<p>Following the recent military coup in Thailand, free speech, free assembly and academic freedom have been massively constrained. Now, the junta is even trying to extend these restrictions overseas.</p>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div>General Prayuth Chan-ocha, the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Thai Army, signed Announcement No. 1/2557 [2014] of the Royal Thai Army, on the matter of the promulgatเon of the Martial Law Act, on 20 May 2557 [2014]. Following examination, it is the view of the Khana Nitirat that the aforementioned announcement of the Royal Thai Army is unconstitutional and illegal. This is the case for the following reasons:</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>1. </div>

<div> <div style="font-size: 12px;"><em>Translated by Tyrell Haberkorn.</em></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div> <div><em>Translator’s introduction: On 23 November 2011, Amphon Tangnoppakul, age 61, was <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.prachatai.com%2Fenglish%2Fnode%2F2912&amp;sa=D&amp;sntz=1&amp;usg=AFQjCNFzG00N9fVcpkZ7Z2hG8xiG7agMpA">sentenced</a> to twenty years in prison under Article 112 and the 2007 Computer Crimes Act for allegedly sending four SMS messages with anti-monarchy content. </em></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The protracted demonstrations led by the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) during the past six months have clearly indicated a collusion among the PDRC, the Democrat Party, various courts, the Election Commission of Thailand (ECT), some Senators and certain independent regulatory agencies. Concertedly, they have made impossible any solution based on the rule of law and democracy. Key sections of the Constitution and other laws have been misinterpreted and misapplied to crush political opponents and justify a series of blatantly illegal actions. </div>

<p><strong>On the Occasion of the International Thai Studies Conference</strong><strong>, Sydney, Australia</strong><strong>, 24 April 2014</strong></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7420/14002282941_60dd82de55_z.jpg" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2925/14025462953_be7842be64_z.jpg" /></p>

<p>At a prison in Samut Prakan Province, Mohammad (an alias), a Palestinian refugee from Syria, told us, “Please tell my wife for me, that I hope to return to her and our baby soon.” Having fled wars several times in his life and repeatedly becoming a refugee in foreign lands, the only reason he was charged with making and using a counterfeit passport in Thailand was that he dared to take on a little hope.</p> <p><strong>Hope for Survival</strong></p>

<p><em>Translator’s note: This is a different kind of new year story. Every year, Buddhist New Year is observed from 13-15 April. People tend to spend the holiday with their family and friends. One part of the holiday involves “playing water,” which means to throw water and flour on friends and community members in a joyful and playful fashion. In this essay, Noom Rednon reflects on the four Songkrans between 2010 and 2013 he spent behind bars. “Playing water” takes on a new meaning behind bars.</em></p>

<p>Leaders of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meet every year. They often share an upbeat outlook on ongoing regionalization, which will witness the grouping celebrate a milestone in its community building in 2015. In looking closely into the region however, underneath such optimism lies an inconvenient truth. In Southeast Asia, existing political flashpoints have the potential to hamper the path toward an ASEAN community. The seeming inability of ASEAN to manage regional disputes has so far symbolized a failure in the strengthening of its regional architecture.</p>

<div>Dear fellow Thai citizens,</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Are you fed up with and hopeless about politics yet?</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I wouldn't be surprised if you feel despair and smell political hatred in the air.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On Monday the group of six independent organisations gave both caretaker PM Yingluck Shinawatra and anti-government People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) leader Suthep Thaugsuban seven days to nominate 10 possible mediators to facilitate negotiations to end the prolonged political impasse. </div>

<div>An estimated 2 million migrants from Myanmar working across Thailand remain anxious to an irrational deadline imposed on permission to work here. The two countries agreed in 2003 that these workers could remain in Thailand only for 4 years before returning home for at least 3 years prior to any possible return.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>This limit on migrant’s stay in Thailand was imposed on ‘legal’ workers who, since 2009, completed a Nationality Verification regularisation process (NV). </div>

<p>I am a resident of Din Daeng. For my daily exercise I go to a public aerobics programme that takes place at the Thai-Japanese Stadium every day at 6:30 pm except Mondays.</p>

<p>The Thai political crisis has shown no sign of subsiding. Indeed, the rise of political violence becomes more evident. And since Thailand is an important part of the regional economy, its protracted crisis has produced far-reaching effects on the country’s partners. Japan, a major economic partner of Thailand, has felt the political heat too.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://farm4.staticflickr.com/3737/12810034623_a950149da4.jpg" style="width: 500px; height: 327px;" /></p>