<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Like a never-ending vicious cycle violence - from both sides, oppression and discrimination by the state, ignorance by non-Thai-Malay Muslims - feeds into this conflict with no end in sight. The case of 11 killings at a mosque in Narathiwat province on Monday won't be the l</span></span><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">ast.</span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">The recently released Thai-language <a href="http://www.tja.or.th/index.php?option=com_content&amp;task=view&amp;id=1323&amp;Itemid=1">&quot;Guide to News Reporting Amid Conflict&quot;</a> is a timely title given the current political tension, though it flatly fails to explain why the majority of the mainstream media are now perceived as part of the conflict and political problem.<br /> </span></span></p>

<p><em>Normal doesn't necessarily mean democratic</em></p> <p>Thailand's Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has recently jetted to Hong Kong and South Korea, assuring investors that Thailand's politics are back to normal.</p> <p>But in Abhisit's Thailand, normality means a depressing slide back to the past political configurations that can be called Thai-style democracy. This is a system where politicians, parties and parliament are made weak and where real power resides with traditional, repressive and hierarchical institutions.</p>

<p>A month after the April mayhem, another major protest is planned for the end of this month - yet the pro-Thaksin Shinawatra Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) has largely failed to make public its lessons learned from the Songkran riots.</p>

<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Songkhla - A Thai court on Friday ruled that there was no misconduct on the part of security officials who involved in the Tak Bai incident five years ago that caused the death of 85 Thai-Muslims. <br /> </span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">For opponents of the People's Alliance for Democracy, it certainly is a breath of fresh air that the PAD will no longer be out on the streets in such an active fashion as they were in the past. This is undoubtedly a plus for the country's overall political climate. </span></span></p>

<p>Junya Yimprasert of Thai Labor Campaign writes an article <a href="http://timeupthailand.blogspot.com/2009/05/voters-uprising-that-is-changing.html">'The Voters' Uprising That Is Changing Perceptions in Thailand'</a> covering major Thai political events from the 1932 revolution up to present.<span style="mso-spacerun:yes">&nbsp; </span>It was first distributed at a Consultation on Gender, Development and Decent Work: Building a Common Agenda&rsquo;, OECD Headquarters, Paris, 27th April 2009.</p>

<p>Three interesting articles appeared recently in this newspaper on the topic of lese majeste, written by Dr Borwornsak Uwanno (April 7, 8 and 9, 2009). [See Bangkok Post: <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/14660/the-law-of-inviolability-in-thailand">Part I</a>, <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/14702/thai-culture-and-the-law-on-lese-majeste">Part II</a>, and <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/14766/lese-majeste-abuse-and-benevolence">Part III</a>] Although admirably comprehensive on many fronts, I note the author's omission of two important facts in describing the situation in Europe.</p>

<p>[Note: The ICT ministry has just moved offices on May 11. There is high&nbsp;probability that some of these phone numbers have changed. We shall keep the&nbsp;numbers in this article updated as we verify them. Please check back.]</p> <p>We have never before been privy to the mechanism of censorship in Thailand. If&nbsp;your website is blocked, here are some steps to follow.</p>

<p>Politically turbulent Thailand is undergoing a grand transition, its people seeking a new and workable equilibrium.</p> <p>Thitinan Pongsudhirak, a Thai political lecturer, believes space for intellectual honesty is tightening in Thailand.</p> <p>This tightening space, which Thitinan likened to a box, has a ceiling &ndash; lese majeste (insulting the monarchy). From the bottom pushing up there&rsquo;s an &ldquo;effective longstanding official indoctrination&rdquo;.</p>

<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Despite concerns from human rights defenders at home and abroad, Thailand&rsquo;s upper house on May 1 approved the seven nominees for the country&rsquo;s National Human Rights Commission. The seven consist of a top cop, a judicial administrator, a civil servant, an industrialist, an academic, a former senator and a road safety advocate. </span></span></p>

<p>Hatred towards those of different political colours reached alarming new heights last Saturday night when a man wielding a samurai sword stabbed and slashed a red-shirted woman to death and wounded another in Nakhon Ratchasima.</p>