Thai protesters weak after three weeks on hunger strike
Two Thai protesters held under the kingdom's tough royal insult laws are growing extremely weak after nearly three weeks on hunger strike, a hospital statement said yesterday.
Tantawan Tuatulanon and Orawan Phupong have refused food and most liquids for the past 20 days to urge political parties to support the abolition of Thailand's lese majeste laws, as well as other justice reforms.
King Maha Vajiralongkorn and his close family are protected by some of the world's strictest royal defamation laws, with each charge carrying a possible 15-year jail term, but rights groups say they are misused to suppress public debate.
Tantawan, 21, and Orawan, 23, were still conscious but weak, Thammasat University Hospital said in a statement posted on Facebook early yesterday.
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