentence of 30 years in jail to a musician for defaming the king. </div>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Since the coup d’état on 22 May, the junta has threatened and detained academics and students in many tertiary educational institutions. It even sent soldiers to storm on-going academic seminars and force them to stop. Despite the climate of fear, Thai academics are now protesting against the junta and the suppression of free speech by using a metal box. Yes, a metal box -- or ‘<em>Peep</em>’ in Thai.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>

<p>The conflict over the mine in Loei is the first test of the junta’s policy to create reconciliation. The villagers say they have lost trust after the military intervened.</p> <p></p>

<div> <div>Under the junta, media and the Internet are censored. Eating sandwich and reading 1984 in public are forbidden. While expressing disapproval to the coup is very difficult, a media campaign was created to present another side of truth of live under the coup called "Resurgent Truth."</div> </div>

<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Phuket police have issued summonses for Reuters and two Reuters reporters, one of whom is a member of the team which won Pulitzer, to hear charges with respect to a story which accused the Thai Navy of involvement in human trafficking of ethnic Rohingya refugees. The content was similar to that which was previously used to bring charges against Phuketwan journalists, according to Phuketwan.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div> <div> </div>

<div> <div>The Thai Appeal Court on May 8 affirmed the decision of the Court of First Instance, sentencing Ekkachai H. to three years and four months in jail and a fine of 66,666 baht for selling VCDs of a documentary on the Thai royal succession by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and copies of Wikileaks cables.&nbsp;</div> <div> </div></div>

<div>Thailand last week was stunned by the Constitutional Court’s <a href="http://prachatai.com/english/node/3954">ruling </a>to remove Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and some cabinet members from their caretaker positions. </div>

<div>Prachatai talked to Prajak Kongkirati on the anti-democratic movement and the prospects for a peaceful solution to this conflict. &nbsp;</div> <div> </div>

<div>Enforced disappearance has happened again and again in Thailand. The number of victims may be over 3,000. Still, no one has ever been held to account for these crimes. This story explores how the practice has become systematic and part of the 'culture' of the land of smiles.</div> <div> </div>

<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>How well do you understand the red shirts? Why have most Isan people become red-shirt supporters? Academics from Thammasat and Chulalongkorn universities have tried to explain the emergence of the red shirts and the current political conflict.&nbsp;</div> <div> </div></div>