“The NCPO’s motto is ‘Returning Happiness to the People’, but I receive only bitterness. I don’t know where my happiness is,” said a community leader arbitrarily detained because he allegedly is an 'influential person' which must be suppressed under NCPO Head Order No. 13/2016.

Weakening elected government officials, enhancing bureaucracy, and increasing relations with influential capitalists is what the military is trying to do to secure its legitimacy after “the transition”, says Prajak Kongkirati, a political scientist from Thammasat University.

Since the release of the draft constitution, the junta has formally and informally suppressed criticism of the draft as well as the referendum, scheduled to be held on 7 August, itself. Although it is obvious that Thais are not going to vote in the referendum in a free and fair manner, a group of red-shirt activists are determined to defy the junta’s rule by campaigning against the draft charter. They share with Prachatai how to mobilize campaign under such repression and what they've found about voters' attitude toward draft charter and politics. 

A human rights activist from Thailand’s Deep South speaks about her motivation for co-founding a human rights organization, after her own experience of a family member being harassed. Since the start of 2016, she has been repeatedly harassed by the military due to a report, co-written by her, revealing allegations of torture by the state. 

Two experts have confirmed that although the Deep South is unsuited to receive ISIS influence, the state still should avoid situations which may cause conflict related to Islam in the area.