32 lesemajeste cases being wrapped up

Of the 32 cases, four have been forwarded for prosecution review. Some 15 ongoing probes involve offensive messages posted on various websites.

"For the Jakrapob case, investigators cut the list of 18 witnesses to 10 in order to speed up the completion of their report," Worapong said.

He said this was deemed necessary because the remaining eight witnesses were unavailable.

He said the police report on the Jakrapob case had been submitted for review by the Royal Thai Police-appointed panel on Monday, before being forwarded to the Office of the Attorney-General. The investigators have found sufficient evidence to recommend the prosecution of Jakrapob for insulting the monarchy, he added.

Meanwhile, Democrat MP Peerapan Saliratvipak said he would sponsor draft amendments to the 2007 Computer Offences Act.

Peerapan said his draft was designed to overhaul and boost the efficiency of law enforcement to detect smears against the monarchy on the Internet.

At present, the Information and Communications Technology Ministry and police often pass the blame to each other on the jurisdiction to uncover the offences, he said.

Authorities concerned have the mandate and the technological know-how to detect offensive messages, but they try to shift the blame instead of doing their job, he said.

He also criticised a ministerial proposal to spend up to Bt500 million to build a firewall for the Internet gateway to screen and block messages uploaded abroad, arguing that equipment was already in place.

Meanwhile, the military yesterday urged feuding parties in the ongoing political conflict to stop citing the monarchy for their self-interest.

Maj-General Vissanu Sriyaphan, spokesman for the Royal Thai Armed Forces Headquarters, said the conflict had saddened His Majesty the King.

The feuding sides "should be aware that the conflict is not wanted by most Thai people and has actually saddened His Majesty the King", said the spokesman.

"All Thai people must cooperate to keep the country peaceful so that the important royal functions can take place with no interruptions and with appropriate grandeur," he said.

Vissanu also said there was an attempt to involve the military in the ongoing conflict. He called on all the parties involved in the dispute to respect other people's rights and freedom.

"They must not think of only their personal interest," he said.

The armed forces' spokesman also said that involving the monarchy in the political dispute was improper.

"To show sincere respect to the monarchy, you should simply think well, speak well and do well," he said.