BANGKOK — Thai police say they are tracking down whoever is behind a rumor about an impending counter-coup against the military junta that seized power from an elected government one year ago.

Pol.Gen. Somyot Pumpanmuang, commander of the Royal Thai Police, said he has instructed the technological crime division team to investigate the incident.

The rumor, spread among the mostly anti-junta Redshirts, alleged that a group of senior military commanders is plotting to overthrow junta chairman Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha. The claim asserted that the conspirators were backed by Gen. Prem Tinsulanonda, a former Prime Minister who is currently a top adviser to His Majesty the King, and who many Redshirts believe has a strained relationship with Gen. Prayuth.

The military government has dismissed the rumor as baseless. 

"We are checking who posted this rumor," Pol.Gen. Somyot said. "If we determine that the rumor caused panic or affected national security, we will prosecute them, because it is not true. Furthermore, based on our intelligence agency's inspection of the information, and our discussion with officers from the three branches of the armed forces, we have not seen any information or possibility of a counter-coup." 

Pol.Gen. Somyot added, "I believe we will find the persons who posted the rumor for prosecution soon." 

He also reminded the public that police will take legal action against those responsible for spreading any other information on the internet that causes "panic or disorder" in the country, including people who have posted the locations of traffic police checkpoints online to alert other motorists. 

Police will presumably seek to prosecute those behind the alleged rumor with Thailand's Computer Crime Act, a controversial law that bans a variety of offenses on the internet, including posting pornography, hacking a computer system, and spreading any information that "affects national security" or the "good morality of the people."

Critics of the law say its broad language is regularly used by authorities to suppress freedom of expression.

"This story should end already," deputy junta leader Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan said yesterday of the counter-coup rumor. "As for people who wrote about the counter-coup on social media, I have instructed four and five branches of my men to track them down. Once they have been caught, they will be brought [to justice]. So, I'd like to warn them, be careful, you will be in a big trouble if we catch you." 

RAYONG — Two people have been hospitalized after they were attacked by an elephant that was being used to beg for money on a beach in eastern Thailand.

[UPDATE: Thai Man Dies After Being Struck by Elephant in Rayong]

Kusuma Laopan, 32, said she and two of her friends were sitting on a beach in Noen Phra district of Rayong province last night when a man led a 5-year-old male elephant over and asked the group to buy sugar cane for the animals. 

After she and her friends refused, the elephant handler, known as a mahout, started to walk away, but one of the elephants suddenly snapped and charged at two of her friends, Kusuma said.

"I and other tourists in the area ran for our lives," Kusuma recounted. "Luckily, the mahout stepped in and stopped the elephant, so it stopped harming other people. The mahout then led the elephants away to the other side of the road."

The two victims have been identified as Weeranat Yoodee, 28, and Thongpoon Boonraksatrakul, 30. Weeranat was struck by the elephant's tusks in his chest, while Thongpoon suffered bruises on his right rib cage from the elephant's stomping, according to medical workers at Krungthep Rayong Hospital.

The two men are in stable condition, medical workers said.

Elephants are routinely brought by mahouts to beg for money from tourists in urban areas and tourist attractions around Thailand. The practice has been widely condemned by animal rights advocates, who say it is harmful for the elephants. 

Under Thailand’s Animal Cruelty Prevention Act, which was passed by the interim parliament in late 2014, those caught "causing unnecessary cruelty" to animals face a 40,000 baht fine and two years in prison. Thai authorities have said the law applies to people who bring elephants to beg in cities.

Police in Rayong said the mahout whose elephant attacked the tourists last night will be arrested and face legal action.

"Rayong province has strictly forbidden using elephants to wander and sell goods," said Pol.Lt.Col. Thawat Norsingha, an officer at Mueang Rayong Police Station. The mahout's elephants will be brought to a local animal shelter, he added.

The mahout, 21-year-old Witthawat Uanduangdee, told reporters that he brought two elephants from Buriram province four days ago. He said he was "confused" to see one of elephants attack tourists because both creatures have been very friendly to people.

"I think it might have been startled by car headlights and engine sounds," Witthawat said, adding that he now regrets his actions.

BANGKOK — Thailand's Foreign Correspondents' Club has cancelled a discussion on the Kingdom’s draconian lese majeste law after police delivered a verbal order from the ruling military junta.

The law, which falls under section 112 of Thailand’s criminal code, punishes insulting the Thai monarchy with up to 15 years in prison. It is the harshest law of its kind in the world, and has been applied with renewed vigor by the military junta that seized power from a democratic government in May 2014.

The event’s panelists, which included both critics and supporters of the law, were slated to discuss “trends in the application of Article 112” at the FCCT on 17 June.

However, according to a statement released by the club today, the event has been canceled after police informed the FCCT that soldiers would “come and seal off access” to the building if the event goes forward.

The FCCT reportedly requested a written order from the military government, but was told that the junta would “not issue such a letter because they fear it would be used in the media to damage their image,” the club’s statement said.

According to the club, police said they were concerned the event would “sow disunity in Thai society, and encourage people to break the law and stir up unrest.”

The government’s request marks the second time this month that Thai authorities have attempted to block events at the FCCT, which for years has hosted many controversial debates without interference. Two weeks ago, police ordered the club to cancel a discussion on the junta’s human rights violations. The FCCT complied, but the talk’s organizers, the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, defied police and held a press conference outside the club’s doors.  

David Streckfuss, a Thailand-based scholar who was expected to sit on this week’s lese majeste panel, called the junta's cancellation a “worrying sign for Thailand’s future.”

“I don’t think anyone is surprised,” he told Khaosod English. “But it’s disappointing that the regime is still so paranoid about allowing discussions about basic rights and a topic that really needs discussion.”

Since the coup, nearly 50 people have been charged with lese majeste, and more than half of them have been denied bail while they await trial, according to iLaw, a watchdog group that tracks legal cases in Thailand.  Those who have been convicted have received harsh sentences, including a man who was sentenced to 25 years in prison for posting "defamatory" comments on Facebook.

After seizing power, junta leader and hard-line royalist Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha also granted military courts jurisdiction over lese majeste cases, citing the crime’s “threat to national security.”

Last month he suggested that critics of the monarchy are plotting to overthrow the institution. 

"People who insult the monarchy right now may not be great in number, but they belong to a movement of people who want power and seek personal gain," he said in a speech in May. "There are only two things that they want to control, but they cannot do so: the military and the monarchy." 

King Bhumibol, 87,  is widely revered as a demi-god in Thailand, where he has sat on the throne for more than half a century. He is currently being treated for poor health in a hospital in Bangkok, a cause of anxiety for many Thais who have never lived under another monarch. 

For the past year, the military government has unsuccessfully sought to extradite lese majeste suspects who have fled abroad. The government says 31 people charged with lese majeste are currently living in exile, with 14 of them residing in neighboring Laos. 

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BANGKOK — A senior police commander confirmed that the assistant to ex-princess Srirasmi, a former wife of Thailand's Crown Prince, is facing the death penalty for allegedly abusing his royal rank for personal gain.

The suspect, Montri Sotangkul, has been charged with a number of offences, including insulting the monarchy (lese majeste), bribing state officials, and malfeasance in office. The latter crime carries a maximum penalty of death, a deputy spokesperson of the Bangkok Metropolitan Police told reporters yesterday.

"The maximum penalty the suspect is facing is execution," said Pol.Col. Ekkarak Limsangkart. "But how he will be punished depends on the judgment of the court." 

Montri, 53, was arrested last week after police accused him of claiming close ties to Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn in order to win positions on the boards of several state agencies. Montri also allegedly abused his royal connections to secure the rights to buy and sell land in Bangkok.

Montri is facing up to 15 years in prison for violating Section 112 of the Thai Penal Codes, which outlaws defaming the monarchy, and a possible death sentence for violating Section 148, which criminalizes using one’s position as a state official to seek personal gain.

Yesterday, Montri was escorted by police to his home in Bangkok, where officers searched for evidence of his alleged crimes. Police also interrogated the former chamberlain's parents. Reporters were not allowed to observe the discussion. 

Pol.Lt.Gen. Prawuth Thawornsiri, spokesperson of the Royal Thai Police, said police have seized more than 10 million baht worth of assets from Montri as a part of the criminal investigation. He said police are requesting the Anti-Money Laundering Office (AMLO) formally freeze and confiscate the assets, which include bank accounts, a condominium, and some vehicles. 

"The case will be finalized by 25 June, and then we will separate the files and send them to prosecutors’ offices in each district of the wrongdoing," Pol.Lt.Gen. Prawuth said. 

Montri has been held at an undisclosed location since the court ordered on 12 June that he be detained while he awaits trial. 

Montri is the latest person close to former Princess Srirasmi who has been charged with lese majeste in the past year. Her brothers, sister, parents, and uncle are all serving time in prison after being convicted of the crime, which carries a heavy stigma in Thai society. 

Srirasmi has not been seen in public since she resigned from the royal family in December 2014 amidst the scandal. 

Last week, police chief Pol.Gen. Somyot Pumpanmuang told reporters that former Princess Srirasmi personally appointed Montri to her entourage, and that the Crown Prince was not involved in her decision.