Feature
29 Sep 2022
Despite Thailand's long-standing commitment to a policy of Education for All (EFA) which allows stateless and migrant children to attend public schools, the children of illegal and impoverished Cambodian labourers are still being denied an education.
23 Sep 2022
In 2023 fiscal year, a number of agencies were allocated budget related to the monarchy, all of which total approximately 34.75 billion baht or 1.09% of the total national budget (3.185 trillion baht), divided into 16.92 billion baht in direct expenses and 17.83 billion baht in indirect expenses.
19 Sep 2022
The long and ongoing fight between the Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN) and the Thai government over the right to form a union is still not over. What changes could help ensure ethical workplace practices and improve the quality of migrant workers’ lives?
16 Sep 2022
Living far away from home during the Covid-19 outbreak, Cambodian students who came to Thailand to pursue their studies experienced problems stemming from lockdown, lonesomeness, and a sense of loss.
7 Sep 2022
Cambodian workers working in Thailand have complained that they are required by their employers to file multiple documents in order to be allowed to work legally. Beside the additional bureaucracy, document handling costs imposed by agencies have largely overwhelmed their daily wages.
1 Sep 2022
Sexual abuse has long been an issue in Thai schools, although most cases go unreported. Prachatai English spoke to teachers and advocates for sexual abuse survivors about sexual abuse in schools and why this problem is being allowed to continue.
30 Aug 2022
The performances of the legendary Thai boxer Sombat 'Buakaw' Banchamek may still be as formidable as ever at the age of 40. But his practice of holding up a portrait of the Thai King after victory persists, three decades after its apparent invention, as Thais increasingly question the legitimacy of the current authoritarian regime and the draconian lèse majesté law.
18 Aug 2022
He worked for the current Bangkok governor and was photographed with an ousted Thai premier and a current Phnom Penh deputy governor. Missing since 2020, Wanchalearm Satsaksit also helped other Thai dissidents flee to Cambodia. But his associates have sought to erase all ties.
12 Aug 2022
News articles about Muslim opposition to a statue of Guan Yin goddess in the South have been making rounds on the internet, drawing mockery and allegations about Muslim intolerance, especially from netizens who didn’t read past the headlines.
However, a report by Prachatai English finds that local activists and clerics are not protesting the plan out of religious hatred, but out of concerns that the statue would pave the way for a controversial industrial estate and open the door to Chinese investor influence in the region.
28 Jul 2022
The Thai monarchy’s influence and role in politics have for decades been debated in academic circles and on the street. Under the current reign, the focus of analysis has shifted from the old network to a new one that is gradually becoming clearer - the military.
20 Jul 2022
At least 30 critics of the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration had their phones infected with Pegasus spyware, a powerful tool for surveillance and eavesdropping. Although government authorities have yet to be tied to the bugging, an investigation strongly suggests state involvement.
20 Jul 2022
An open-air film screening initiated by Bangkok Governor Chadchart Sittipunt turned sour last week when a group of activists at the event said they were blocked from displaying balloons with a slogan calling for abolition of the royal defamation law.