<p class="rteleft">Thongbai Thongpao, noted lawyer and former political prisoner, died on 24 January 2011 at the age of 84. Although I did not ever meet Thongbai, I had been moved by his writing of his incarceration as a political prisoner from 1961 until 1966 in Communists of Lad Yao (<em>คอมมิวนิสต์ลาดยาว</em>), which I read as part of preparation for my Ph.D. comprehensive exams.&nbsp; <em>Communists of Lad Yao</em> was first published in 1974, eight years after his release from prison and during the time of open politics between 14 October 1973 and 6 October 1976.</p>

<p>On 28th February 2011, the Thai Foreign Minister Mr. Kasit Piromya, addressed the 16th regular session of the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) in Geneva at its High Level Segment (HLS). The HLS, which takes place in March of each year, was the first Ministerial level speech that Thailand delivered since it was elected as a member of the Council in May 2010. </p>

<p>Following a proposal on land reform by the National Reform Committee last month (see <a href="http://bkkpost.9destinations.com/business/news/221727/cabinet-approves-land-reform-proposals">here </a>and <a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2011/02/15/national/Anands-land-reform-proposals-approved-in-principle-30148731.html">here</a>), Chair of the National Reform Assembly Prof Dr Prawase Wasi has explained in an <a href="http://www.matichon.co.th/news_detail.php?newsid=1298894257&amp;grpid=01&amp;catid=&amp;subcatid=">article</a> published in Matichon how giving 5-6 rai, or about 2-2.4 ac</p>

<p>Middle class and well educated Thais will be in for less shock and better equipped to handle political change if they do not cling on to the &quot;tales&quot; of rural folks being politically naive, of all Thais loving one another and coexisting in harmony under a benign father figure, said Thammasat University political scientist Prajak Kongkirati.</p>

<p>About two years ago, Prachatai columnist and university lecturer Surapot Thaweesak met a monk from the Dhammakaya Temple who visited his university to propose a joint Buddhist training programme for students.&nbsp; He was told that his university would have to recruit students to attend the programme and they would be required to pay for Dhamma books and other expenses.&nbsp; However, the temple provided a promotion discount for the expenses if his university decided to join the programme immediately.</p>

<p>A Thai red shirt held in prison shares with Prachatai the story of Conor David Purcell, Australian, and Jeff Savage, a Briton, who were arrested for their involvement in the red-shirt rallies in April and May 2010 and deported to their home countries last year.</p>

<p>As heard among many red shirts: &ldquo;We are ready and waiting for the word&rdquo;, ready for bringing about regime change through a democracy &ldquo;revolution&rdquo; (การปฏิวัติ), inspired by the recent events in Tunisia. The problem to most red shirts is that there are few real options remaining in the current repressive situation created by the governing regime. A &ldquo;democratic revolution&rdquo; is a mass movement which wishes to replace undemocratic and unelected regime with a democratic system of governance.</p>

<p>Santipong Inchan, 25, lost his right eye to a rubber bullet during the military crackdown at Khok Wua intersection on 10 April 2010.&nbsp; He got a job as a news translator in December, but had to quit after three weeks because his remaining eye could not take it.</p>

<p><em>(On November 23, 2009, a convoy on its way to file the certificate of candidacy of a gubernatorial candidate of Maguindanao province in the southern Philippine island of Mindanao was stopped on the highway in the town of Ampatuan by about a hundred gunmen. The convoy, which included 32 journalists and media workers, female relatives of the candidate, as well as six motorists who just happened to be tailing the convoy, were taken into the hills and murdered.</em></p>

<p>One of the concepts of Dr. Somkiat Tangnamo, former Rector of Midnight University, which was repeatedly emphasized during our regular discussion was <strong>Deliberative Democracy</strong>. Members of the Midnight University see the problem of <strong>Representative Democracy</strong> as focusing on only the election which usually results in getting the persons who are not genuine representatives of people in the society.</p>

<p>I first joined the Pattani Peace Walk on 26 July 2010, and covered a distance of 28 kilometers from Prachuab Khiri Khan town to Tab-sakae district over the course of one day. I surprised myself with how much I could actually walk in a day. Life in Bangkok is different. I leave home every morning with my car key to start the engine. Then, after driving to work, I walk not even 20 steps to my office from the car.</p>

<p><strong>The Promises</strong></p> <p>Despite the continuing state crackdown on some political websites and on-line political posters, the internet has become the most open public space for political debate and discussion about the institution of the monarchy in Thailand. The mainstream print media, often regarded as more open and independent compared to the broadcast media, pale by comparison with the nascent internet news websites, blogs and online political-posting. Increasingly, the hegemonic control by the state and the mainstream media over the idealized portrayal and discourse of the monarchy is slipping and no longer tenable due to the differing portrayals and critical discussions online that simply by-pass traditional media outlets.</p>