Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha has insisted the 14 detained students from the New Democracy Movement must be tried in the military court, dismissing speculation authorities may ease their stand amid growing calls for their release.
"All NCPO [National Council for Peace and Order] orders are laws and they apply to everyone," he said.
Deputy Prime Minister Wissanu Krea-ngam also said separately on Monday if the students did not apply for bail, they could not be released through other recourse.
The only scenario where they might walk free is when police do not seek to detain them for the second round. In that case, prosecutors must file charges against them without delay, Mr Wissanu said.
Earlier on Monday, two Thammasat University executives submitted a letter opposing a new round of detention for the 14 students.
Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, vice-rector for student affairs, and Torpong Kittiyanupong, Faculty of Law's associate dean for student affairs, went to the Bangkok military court to submit the letter.
In the letter, they said the students had been no flight risks. Besides, since they have not been formally charged, they must be presumed innocent and may not be treated like convicts.
Although the junta's orders which the students had violated were issued by the authority under Section 44 of the 2014 interim constitution, other sections in the same charter endorse the freedoms and rights Thai people have always enjoyed, the letter said.
The students were accused of sedition and illegal assembly when they held an activity on June 25 to mark the first anniversary of the coup.
The military court approved police's request for the first round of their detention on the following day. The first round ends tomorrow.
The students have refused to apply for bail because they did not accept the orders issued by the junta, which require that such offences be tried by the military court.
They claim they would fight the case normally if they were tried in a civilian court for the same charges as stipulated by the Criminal Code.
Shortly after the arrests, key figures of the government claimed the students did not act on their own will but were misled or backed by some politicians whom they refused to name.
But since late last week, they have dropped the rhetoric, saying instead that the student violated two of the junta's orders on public assembly. Authorities therefore had no choice but to take legal action against them, a claim some supporters of the releases thought was rule by decree.
Maj Gen Weerachon Sukondhapatipak, a deputy government spokesman, questioned why the students did not accept the laws when everyone else did.
“They might view the laws as illegitimate but they should ask themselves why the majority of people accept them as measures that help restore peace and order so people can lead a normal life and the economy goes on,” he said.