<div>
<div>The junta’s draft charter referendum faced an epic struggle over the past weekend as the voter lists across the country were spoiled by kids, monkeys and rain.
</div></div>
By Kornkritch Somjittranukit |
<p>Under the junta’s climate of fear and intimidation where politicians, academics, and civil society are silenced, a high school student, Parit Chiwarak, withstands the pressure and actively protects the right to free education from the junta’s attempts to abolish it. <br /></p>
<p>After a stand-off with anti-junta activists over leaflets criticising the junta-sponsored draft charter, the Thai authorities say that the leaflets cannot be distributed as they distort facts about the draft.</p>
<p>Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, of the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT), on Thursday afternoon, 14 July 2016, told the media after a meeting with the Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) that leaflets entitled ‘7 Reasons Not to Accept the Draft Constitution’ are not allowed to be distributed.</p>
<p>The military in northern Thailand has confiscated over 3,000 letters allegedly campaigning against the junta-sponsored draft constitution and is now hunting for the senders.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Soldiers and police officers in Chiang Mai intimidated a staff of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), asking whether he was distributing booklets against the junta-sponsored draft constitution or involving with Prachatai website.</p>
<div>
<div>A recent political survey shows an increase in the number of voters who are still undecided whether they should vote in the August referendum or not. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>On Sunday, 3 July 2016, NIDA Poll <a href="http://nidapoll.nida.ac.th/index.php?op=polls-detail&id=415">published</a> the result of the sixth survey on the upcoming draft constitution referendum, revealing that 62.80 per cent of the respondents are still undecided whether they should vote or not, which is almost double the first survey’s result, while 3.07 per cent of respondents will vote but have n
</div></div>
By International Commission of Jurists |
<div>The ICJ, International IDEA (Australia) and the Office of the United Nations Resident Coordinator in Thailand have collaborated to produce an unofficial translation of the draft Constitution of Thailand which is scheduled to be the subject of a national referendum on 7 August 2016.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>The original Thai text as formally published by the Royal Thai Government shall in all events remain the sole authority having legal force.</div>
<div> </div>
<div><a href="http://www.icj.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Thailand-Draft-Constitution-EnglishTr-Advocacy-2016-ENG.pdf">Th
</a></div>
<div>
<div>After shutting down red-shirt referendum watch centres, the junta has established its own nationwide system for the sake of a supposedly ‘peaceful, clean, fair, independent, and unbiased’ referendum while a red shirt leader said the junta’s centres were aimed at dictating the referendum result. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>On Sunday, 3 July 2016, Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd, the junta spokesperson, said that the NCPO had launched ‘Peace and Order Centres’ across the country on 1 July, aimed at helping the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) facilitate the August charter draft refer
</div></div>
<div>
<div>Thai junta has just set a new standard of censorship after police officers confiscated anti-junta activists’ balloons and stickers campaigning for the right to campaign for the August referendum. </div>
<div> </div>
<div>After seven student activists from the New Democracy Movement (NDM), a pro-democracy activist group, were arrested and later detained last week for handing out flyers campaigning to Vote No in the August referendum, they were visited by other NDM activists on Monday, 27 June 2016, at Bangkok Remand Prison, Matichon Online <a>
</a></div></div>
<div>
<div>The head of Thailand’s ruling junta has said that, unlike David Cameron, he will remain in power even if the August referendum rejects the constitution his administration has had drafted.
</div></div>
<p dir="ltr">The 13 activists arrested for campaigning about the draft charter referendum could face up to 10 years imprisonment for ‘Vote No’ campaign.</p>
<p dir="ltr">Amid presence of pro-democracy crowd in front of the courthouse, the Military Court of Bangkok at around 6:30 pm on Friday, 24 June 2016, granted to the police the custody permission to detained 13 pro-democracy activists arrested for distributing ‘Vote No’ flyers to campaign for the upcoming draft constitution referendum.</p>
<div>
<div>The Election Commission of Thailand has expressed concern after less than 50,000 people registered to vote outside their constituency in the upcoming charter referendum, which is a quarter of the number in the previous referendum.</div>
<div> </div>
<div>On Wednesday, 22 June 2016, Somchai Srisuthiyakorn, a commissioner of the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT), told the media that only 48,050 people have registered with the ECT to vote outside their home constituency in the August referendum.
</div></div>