<p>Photojournalist Sithu Zeya was sentenced to eight years' imprisonment on 21 December for taking photos of the scene of an explosion at a traditional water festival pavilion near a Rangoon lake in April this year, his lawyer said.</p>

<p>There are times when some incidents in Thailand remind this writer of another society in a land far away. This was the case when virtually every mainstream mass media ignored certain &quot;wires&quot; about Thailand that were carried in WikiLeaks. </p>

<p><em>Seven years past, yet no progress made, public left at their own devices,&nbsp; culprits are at large </em></p> <p>On December 22, 2010, the spokesperson of the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) announced the decision to determine the alleged offences against Pol.Gen. Bhanupong Singhara Na Ayuthaya and other 18 officials, regarding the abuse of power and violation of the rights of alleged offenders in the gun robbery taking place at the Fourth Development Military Battalion, the Krom Luang Narathiwat Ratchanakarin Military Camp on January 4, 2004, the incidence of which has led to the onslaught of violence and conflicts in Thailand&rsquo;s Deep South causing widespread damage and loss of lives among government officials and innocent people. Until now, the death toll has climbed over 4,000.</p>

<p>Two of the 10 leaked reports purported to have come from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) and recently obtained by The Nation reveal how live bullets were &quot;likely used&quot; on both a bystander and a red shirt, with investigators concluding both cases were likely the work of soldiers acting on orders. </p>

<p>Of the 10 cases in the leaked Department of Special Investigation (DSI) report on the military crackdown on red shirts was the little-known death of the 14-year-old orphan, Kunakorn Srisawan - probably a bystander who was mowed down by a soldier's bullets on May 15.</p>

<p>Documents supposedly leaked from the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) appear to place the blame for most of the deaths in the April-May military crackdown firmly on the military. </p>

<p><em>New book outlines jagged landscape of recent Thai politics</em></p> <p>Nine essays by seven Thai and foreign scholars in the book Legitimacy Crisis in Thailand perfectly explore themes and issues and well-depicted episodes arising from the ongoing confrontations that engulfed Thailand's political life, state and society from the year 2008 to early 2010.</p>

<p><em>&hellip;we did not elect this government; the poor have been left out for four years; we have to put up with the power this government seized from the people. Today we must rise up and fight for our rights that have been taken away from us; this is to ask for democracy that can help people to be able to &lsquo;open their eyes and their mouths&rsquo; and to know that their rights and their votes are important&hellip;1</em></p>

<p>The public must demand that the government free all websites blocked under the emergency decree, which ended yesterday, in order to defend their right to access information, media executive Chuwat Rerksrisuk said yesterday. </p>

<p>Bangkok &ndash; Today (December 23, 2010) is the very day The Convention for Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance become effective, after Iraq has ratified this convention as 20th nation on November 23, 2010.</p>

<p>Despite many difficulties, Burmese journalists inside Burma and abroad have in recent weeks covered two events of great importance for the country: the 7 November general elections and Aung San Suu Kyi&rsquo;s release six days later. The military authorities sent contradictory signals about their intentions as regards media freedom. The undemocratic elections were marked by censorship, arrests of journalists and other obstacles, but Burmese newspapers were able to interview the various candidates during the campaign.</p>

<p>After six months of massacre happened in Bangkok, Thailand-May 2010.<br /> Have we forgotten this massacre and the unanswered justice to the 91 deaths? Those protestors or pro democracy supporters who were forced to confess and being imprisoned. Those who were charged imprison by Lese Majesty law due to their political views?<br /> &nbsp;<br /> Have ASEAN activists / communities forgot the vibrant democratic space that we used to enjoy in Bangkok for the last 18 years?<br /> &nbsp;</p>