<p dir="ltr"><strong><span id="docs-internal-guid-38463b5f-5725-cf83-bb08-07ce4601d4ec">Foreword</span></strong></p>

<p>As the global climate crisis worsens, the actions of the leader of the G77, now 134 countries, will go down in history. The representing of members' economic interests and the coordination of member countries as a negotiating bloc is the main purpose of the G77 and the main concern of its chair. Global climate change will strip billions of dollars from the G77 members' economies. But, fusion will replace all the world's nuclear fission reactors and make medium-to-large coal power plants obsolete.</p> <p></p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-3cb7fe9c-2805-9f43-062c-ec9d80cf08e4">That General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the supreme military dictator of Thailand, has instructed his cabinet to read Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s book, </span>The Governance of China, because its reforms apparently suit Thailand’s conditions, is a revelation, one recently reported by noted Thai journalist <a href="http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.php?newsid=1460541191">Pravit Rojanaphruk</a>.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d4288dfe-dfe8-a8b7-481b-1963702aea06">Today, April 5, is the birthday of Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya, the eldest child of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and Queen Sirikit. Unfortunately, this is also the week Ubolratana Dam, named in honour of the Princess, ran dry, the first of the royal dams to do so in living memory.</span></p>

<div id="contentsContainer"> <div id="contents"><br /> <p id="E13" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E13"><span id="E22" is="qowt-word-run" qowt-eid="E22">On February 23, the NCPO published an infomercial attached to </span><span id="E23" is="qowt-word-run" qowt-eid="E23">The Nation</span><span id="E24" is="qowt-word-run" qowt-eid="E24">. </span><span id="E26" is="qowt-word-run" qowt-eid="E26">Februuary</span><span id="E28" is="qowt-word-run" qowt-eid="E28"> 23 is admittedly some time ago.</span></p> </div></div>

<p>The fourth paragraph of Article 50 of the Draft Constitution states that the general purpose of Thai education is to create good and disciplined students who are proud of their nation, which has been <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/5933">criticised</a> by the group Education for the Liberation of Siam over the definitions of ‘good’ and ‘disciplined’.</p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2016/02/annual-report-201516/">2015/2016 Amnesty International Report</a> Thailand analysis is, as you might expect, critical of the military regime. In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a <a href="http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/media-center/14/64840-Thailand&#039;s-comments-on-Amnesty-International.html">press release</a> which lamented the fact that the Amnesty International (AI) report “only presents issues of concern” and “does not consider the particular context of Thailand”.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><strong><span id="docs-internal-guid-53064c4f-1112-8fa4-85d4-8b3703dd3c85">Introduction</span></strong></p>

<div> <p>An academic article just released in the journal <em>Nature Climate Change</em> and reported <a href="http://news.yahoo.com/rising-sea-levels-will-leave-just-the-top-of-161148748.html">worldwide</a> further confirms we are entering a period of human-influenced climate change which will affect the carbon dioxide in the atmosphere of this planet for tens if not hundreds or thousands of years. Put simply, melting sea ice in the Arctic and Antarctic does not readily refreeze.</p> </div>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-275b1bc0-af3e-3f67-2019-c1d425c9ec87">For the past three years, as part of a growing trend which has now hit the </span><a href="http://news.yahoo.com/lucky-chucky-thai-spirit-dolls-delight-disturb-034040701.html?soc_src=mail&amp;soc_trk=ma">international headlines</a>, increasing numbers of what appear to be middle class, reasonably well-educated women have been purchasing ‘luuk thep’ – literally ‘angel children’ – cheap plastic Chinese-manufactured dolls which are then considerably marked up in price and blessed, either by Buddhist monks or spiritual</p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-59fea16f-8289-c40b-1553-c1f3c0ce4706">One of the downsides of authoritarian military dictatorships is that the public has little influence on politically important issues, such as energy policy. No major Thai daily newspaper supports coal, and they regularly carry articles lobbying against a coal-fired future (e.g., see this recent </span><a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/opinion/Thailands-power-dilemma-amid-a-climate-of-fear-30267497.html">lead opinion editorial</a> in The Nation).</p>

<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr"><em><strong><span id="docs-internal-guid-7f2074c6-5dd9-7f7c-14b9-6a79dbdbb192">Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?</span></strong></em></p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7f2074c6-5dd9-7f7c-14b9-6a79dbdbb192">Juvenal (Satire VI, lines 347–8). Literally, "Who will guard the guards themselves?"</span></p> <p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p>