BANGKOK (AP) — An appeals court in Thailand on Tuesday upheld a two-year prison sentence for a lawmaker from the progressive People’s Party for defaming the monarchy in a speech she made four years ago.

The court in Bangkok granted Chonthicha Jangrew’s request for bail, which was set at 150,000 baht ($4,600). Chonthicha said she would appeal the ruling to the Supreme Court. If she had been denied bail, she would have been immediately removed from her position as an elected Member of Parliament.

The court’s action, though expected, underlines that Thailand’s machinery of state remains deeply conservative, despite a recent change of government and the opposition People’s Party’s standing as the biggest party in Parliament. Thailand’s political establishment is sensitive about any perceived

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