The four who had not turned themselves in were pro-democracy activists Rangsiman Rome, Sirawith Seritiwat, and Aekachai Hongkangwan and their lawyer Anon Nampa.

Some of the activists who did show up at the police station were accompanied by lawyers and academics who planned to post bail for them.

The group, who include two journalists and students, are accused of breaking the junta’s ban against political gatherings of five or more people as well as the public assembly bill.

Nine of them, who are considered key figures in organising the assembly, have also been charged with breaking the Criminal Code’s Article 116 on sedition.

On January 27, the group gathered on a skywalk near MBK shopping centre to call for the long-delayed election to be conducted after the junta-appointed National Legislative Assembly voted to delay the promulgation of the MP election bill, which is widely believed to in turn delay the election that was promised for November.

The activists who arrived at Pathumwan station yesterday were responding to a second summons issued by police, who had also threatened to object to their release on bail if the courts rule that they should be detained.

One of activists, Sombat Boonngamanong, said he would attend another event demanding the election be held on Saturday to be organised near Democracy Monument, despite the fact that he already faced three charges.

“I’ve been preparing for bail by borrowing money from my friend,” Sombat said. “My own account has been frozen since I refused to report myself to the National Council for Peace and Order soon after the 2014 coup.”

The Thai Academic Networks for Civil Rights has solicited donations to post bail for the activists, with Bt615,639 collected as of Tuesday.

With a simple layout and inactive links to social media platforms, the website contains general information on forests in Thailand alongside a petition to support the scandal-hit junta number-two, who also heads the Five Provinces Bordering Forest Preservation Foundation.

“General Prawit Wongsuwan loves, protects and takes care of forests. That’s why we love General Prawit Wongsuwan,” read a message written on the website.

“We would like to join and support General Prawit Wongsuwan to continue to stay in the government and serve the country.”

As of Wednesday night, the website showed that 76,710 people had signed a petition supporting Prawit, which included their given and family names, email address and opinions.

However, The Nation determined that many signatories appeared to have logged their names but not their emails.

Many of IP addresses associated with the signatories also started with “172.68.6”, which appeared to belong to a single origin associated with a security company.

According to the website’s domain details seen by The Nation, it was newly registered last Saturday via a service that protects the registrant’s confidentiality.

Last week, a petition attempting to support Prawit on Change.orgregistered 25,000 signatories before website administrators reduced that number to 250 after detecting manipulation based on bot programs and spam addresses.

He said the current “road map to democracy” did not take into account time for such legal detours.

“That is what we did not expect. We allow time for the tripartite committee to try to settle the differences in their opinion and reach a conclusion within 15 days,” Wissanu said.

The panel consists of members from the National Legislative Assembly (NLA), the NLA committees vetting the laws and the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), which wrote the bills.

Wissanu, who is in charge of the government’s legal affairs, said yesterday that if there were no additional procedures the two laws were expected to be finalised soon and submitted for royal endorsement in March.

“If the bills get delayed because of appeals to the Constitutional Court, you have to allow an extra month or two [for the court to rule], depending on the difficulty of the case,” he said.

Both laws recently were endorsed by the NLA in the third reading after many changes were made to the original drafts.

Meanwhile, the drafters of the bills have maintained certain points in their original drafts and submitted their objections to the NLA in writing to the revisions today, CDC spokesman Udom Rath-amarit said.

Among the points opposed by the CDC are a revision in the MP election bill that would allow candidates to host entertainment during campaigning, and a proposed extension of the voting time to 7am to 5pm, according to Udom.

In the revised bill on the Senate structure, the drafters disagreed with the reduction of occupational groups of candidates from 20 to 15, and voting among candidates in the same groups, instead of different groups as proposed in the original draft.

Around a dozen activists, calling themselves the MBK 39, stood in front of the station yesterday, holding banners saying: “We will surely come on February 8,” to show their intention to report.

They have been charged with breaking the junta’s ban on political gatherings of five or more people, and the public assembly bill that prohibits gathering within 150 metres of royal palaces.

Seven of them were also accused of allegedly violating Criminal Code Article 116 on sedition for calling on the junta government to hold the much-prolonged election.

The assembly took place near the MBK shopping centre – hence the nickname – on January 27, days after the junta-appointed legislators decided to delay promulgation of the MP election bill draft by 90 days.

The group also included two journalists, Sa-nguan Khumrungroj and Noppakao Kongsuwan, who were reporting on the assembly.

Nuttaa Mahattana, one of the activists, said that reporting to police would mean that they could face detention and might have to seek bail. “But our best expectation is that no one would be detained for we have shown no intention to flee from the charges,” Nuttaa said.

The Thai Academic Network for Civil Rights said on Tuesday night that they have collected Bt615,639 in donations to prepare for bail for all 39 activists. They also sought 39 academics to post the bail.

Yesterday, Nuttaa also filed a petition asking the National Human Rights Commission to observe the event and keep track of infringements committed by the junta government.

Under the junta’s ruling atmosphere, she said, there have been infringements of people’s civil and political rights and the right to a fair trial.

“Our group intended to report to the police from the beginning and has learned that the police would ask for the court’s permission to detain us. We decided to ask for the report postponement via our lawyers,” she said in a letter

“Instead, our requests were ignored and the police issued the second summons against us. Already treated like we’re guilty, we have lost the right to prepare ourselves to fight the cases,” she said.

As the group was unable to hold a press conference on Tuesday due to police suppression, the authorities also appear to be infringing on press freedom, she added.

Meanwhile, the Pheu Thai Party yesterday called on authorities to stop prosecuting participants of the assemblies.

It has also called for the junta to revoke its ban against political gatherings of five or more people, an order that has stopped all political parties from making official moves since soon after the 2014 coup.

“Given that the government and the National Council for Peace and Order do not keep promises and have a tendency to extend their stay in power, people have every right to doubt them and seek their deprived rights and freedom,” the party said in a statement.

“We don’t see how these assemblies contain violence or the use of arms,” the party said. “The charges are too severe and very unfair.”

It has also called for the junta to revoke its ban against political gatherings of five or more people – an order that has stopped all political parties from making official moves since soon after the 2014 coup.

Action has recently been taken against people joining the “We Walk” march, starting on January 20, to call for more public participation in the decision-making process on community issues, and of those joining the “MBK 39” protest on January 27, calling for the much-delayed election to happen.

Participants in these and other events face charges of breaking the junta ban against political gathering. Some were also accused of allegedly committing sedition and breaking the public assembly act.

“Given that the government and the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) do not keep promises and have a tendency to stay longer in power, people have every right to doubt them and call for their deprived rights and freedom,” the party said in a statement.

Rights and freedom of expression and peaceful assembly are also endorsed in Article 34 and 44 of the constitution, it went on.

“We don’t see how these assemblies contain violence or use of arms,” the party went on. “The charges are too severe and very unfair.”

It said prosecuting protesters would definitely affect the NCPO’s attempts to build reconciliation.

The party also urged the junta government to clearly declare the election date.

“It should also stop using conflicts as excuse to stay in power,” it added. “Different opinions are natural in a democratic society and should not be considered as conflicts.

The suspension, one of several for the station, was linked to Peace TV’s broadcasts last October, when it it hosted a programme from in front of Bangkok Special Prison, where red-shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan is detained.

Key red-shirt figure Thida Thavronseth said the NBTC had reasoned that the programme’s interviews of visitors to Jatuporn could “politically instigate the public”.

Peace TV has been temporarily suspended at least three times by the military-dominated NBTC. During these suspensions, the channel has relied on online channels to continue broadcasting its content.

“Would the NBTC want all people in this country to hold the same political ideology?” Thida asked on Facebook Live. “We’ll always be at risk of being shut down unless we shift our political stance, which we won’t do.”

ITD, one of the country’s biggest construction firms, is the builder of many well-known infrastructure projects, including Suvarnabhumi Airport, the BTS Skytrain system, and multiple expressway and highway projects across the country.

Born in 1954 into a family steeped in business, Premchai, 63, is the youngest son of Chaiyuth Karnasutra, the co-founder of ITD. He graduated in mine engineering from Colorado School of Mines in 1977 before gaining a masters of business administration from the University of Southern California in 1979. His background and business vision turned ITD into a construction industry behemoth, responsible for several infrastructure projects in Thailand and neighbouring countries.

While ITD obtained favourable conditions from several government in the region, it is not obvious that Premchai has links to any particular political group in Thailand.

The company is currently 14.88-per-cent owned by Premchai, with other members of his extended family also being major shareholders.

ITD has also invested significantly in Myanmar’s Dawei deep-sea port and industrial estate programme in partnership with Thai and other foreign firms. Since the late 1980s, Premchai has run ITD with an iron grip, resulting in a relatively impressive record of big construction contracts, worth tens of billions of baht per year.

While the firm’s revenues are as much as Bt40 billion to Bt50 billion per year, ITD reported a net profit of only Bt246 million in the third quarter of 2017.

In 2017 alone, ITD won several mega-infrastructure projects worth a combined Bt130 billion, including the Bt35-billion Mae Moh power plant project.

The firm is also one of the biggest winners of rail-track construction contracts worth several tens of billions baht, including the first section of the Thai-Chinese high-speed train project and the Purple Line, Orange Line and Red Line mass transit projects, as well as the phase-three Laem Chabang port project.

However, the Dawei deep-sea port and industrial estate project in Myanmar is probably the largest for ITD in terms of construction scale and capital investment.

Besides the deep-sea port, which is close to Thailand’s Kanchanaburi province, ITD has also |joined hands with the Rojana industrial estate to develop a massive site of 13,000 rai (2,080) for industrial use.

“We work independently without orders from the government. We pursue prosecutions equally to all sides,” Srivara said.

In a statement, the TLHR said protesters had recently been brought to face prosecution whether they had spoken for or against the ruling National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). Examples included the MBK 39 and the peaceful march by the People Go network that called for an end to the NCPO’s sweeping powers. Even participants of protests supporting Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan, who has been under pressure for his unusual possession of a luxury watch collection, were not exempt, the TLHR said.

The protesters all faced charges of allegedly breaking NCPO order 3/2015 that prohibits all political gatherings of five or more people. The accused in the two latter cases are also accused of breaking the public assembly act that prohibits public gatherings within a 150-metre radius of royal palaces.

Yesterday, five of Prawit’s supporters also turned themselves in to Phraratchawang police station after being charged. They could face up to six months in prison and/or a maximum fine of Bt10,000. The five men decided to turn themselves in to prove their innocence and had no intention of instigating or triggering a situation in any political way, said Pol Colonel Thanakrit Chaijaruwut, superintendent at Phraratchawang police station Thanakrit added that police had studied the CCTV camera footage and photographs to identify the other roughly 30 participants and summonses would be issued accordingly.

“These prosecutions were made because law enforcers considered that their gatherings were for political purposes,” the TLHR said in a statement “This turns public assembly, which is a form of constitutionally and internationally endorsed freedom, into a kind of freedom that solely depends on law enforcers’ interpretation [of the law].” it said. “We urge Thai authorities to respect people who practice their civil and political rights, and agree that such rights are essential and practicable in a democratic regime,” it added.

Meanwhile, about 10 of 39 accused activists attempted to hold a press conference at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) but failed after being pressured by police. Nuttaa Mahattana, one of accused activists, said the police pressured the building owner as they could not directly force the FCCT to cancel the press conference.

“Reporters were made to stay in parking lots. We had to have brief interviews there before going to the FCCT simply to have coffee,” Nuttaa said. Nuttaa, who is also accused of sedition, said that the activists will report themselves at Prathumwan police station tomorrow. They would also march to court if police filed further charges. She hoped that there was insufficient reason to detain them.

“They [police] threatened to object to bail requests if we are detained,” she said. “We want freedom during the legal process. Our self-reports prove that we have not fled from charges,” she said. “We also insist that our peaceful assembly is not against the law.”

“They are now facing charges for violating the ban by the National Council for Peace and Order [NCPO] on political rallies,” Taweesak Maneewan, an adviser to the Northern Farmers Confederation, said yesterday.

If convicted, they face a jail term of up to six months, a maximum fine of Bt10,000 or both.

The group marched briefly at the village on Doi Thevada on Monday morning to show support for the People Go Network’s ongoing We Walk march to Khon Kaen.

The accused minor, 16, took part with his father.

After they had finished the march, plain-clothes police complained that the marchers had not informed local officials beforehand.

Then in the afternoon, uniformed soldiers arrived and accused the villagers of organising an activity that might affect national security.

At 7pm on Monday, police summoned the marchers to Phu Sang Police Station – 11 people turned themselves in, while three others did not answer to the summons.

The people who surrendered were detained overnight at the police station and taken to Chiang Kham Court yesterday morning. Police obtained permission to detain them further pending an investigation.

The accused, however, successfully submitted a bail request and were released on Bt5,000 bonds each.

The minor was the only one who surrendered but was not taken to court yesterday, because police had not been able to question him.

Taweesak said all the accused marchers denied wrongdoing.

“The Central Administrative Court has issued an injunction to protect the We Walk activities, so this march should not be seen as a crime,” he said.

On January 26, the Central Administrative Court ordered that police were not allowed to block the We Walk march, which started in Pathum Thani province last month and is due to finish in Khon Kaen province later this month.

This is according to a report by the integrated forces of the Forest Protecting Operation Centre (FPOC) and the Royal Thai Police, who have made several arrests.

The exposure of such illegal forest encroachment is a result of the work carried out by the joint forces following the junta’s order 13/2559 to suppress influential figures and their acts deemed to pose threats to national security.

Led by deputy national police chief Pol General Srivara Ransribramanakul, the FPOC’s director, Athapol Charoenshunsa – also deputy chief of the Forestry Department – and the centre’s taskforce, Phayak Prai, the forces on Monday inspected 19 locations on Koh Pha-ngan, from flat areas to the rocky hilltops, and confirmed their suspicions about the illegal acts.

According to a report prepared by the taskforce’s chief, Cheewapap Cheewatham, the forces were informed about the encroachments by a local who had petitioned Prime Minister genral Prayut Chan-o-cha, who then ordered a swift inspection of the reported locations on Pha-ngan island and nearby Koh Samui.

The FPOC first conducted an aerial inspection flying over the island, before verifying its findings with the Pitak Prai encroachment-tracking mobile application.

Ground checks were then conducted during the week of January 4, and last week, before the forces went to inspect the sites and make arrests.

Of the seven sites found to have violated encroachment laws, at least three resorts and a bar –Rin Beach Resort, Big Chill Resort, Lighthouse Resort and Mellow Mountains Bar – were found to have encroached upon the forests or had no documents to prove their land ownership.

The remaining three were mostly found to have cleared the land in preparation for construction.

The total area seized is around 52 rai (8.3 hectares).

The other 12 locations, with the largest plot of 64 rai, will be subject to further investigation into land ownership and documents, as the documentation is suspected of having been forged.

Cheewapap pointed out that those arrested would be charged for illegally encroaching upon the forests, violating the 1941 Forest Act, as well as building properties over waterways without permission.

On Koh Samui, meanwhile, the integrated forces found at least 48 locations deemed to have encroached upon the forests.

They will spend another 30 days inspecting them.