Thai student accused of mocking king with crop top protest denied bail

Lawyers say judgment demonstrates increasingly harsh stance taken by authorities over lese-majesty law

It was last December that Panusaya Sithijirawattanakul, a Thai student activist, and her friends strolled into a shopping mall in Bangkok wearing crop tops. They ate ice cream and carried dog-shaped balloons. Phrases such as I have only one father" were written in marker pen on their skin.

Now, four of them are in pre-trial detention over the outing, which royalists say was an insult to the monarchy.