<p dir="ltr"><em><span id="docs-internal-guid-0952d7e3-58a6-8995-7670-4a414fce838f">Note: Attachak Sattayanurak is one of the six university lecturers charged </span>with violating National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) Order No. 3/2015, which bans political gatherings of five or more persons,&nbsp;after holding a press conference and releasing a statement entitled <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/5635">“The University is Not a Military Base”</a> in Chiang Mai on 31 October 2015.</em></p>

<div>Note: “Rungsila” is the pen name of Siraphop, a construction contractor who is around fifty years old. Prior to the 22 May 2014 coup, he was well-known online as a writer of political poems and articles. Shortly after the coup, his name was among those summoned to report to the Army Club but he declined to report himself. On 25 June 2014, he was arrested by soldiers in Kalasin province and then detained for 7 days under the provisions of martial law then in force. </div>

<p>This year is the 50th anniversary of the coup that led to the deaths of an estimated 500,000-3 million, one of the worst episodes of violence in the post-World War II world. Today, few have been held responsible for the killings, which remain a rarely discussed and barely understood topic in now nominally Democratic Indonesia.</p> <p>As Thailand enters its second year under its own military dictatorship – one that shows no signs of leaving - here are some lessons and warning signs from its Southern neighbor.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a9ccecfb-5b7e-48d4-8aa6-ef1ab4ff502b">SUMMARY</span></p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-a9ccecfb-5b7e-48d4-8aa6-ef1ab4ff502b">- Hazing in Thai universities, known as SOTUS, every year leads to scandalous actions and even fatalities. Calls to end it are met by its strong supporters, including academics and university administrations.</span></p>

<p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://c2.staticflickr.com/6/5658/21643596309_f201366f6c.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 269px;" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color:#ff8c00;"><em>Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha at the UNGA Meeting last month.</em></span></p>

<p>August 30 marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Thailand has not been immune to enforced disappearances. Over the past two years, two United Nations (UN) bodies, the Committee Against Torture and the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, have expressed concern over the numerous cases of enforced disappearances in Thailand.</p>

<p>On 10 August 2015, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong paid an official visit to Bangkok to boost bilateral ties. Among many issues, ironically, the two countries pledged to promote human rights and to enhance economic cooperation. They also discussed the issue of “nuclear” which might have made some Western nations disturbingly uncomfortable.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><em><span id="docs-internal-guid-53f9b86e-d24d-e80a-e18f-f6474d7a8f9a">Prefatory note to the English translation: During the crackdown on red shirt protestors during April-May 2010, at least 94 people were killed and over 2000 injured.</span></em></p>

<p>I'm a legal adviser, so not exactly a stranger to courts. I've even been in Thai courts before. But I still find the scene surreal. I was in a Bangkok military court on 7 July 2015, and I'm talking to 14 young students and activists who face the might of Thailand's military justice system.</p>

<div><em>Note: This essay first appeared in Matichon newspaper on 25 September 2014. Nidhi Eoseewong offers a comparative analysis of totalitarianism, nationalism, and love. </em></div>

<p>In one of Thailand’s men’s prison, the homosexuals are categorized as transgenders with breasts, attractive transgenders, older transgender, gay and transexuals. They are entitled to different “class” and treatment. A former inmate wrote the article in detention.&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"> </p>

<p>“What is your relation to Supot Jaengrew?”</p> <p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4c424c6d-4827-aaff-27d4-dabb58294e9d">“He is my grandfather.”</span></p>