Military Rule In Thailand

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha formally resigned as the head of the military government on Monday, saying the country would function as a normal democracy after five years of military rule.

Thais began voting on Sunday in a referendum on a new junta-backed constitution that would pave the way for a general election in 2017 but require future governments to rule on the military's terms.

It's the kind of poll result you'd see in a North Korean election or Saddam Hussein's Iraq: Thailand's military-ruled government says 99 percent of the country's people are happy with its performance since it took power in a coup last year.

The woman was found guilty Tuesday of defaming the monarchy on Facebook at a hearing held without her lawyer's presence.

A Thai military court has jailed a woman for over nine years for royal defamation, an official said today, the latest in a series of harsh sentences to raise concern about the draconian law.

Chinese fighter jets thunder through blue skies above an air force base in northeast Thailand, a symbol of the blossoming military and political ties between the junta-run country and its authoritarian northern neighbour.

Around 200 anti-coup activists today peacefully marked the anniversary of a deadly military crackdown on students in Bangkok, defying the ruling junta's ban on political gatherings.

Thailand's army today warned a group planning a weekend protest against military rule that lawbreakers would face action, as open defiance of the ruling junta appears to be growing in the Southeast Asian nation.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged Thailand's military rulers today to return as soon as possible to civilian rule as he met his counterpart and former army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha in Tokyo.

Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra failed to appear at her second impeachment hearing today, sending ministers involved in a controversial rice subsidy programme to answer questions from parliamentarians critical of her absence.

An international human rights group is calling on Thailand's ruling military to end what it says is a "disturbing pattern of repression" in the country.

Thailand's new temporary constitution that gives the military government sweeping powers in the run-up to a planned October 2015 election also allows the leader of the current ruling junta to become interim prime minister, a senior army official said on Wednesday.

A Thai court on Thursday passed a suspended prison sentence on an anti-coup activist for breaching a ban on political gatherings, his lawyer said, in the first protest-related verdict since the military takeover.

Military rule in Thailand is likely to last longer than expected and has been more repressive than after the country's last coup in 2006, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

More than 110,000 Cambodians have fled Thailand to return home in the past week, an official said on Sunday, amid fears of a crackdown on migrant workers after last month's military takeover.

Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha formally resigned as the head of the military government on Monday, saying the country would function as a normal democracy after five years of military rule.

Thais began voting on Sunday in a referendum on a new junta-backed constitution that would pave the way for a general election in 2017 but require future governments to rule on the military's terms.

It's the kind of poll result you'd see in a North Korean election or Saddam Hussein's Iraq: Thailand's military-ruled government says 99 percent of the country's people are happy with its performance since it took power in a coup last year.

The woman was found guilty Tuesday of defaming the monarchy on Facebook at a hearing held without her lawyer's presence.

A Thai military court has jailed a woman for over nine years for royal defamation, an official said today, the latest in a series of harsh sentences to raise concern about the draconian law.

Chinese fighter jets thunder through blue skies above an air force base in northeast Thailand, a symbol of the blossoming military and political ties between the junta-run country and its authoritarian northern neighbour.

Around 200 anti-coup activists today peacefully marked the anniversary of a deadly military crackdown on students in Bangkok, defying the ruling junta's ban on political gatherings.

Thailand's army today warned a group planning a weekend protest against military rule that lawbreakers would face action, as open defiance of the ruling junta appears to be growing in the Southeast Asian nation.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe urged Thailand's military rulers today to return as soon as possible to civilian rule as he met his counterpart and former army chief Prayut Chan-O-Cha in Tokyo.

Former Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra failed to appear at her second impeachment hearing today, sending ministers involved in a controversial rice subsidy programme to answer questions from parliamentarians critical of her absence.

An international human rights group is calling on Thailand's ruling military to end what it says is a "disturbing pattern of repression" in the country.

Thailand's new temporary constitution that gives the military government sweeping powers in the run-up to a planned October 2015 election also allows the leader of the current ruling junta to become interim prime minister, a senior army official said on Wednesday.

A Thai court on Thursday passed a suspended prison sentence on an anti-coup activist for breaching a ban on political gatherings, his lawyer said, in the first protest-related verdict since the military takeover.

Military rule in Thailand is likely to last longer than expected and has been more repressive than after the country's last coup in 2006, a senior US official said on Tuesday.

More than 110,000 Cambodians have fled Thailand to return home in the past week, an official said on Sunday, amid fears of a crackdown on migrant workers after last month's military takeover.