<p><br />Forces are aligning against the Yingluck led government. On Monday, the protest movement that destabilised the country at the end of last year will return to the streets to ‘shut-down’ Bangkok. At the same time, the military has failed to commit to the protection of forthcoming elections scheduled for 2 February, and official bodies such as the Election Commission and the National Anti-Corruption Commission are doing little to dampen fears they are about to kibosh the vote.</p>

<p>Both in print and on television, I have warned that the (great) mass (of the people) has already been born in Thailand, and that the mass politics of the people could take two different paths. One path was the expansion of the democratic apparatus and political participation, if the apparatus and various institutions were prepared to adapt. Or the other possible path was the emergence of totalitarian politics. Without a (great) mass (of the people), totalitarian dictatorship cannot be born.</p> <p></p>

<p>Thailand’s Social Regimen – Thainess as an addictive substance.<br />The following is right off the keyboard and may be rambling a bit, but it’s sincere and hopefully worth reading through for reflection purposes. From time to time I wonder why I didn’t see a certain aspect of culture, my own or Thai, that is suddenly clear now, or why fellow expats are predicting certain things to follow form today’s political upheaval that just don’t have a chance of happening. But opening the mind and eyes is a continual process and hopefully this little piece will help that along…</p>

<div> <div>FIDH and its member organization Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) express their serious concern over the decision by Thailand’s opposition party, the Democrat Party, to boycott the general election scheduled to take place on February 2, 2014.&nbsp;</div> </div> <div> </div>

<div>Thailand has surprised the world again with the abrupt violence during the political protests at the beginning of December 2013 as pro- and anti-government protesters confronted each other on the streets leading to 5 deaths. </div>

<div>Someone said this is about grabbing power, not reform. I say this is anarchy and oligarchy, not democracy.</div> <p></p>

<div>On 2 December 2013, the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT) issued their fourth statement, accompanied by a proposal from the group of demonstrators who use the name “The People’s Democratic Reform of Council,” or PDRC, and one group of academics, which called on the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to take unconstitutional and undemocratic action. </div>

<p>This article looks into the US perception toward Thailand’s political divide. For the United States, traditionally, the benefits of preserving the pro-establishment forces position have been manifest. It permitted the bilateral relationship to become more predictable and less disruptive because of the elites’ continued domination of political power and foreign policy making process. Governments may come and go, but the traditional elites denoted a permanent feature of Thai politics.</p> <p></p>

<div>The eyewitness account of&nbsp;Sittiporn Jorradol, former producer at Nation TV, who witnessed the violent incident near Ramkhamhaeng University last Saturday where five people were killed by gunshots.&nbsp;</div> <div> </div>

<p>With all respect to a former assistant dean of Harvard Law School, I believe your article (Stephen B Young, <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/381522/court-did-its-duty-over-amnesty-bill">“Court ‘did its duty’ over charter change”</a>) is based on the assumption that the root of the power of the Constitutional Court of Thailand is similar to that of the U.S. Supreme Court. If this assumption was correct, I would actually agree with you that the courts have the power to review the actions of the government since, as you pointed out, the courts need to "stand between the people and the selfish abuse of power by those in government".</p> <p></p>

<div>Following yet another year of world headlines dominated by horrific acts of violence against women and girls, &nbsp;during the 16 days of activism to end violence against women, starting on November 25th and ending in Human Rights Day, December 10th, the international community comes together to reaffirm and re-commit to securing a world free of violence against women and girl.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<p>Thailand’s Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra will pay a two-day visit to Singapore from 26-27 November, the first overseas trip following the Constitutional Court’s ruling which could have led to the dissolution of her party, the Pheu Thai. The Court accused her government of acting against the constitution when it tried to make the upper house of the Parliament directly elected rather than partly appointed. But Yingluck’s government somehow survives.</p> <p></p>