A new book edited by Thai academic in exile Pavin Chachavalpongpun has been banned in Thailand ahead of its October 2023 release for being insulting to the monarchy and damaging national security.

<p>Royalist Marketplace, a Facebook group of 2.3 million members dedicated to frank discussions of the Thai monarchy, was rendered inaccessible in Thailand last night, according to the group founder.</p>

<p>As Princess Bajrakitiyabha remains hospitalised on Friday, attention on social media is turning to her status as the presumed heiress to the throne &ndash; a role never formally acknowledged that is taken seriously by many analysts.</p>

<p>In response to Maj Gen Rienthong Nanna&rsquo;s announcement that he plans to spend his retirement in Australia, newspapers in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth have published an article underlining his witch-hunting past in the name of monarchy protection. Meanwhile Rienthong plans to counter with a lawsuit.</p>

<p>As a hyper-royalist doctor has said that he wanted to visit Perth, Australia, from time to time as a part of his retirement plan, a&nbsp;Thai political academic in exile, launched an online campaign on Change.org, calling for the Australian government to deny him entry in response to his witch-hunts against free speech activists.&nbsp;</p>

<p>A 23-year-old trans woman has been sentenced to 4 years in prison on a royal defamation charge for sharing a Facebook post criticizing the Thai royal family&rsquo;s public relations campaigns, <a href="https://tlhr2014.com/archives/48816">Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR)</a> said today (26 September).&nbsp;</p>

<p>On 18 February, Chulalongkorn University (CU) vice rector Chaiyaporn Puprasert issued a letter announcing disciplinary action against Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal and Pitchakorn Roeksomphong, the president and first vice president of the CU student government. &nbsp;The action included removing Netiwit office.</p>

<p>A Ministry of Digital Economy and Society representative filed a complaint against a trans woman for sharing a Facebook post of an academic critic of the monarchy. In another incident, a man was charged for a post in the &lsquo;Royalist Marketplace&rsquo; Facebook group, according to Thai Lawyers for Human Rights.</p>

<p>Student-led pro-democracy protests have been going on for months. One of their tactics is to use royalist symbols, quotations and traditions as satirical weapons to challenge and criticize the government, tradition and society overall.</p>

<p>Access to a Facebook group of 1 million monarchy reformists has been restricted in Thailand. Group founder Pavin Chachavalpongpun says &ldquo;Let&rsquo;s fight, bitch&rdquo; as he opens a new group which registers more than 375,000 members in 5 hours. Facebook also says it is preparing legal action against Thai government as its restriction requests may violate international human rights law.</p>