A 14-year-old boy has been detained in a Thai army prison under a draconian and increasingly wielded royal defamation law, Human Rights Watch said today, as it decried the secrecy surrounding the latest series of arrests.

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The law in Thailand forbids any criticism of the monarchy and punishes transgressors with up to 15-years in jail for each offence.

Use of the law has skyrocketed since an ultra-royalist junta seized power in 2014.

There have been a flurry of cases in recent weeks, many linked to social media posts about Thailand's new king Maha Vajiralongkorn, who ascended the throne late last year.

Royal insult cases are typically shrouded in secrecy with media forced to heavily self-censor details. But the latest detentions have been especially opaque.

Thai human rights groups and local media say a group of between four to seven people, including a minor, were arrested in northeastern Thailand on 15 May for allegedly burning a portrait of Vajiralongkorn's late father Bhumibol Adulyadej.

Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, which often provides legal representation to lese majeste suspects, said the group were taken from Khon Kaen province to a notorious army prison on a Bangkok barracks and that they had been held incommunicado since.

Thai police, military and junta spokespeople all declined repeated

(This article has not been edited by DNA's editorial team and is auto-generated from an agency feed.)