<div><em>The Deep South peace process often focuses on the Muslim Malay, but there are several other minorities that do not have much of a voice in this process. Prachatai talks with a Buddhist Thai group, an LGBT group, and ethnic Chinese on their views on the regional unrest.&nbsp;</em></div> <p></p>

<div><em>“Faiyen” is a pop and luk thung band well-known to red-shirts. With their lyrics sharply criticizing the elite, the band seeks to politically “enlighten” listeners. Faiyen have been harassed by the military until they have had to flee to a neighbouring country. Although their lives in exile are quite difficult and fraught with limitations, Faiyen is still continuing to write and sing songs for a revolutionary change in Thai society. One of Faiyen’s new songs is a chilling cover of The Hunger Games’ “The Hanging Tree.” Although both Faiyen and Katniss may sing this song, the place Faiyen are exiled to is no District 13.</em></div> <p></p>

<div> <div><span>27 years later, a renowned historian’s 1988 groundbreaking book on Thai royal nationalism and geography is still garnering new interpretations and discussion.&nbsp;</span></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Thongchai Winichakul, a professor of Southeast Asian History at the University of Wisconsin-Madison whose best-known work is <em>Siam Mapped: A History of the Geo-Body of a Nation</em>, offered authorial insights at a public discussion held at Thammasat University on 3 October 2015. </div></div>

<div> <div> <div><em>“Patani” is now a very controversial term used to refer to the area encompassing the provinces of Pattani (with 2 t’s,), Yala, Narathiwat, and 4 provinces of Songkhla, mostly inhabited by Malay Muslims and infamous in the news for being a space of conflict. The term arguably carries a strong sense of separatism. The increasing use of the term by CSO, media and the separatists themselves raises concerns among the non-Malay Muslim whether they are included as Patani people and if they will have a say in the right to determine the future of the region.</em></div> </div> <div> </div></div>

<div> <div> <div>Veteran The Nation journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk known for his anti-junta stances was allegedly ill-treated &nbsp;at the hands of the military during his 3-day detention.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> </div></div></div>

<p><em>A cautionary tale of an informal worker's life</em><em> produced by an "indie" director and released by a commercial studio giant sheds light on freelance graphic designers' constant threat of joblessness and sickness due to their lack of a social security and health insurance.</em></p> <p></p>

<div>MARA Patani, the umbrella organization for the insurgency movement in the restive three southernmost provinces of Thailand -- Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat, and four districts of Sonkhla -- has just had their first meeting with media. </div>

<div>At the mention of the Thai sex industry, sexpats may start spouting off about their expertise in establishments at Soi Cowboy, Nana, Patpong, and Pattaya. Much less-publicized, however, is the local sex industry catering to Thais. Services offered at the so-called bathing-sauna-massage parlours are different from those for foreign tourists.</div> <p></p>

<div>Gen Prayuth Chan-o-cha on Tuesday afternoon expressed condolences for the losses from Tuesday’s evening bomb at a popular shrine in Bangkok’s shopping district, while stressing the junta’s control over the security situation in Bangkok. Meanwhile, another bomb went off at a busy pier in Bangkok with no casualties.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“Whenever the people are hurt, I am hurt even more,” the prime minister and leader of National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) said on Tuesday 18 August 2015. </div>

<div>A theatre piece by Thailand’s only dance movement psychotherapist is a soothing trust exercise for the audience.</div> <p></p>

<div>Decades of insurgency in the Deep South have embroiled the region in violence. A large number of people, especially Chinese business owners, have moved out of the area.&nbsp;Nevertheless, in the past few years cultural events and halal restaurants have flourished in the three southernmost provinces.</div> <p></p>

<p><em>This Kind of Love, </em>a documentary about the life of a human rights activist, Aung Myo Min, portrays the “struggle within a struggle” of a LGBT Burmese, who continues to fight not only for democracy, but for LGBT rights and all other marginalised people in Myanmar.</p> <p></p>