<div>Latest draft constitution has a lot of issues for us to examine: an outsider PM, increasing the power of independent state organizations, unelected senators, a Constitution that can’t be amended, extending the duration of the National Reform Steering Assembly (NRSA), a trick to dispose of PMs and Cabinet members, infinite amnesty for National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) members, and continued use of Article 44.</div> <p></p>

<div>On 28 December 2015 a military court sentenced Tanitsak to eight years imprisonment, reduced to four years in light of his guilty plea. A defendant in the lèse majesté case concerning the distribution of Banpodj audio programs, Tanitsak, known as Neng Jungnup, is 50 years old.</div> <p>&nbsp;</p> <div> </div>

<div>Phongsak S., the person using the Facebook name “Sam Parr,” is the most recent conviction by the military court under Article 112, the so-called lèse majesté law. On August 7, 2015, he was sentenced to imprisonment for 60 years on the basis of six posts on popular social media site Facebook. </div>

<div> <p>The right to freedom of expression under the military junta all year round of 2015 remains critical. The restrictions seemed to be a bit relaxed the middle of the year, but as the year is drawing to its close, it has become dramatically serious. Attitude adjustment continues to be the common tactic used, though the format has changed from summoning for a meeting to visiting the persons at home.</p> </div>

<div>Oh (not his real name) is in his 30s. Since June 2014, just shortly after the Coup, he has been imprisoned at Ubon Ratchathani Central Prison for one an half years. His case happened and ended silently. His life behind bars has also been going on silently.</div> <p></p>

<div>This article investigates why the Khlong Sai Pattana community in Surat Thani Province has occupied a deforested protected area taken from a palm oil plantation corporation after its 30-year concession ended. Land rights activists discuss how the poor are unfairly discriminated against in their right to land to make a living, while capitalists keep reaping benefits from the land. </div>

<div><em>Updates on the situation of the anti-establishment Red Shirt supporters in the North and Northeast, 2015: how their ways of thinking and living have changed since the 2014 military coup&nbsp;</em></div> <p></p>

<div>The first ever skateboard competition in the southernmost province of Pattani has been held. A rare public event in a violence-plagued region, it comes amid calls for the Thai military and the Malay Muslim freedom fighters to establish a ceasefire zone in residential and economic areas.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<div>Since 2006, Thailand has been plagued with an unending storm of political conflict. Political thought is divided on nearly every single issue; from former Prime Minister Thaksin’s reign, the monarchical institution, nation development, democracy, elections, reform, politicians, political parties and so forth. The 22 May 2014 coup has exacerbated Thailand’s political situation. Activists, politicians, and even ordinary citizens branded as “ideologically hardcore” were left with no choice but to flee the country in self-imposed exile.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<p dir="ltr">As the Thai military government starts opening up new Special Economic Zones along the border to provide cheap labour and a deregulated business environment for investors, villagers in the quiet northeastern province of Nakhon Phanom by the Mekong River are to be evicted from their homes.</p> <p></p>

<p>Among a wilderness of green shrubbery, Somkit Singsong sat in front of a small clay hut outside his village in Khon Kaen province. Sporting a beard akin to Vietnamese revolutionary leaders, Somkit recounted the days when there was a bounty on his head. “They came for me at the crack of dawn. Helicopters with spotlights hovered over the village. They wanted to kill me,” he said calmly.</p> <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>