Since the military coup in May 2014, at least 38 people have been charged with sedition - including former Education Minister Chaturon chaisang for a speech at the foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand criticizing military rule (may 2014)Sombat boongamanong,an activist,for Facebook and Twitter posts calling people to join anti-junta rallies(June 2014) pansak Srithep, an activist,for saying the military should be held accountable for the 2010 political violence and calling for and end to military trials of civilians (March 2015)and 14 activists from the new democracy movement for staging a rally demanding a transition to democratic civilian rule (June 2015)
NCPO chairman and prime Minister Gen.prayuth chan-0cha said at a January 21 new conference that the authorities had wide leeway to arrest anyone deemed to be opposed to military rule