Ratchaburi Provincial Court has granted bail to four student activists and a reporter accused of breaching the referendum law.
Three of the five suspects -- Pakorn Areekul, Anant Loket and Anucha Rungmorakot --were from the anti-coup New Democracy Movement (NDM). The other two suspects are Panuwat Songsawatchai, a Maejo University student, and Taweesak Kerdpoka, a Prachatai reporter.
They were taken to the court yesterday as police sought their detention for an initial period of 12 days. Each was granted bail with 140,000 baht surety.
Mr Pakorn, Mr Anant and Mr Anucha were arrested on Sunday in Ban Pong district in Ratchaburi province, where they converged to show support for the 18 people summoned to report to police for trying to set up a referendum fraud watch centre in one of their homes on June 16.
Mr Taweesak, who travelled with the activists was also apprehended.
The four were arrested after police found leaflets criticising the regime, including stickers that said "Vote No", in connection with the Aug 7 referendum on the draft charter, in their vehicle.
Later on Sunday, police arrested Mr Panuwat at his home in the province on the same charges. He had attended the opening of the fraud centre.
Mr Taweesak's arrest prompted the Thai Journalists Association and the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association to call for his release without charges.
National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) spokesman Winthai Suwaree said referendum-related documents were found in the activists' vehicle that could be used as part of the campaign to influence voters, so they had to be arrested.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha yesterday insisted students and journalists must obey the same laws that apply to everyone else.
"Do not claim to be students to break the law," he said. "Everyone must be under the same laws."
Gen Prayut said any newspaper that breaks the law must be dealt with and if a reporter commits an offence he or she must be arrested.
He said the NCPO would look into who supported the activists and where their financial support came from for their campaign.
Meanwhile, deputy national police chief Srivara Ransibrahmanakul, speaking as he chaired the Thai Police Office's centre for maintaining peace during the referendum, yesterday ordered local officers to look for any breaches of the referendum law.