<p>In early 2007, as a small number of highly placed members of the<br />Lao Communist Party&#39;s (ruling) Politburo stated to the press that they<br />would like to see an absolute end to logging inside the country&#39;s<br />conservation areas.</p>

<p>...I begin with an illustration which reflects the condemnation and belittling of poor people all over the country. You may well remember this. Let&#39;s forget where it comes from, but try to interpret its meaning straightforwardly.&nbsp;</p>

<p>During 18 - 22 July 2007, Pornpen Kongkiatkachorn from the Working Group on Justice for Peace spoke at the training session for NGOs working on ethnic and human rights issues in the North. She related her experience in the past year as part of the Working Group on Justice for Peace which has shed light on discrimination that still exists in the justice system there.&nbsp; </p>

<p>This article wants to take the opinions on the referendum by people in Mukdahan province to argue against the claims put forward by the junta and its minions including politicians, academics, and the media, that northeasterners&#39; are backward in politics, and against the superficial attitudes generally held by the urban middle class towards the rural poor.</p>

<p>Many Thais have their reasons to vote &quot;Yes&quot; for the 2007 constitution some see it as a shift of the gear towards the next election while others endorse it as part of the post-coup efforts to right the wrong things incurred during Thaksin regime. But whether it really ends there or a less polarized and less despotic<br />political environment emerge after Sunday referendum, there remains a certain degree of uncertainty.</p>

<p><span>What re</span><span>asons do we use in deciding to accept or reject the draft 2007 constitution? The reasons given both publicly and privately are numerous, but can be grouped into two main categories: those concerning the content of the draft charter and those concerning considering the context.</span></p>

<p>It is now obvious that the military junta have no intention of conducting a clean and democratic referendum on their new constitution. While the government is shamelessly spending millions of the public&#39;s baht on propaganda urging the population to vote &quot;yes&quot; and accept the constitution, those who are opposed to it are prevented from campaigning properly by arrests, threats and a total lack of access in the media.</p>

<p>Mention the sufficiency economy to your average foreign businessperson in Bangkok and you will likely be met with a snigger, perhaps with the added comment that such concepts go very well with the &lsquo;sufficiency democracy&#39; promised by the draft constitution and Internal Security Act.</p>

<p>&quot;<span>The village </span><span>was founded especially to serve our main occupation, fishing, since before the dam came. Only a few people here collected things from the forest to earn extra income. Due to the hilly geography here, we could farm only along the banks of the Moon River and along the creeks.</span></p>

<p><span>The reshaping of Thailand&#39;s polity by the conservatives after the Sept 19 coup is based on </span><span>a fear of the election system and of an elected leadership which for the first time can &quot;challenge&quot; the key institutions in Thai society. Therefore, the priority is to get rid of the threat that potentially undermines &quot;Democracy with the King as Head of State&quot;, and prevent it from happening again.</span></p>

<p>The protest rally against Gen Prem Tinsulanonda at his residence is legitimate because a) a lot of evidence points to Prem's key role in the attempts to undermine the elected government and the Constitution which led to the Sept 19 coup, b) there is also circumstantial evidence that Prem had a key role in the coup d'&eacute;tat.</p>

<p>PRACHATAI had received this letter from Thongchai Winichakul which was addressed to his human rights friends, before the human rights groups, both Thai and international, took actions to protect the UDD political rights from the incident that occurred on the night of 22 July 2007. However we at Prachatai decided to publish his letter now as we believe the contents of his letter is important in raising people&#39;s awareness and concern in protecting the rights of civil society.</p>