I don't know Jatupat Boonpattararaksa personally. Like many people, I first got to know of him from news reports when he and a group of his friends joined a villagers' protest against gold mining in the northeastern province of Loei three years ago.
That protest was only a part of their activities which focused mostly on helping villagers affected by development projects. These young men -- mostly law students at Khon Kaen University -- call themselves "Dao Din" or "Stars of the Earth".
Except for that one time, their grassroots activities had drawn little interest from the news media. But that began to change after the coup in 2014.
It was their activities with the villagers that brought them the realisation that politics has direct impacts on people's lives, especially when it deprives villagers of civil and human rights and allows unbridled exploitation of natural resources.
Wasant Techawongtham is former News Editor, Bangkok Post.
The military putsch, they believe, has worsened what was already a bad situation.
Mr Jatupat, better known as Pai Dao Din, shot into the public limelight when he and friends flashed a three-finger salute at a function featuring Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha shortly after the coup.
An activity marking the first anniversary of the coup last year landed him and 13 others in jail.
On Aug 6 the young activist was arrested again together with another friend, Wasin Prommanee, for distributing pamphlets and leaflets outlining why the referendum on the draft constitution should be rejected.
Law enforcement officials might have thought their intimidating action could cow the students from further annoying the authorities. They could not have been more wrong.
As a supposedly magnanimous gesture, the officials agreed to let the two free on bail. Mr Wasin took up the offer.
But insisting that he has the right to express himself and therefore his action was not unlawful, Pai rejected the bail offer. And to highlight the injustice of his situation, he launched a hunger strike two days later, determined to keep it up until he is set free unconditionally or the first detention period runs out 12 days later. The last day of the first detention period is today, but at the time of writing his release was by no means assured.
With the country under the military's absolute control, the justice system has been skewed to the extent that taking any peaceful, symbolic action could mean jail time. It would not be a surprise if the military regime decides to keep Pai in jail a little longer just to show him and other activists the consequences of disobedience.
It is apparent from the way the authorities responded to his hunger strike that they intended to inflict severe punishment on him to make an example out of it.
As news emerged he had become weakened and his health was at risk, supporters petitioned the authorities to transfer him to a proper hospital. The officials promptly rejected this option, insisting he had been well taken care of inside the prison's clinic.
Some high-ranking officials went so far as ridiculing his claim of being on hunger strike. The Corrections Department chief as well as Justice Minister Gen Paiboon Koomchaya said Pai had been drinking water and milk which, they pointed out, is food. The fact that milk alone does not provide sufficient nutrients to sustain a human life was conveniently, if not maliciously, left out.
The military's mistreatment of Pai and other student activists, not to mention political opponents, is evidence the country is being ruled by fear.
It's not just the regime imposing a climate of fear against those it perceives to be enemies of its rule, but it's also fear that drives its actions -- fear that its lack of legitimacy is being exposed, fear that defiant acts by a handful of dissidents would have a snowball effect, fear that its facade of confidence would be shattered.
And this is the most dangerous of situations. When fear becomes a prime driver in the ruling of a country, extreme measures to deal with dissent might not be far behind.
Already, posts and comments in the social media from regime supporters are fearfully reminiscent of the onset of violent reactions of past military regimes.
The junta in the meantime appears to be betting on its ability to keep student dissent at bay, what with the voters' approval of the constitution, thus implying their approval of its legitimacy.
But Murphy's Law has a way of frustrating expectations.
Pai is being depicted as an extremist and a trouble-maker who shirks his responsibility as a good student and his place in society. He is being made an example for other young people not to follow.
However, the unjust treatment of him might well have a boomerang effect, drawing young people away from their mobile phones and game consoles to see things they have never looked at before.
Pai and his hard-headedness might spark interest among the young generation to start paying attention to social conditions and injustices around them.