Court revokes bail for two activists polling public about royal motorcades

The Bangkok South Criminal Court revoked the bail granted to two anti-establishment political activists today (Tuesday). They are facing charges of lèse majesté and violations of the Computer Crime Act for conducting polls in downtown Bangkok about royal motorcades nearly three months ago.

The two activists from the “Thaluwang” group, “Baipor” (a minor under Thai law) and Netiporn Sanesangkhom, accompanied by a lawyer, reported to the Bangkok South Criminal Court this afternoon to hear the court’s ruling in response to a petition from the police seeking to revoke their bail for allegedly breaching the conditions.

The two activists were charged for conducting street surveys in and around the Siam Paragon shopping mall in Bangkok on February 8th, asking whether people have been inconvenienced by royal motorcades.

Under the bail conditions, they were barred from engaging in any activity or act which may offend the monarchy, from using social media to invite, incite or persuade people to join a demonstration which may lead to unrest and from leaving the country without prior permission from the court. They were also made to wear electronic monitoring bracelets.

The pair were found engaging in similar surveys on March 13th and 31st, asking about housing and taxes in relation to the monarchy.

On March 21st, Nutthanit was also seen photographed with a portrait of King Rama IX in an “inappropriate manner”, according to police.

Both were escorted to the Central Women’s Correctional Institution for detention after the bail revocation, pending a decision on whether to prosecute them.

Source: Thai Public Broadcasting Service

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