Reporter and livestreamer threatened by ultraconservative protesters

On 15 October 2023, a clash broke out in front of Ratchadapisek Criminal Court between members of the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy, a hardline pro-monarchy group, and activists who were staging a rally to demand immediate release of individuals currently jailed on the charge of royal defamation. During the clash, a group of men belonging to the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy confronted a reporter for Prachatai and a citizen journalist, who were both livestreaming the incident, and threaten to attack them if their coverage contained false information. One of them brandished a metal rod to the reporters in a threatening manner. The men also blocked the citizen journalist from recording a fist fight that broke out between the two rival activist groups. The citizen journalist said it was the third time this year that members of the People’s Centre to Protect the Monarchy harassed him while covering a protest; he said he had filed complaints to the police in previouse cases but no action was ever taken.