<p>Control of media that are affiliated to or support the Red Shirt movement has been reinforced considerably since a state of emergency was imposed in Bangkok and many other provinces. A TV station, radio stations, websites and newspapers have been censored, banned, forcibly closed or prosecuted.</p> <p>Most of these media supported the Red Shirt demonstrations, sometimes issuing forceful calls for insurrection. But they also served as ordinary relays of legitimate demands coming from a part of Thai society.</p>

<p>Despite being under emergency rule for four months, many Bangkokians still believe their lives are &quot;normal.&quot; </p> <p>However, there's nothing normal about living under the emergency decree.</p> <p>The &quot;silent majority&quot; should not complacently accept the emergency law as status quo because it not only violates their rights, but is also bad for democracy. Unless they want Thailand to become another Burma, they should seriously stop and think about the merits of this law.</p>

<p>We, the undersigned 30 organizations, groups and networks, are extremely perturbed about the deterioration of human rights and universally recognized freedoms in Thailand .</p> <p>In response to people&rsquo;s exercise of their freedom of expression, opinion and peaceful protest, the government of Thailand had responded with force and violence, that to date has resulted in about 88 deaths, majority of whom were civilians, and injured some 1,800 people.</p>

<p>AIDS 2010 Delegates, Speakers and Organizers Call for an End to the Passive Neglect and Active Denial that Thwart Access to Lifesaving Health Services, Information and Tools That Fuel the HIV Epidemic</p>

<p>July 22, 2010. Kathmandu. The World Association of Community Radio Broadcasters, AMARC is deeply concerned by the reports about the restrictions imposed on community radio stations in Thailand including the closure of several stations. Recent reports state that using the emergency decree, authorities have shut down 26 community-radio stations in nine provinces and pressured six others to discontinue their services, and as many as 84 community-radio stations have been blacklisted and their activities closely monitored.</p>

<p>On Tuesday 20th July, a morning session on &ldquo;Integrating Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) and HIV: Lesson Learned from the Field&rdquo;, brought to the audiences a description on how linkages between SRHR and HIV are identified in each individual setting, main challenges face in services integration effort, matters whether perspectives on generalized or concentrated pandemic impacting an approach to integrative services, and recommendations on how to strengthen SRHR and HIV services integration. </p>

<p>&ldquo;We were born curious young women, and blossomed to decision-making women, give us our answers from our jump start!&rdquo;, asserted one African young woman living with HIV during the skill building session titled Our Bodies, Our Rights: Young Women&rsquo;s Forum on Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) held on Monday 19th July 2010. </p> <p>This participatory morning workshop had once again provided platform for young women worldwide to voice out their SRHR needs, and helps make the issues they confront visible at this international event. </p>

<p>The government's media reform initiative is regarded by critics as either an attempt to control the media or a desperate move to buy more time by distracting the public from pressing issues such as the ongoing political crisis, or both. </p> <p>However, this hasn't stopped some from turning &quot;the crisis into an opportunity&quot;.</p>

<p>The Thai Television Station Joint Censorship Committee recently banned a TV ad that featured the violent events in Bangkok in May this year, saying that the commercial might spark another round of<br /> conflict, media reports said.</p>

<p><em>Former U.S. President Bill Clinton and Philanthropist Bill Gates Address Conference</em></p> <p>19 July 2010 [Vienna, Austria]&ndash;Scientists, practitioners and advocates from around the world today made a united call for global leaders to commit at least $US20 billion to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria at its upcoming replenishment meeting in October. Because the level of replenishment committed at the meeting will determine the Global Fund&rsquo;s grant levels for 2011-2013, the meeting is widely viewed as the critical next step towards universal access to HIV prevention, treatment, care and support.</p>

<p>Almost a million registered migrant workers from Burma, Cambodia and Laos now have a right to formally purchase and register motor vehicles in Thailand. However, because of officials&rsquo; discriminatory use and interpretation of laws and a lack of genuine respect for human rights, these migrants continue to be denied the right on national security grounds to drive these vehicles.</p>

<p>July 7 marked 90 days since Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva declared a state of emergency in Thailand. Even though Thai security forces quelled the <a href="http://eastasiaforum.org/tag/red-shirts">Red Shirt protests</a> in late May, the Abhisit administration recently extended the emergency decree over nearly a third of the kingdom for an additional three months. While much has been said about the political, economic and social impacts of the kingdom&rsquo;s recent unrest, little attention has been given to the dangerous erosion of freedom of expression in Thailand.</p>