<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">While it's hard to find someone who publicly opposes the &quot;Stop Hurting Thailand and Stop Using Violence&quot; campaign launched by a dozen organisations including the Thai Journalists Association (TJA), King Prajadhipok Institute, civic groups and even the Armed Forces, delivering results will be another matter.</span></span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p>

<p>Both sides say their actions are taken out of economic necessity. What would be the best way to settle disputes between employers and employees in this time of crisis?</p>

<p>Cambodia&rsquo;s press has been declared &ldquo;not free&rdquo; by international media watchdog Freedomhouse, increasing the number of the member-states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with restricted freedom to seven.</p>

<p><span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Hong Kong, China &mdash; This week the Asian Human Rights Commission issued three open letters on the selection of candidates for the new National Human Rights Commission of Thailand. The regional body has warned that if the Senate goes ahead and accepts the seven current nominees then the commission may cease to meet international standards, causing it to lose its status before the United Nations. </span></span></p>

<p><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Social critic Sulak Sivaraksa yesterday said he was afraid that the police would automatically forward his lese-majeste case tomorrow as his six-month bail term would be up tomorrow, thus causing for controversy on the already controversial lese-majeste law.</span></p> <p><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">&quot;The police want to slap the government's face [by forwarding the case],&quot; Sulak said. </span></p>

<p><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Sections of the mainstream media have been accused of double standards, plus biased and superficial portrayals of the red-shirt Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) movement during its failed uprising over Songkran.</p>

<p><strong>The Financial Times</strong>: Thailand has always had this reputation of being a jewel in Asia, one of the strongest tigers, people were comparing it to Taiwan: now the comparison is much more with countries like the Philippines. Something seems to have gone seriously wrong. Have things really got that bad?</p> <p><strong>Abhisit Vejjajiva:</strong> I think there are some major challenges we have to face up to. First of all, I think the last couple of years have seen a trend where there's a breakdown of law and order.</p>

<p><span style="font-family: Tahoma;">Another video clip purportedly showing excessive force used by armed soldiers against a red-shirted protester was shown during the second and final day of the joint House session yesterday, prompting a swift response from Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to look into the matter. </span></p>

<p>Reporters Without Borders deplores the censorship, closure and banning of many media linked to the opposition United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) since the UDD&rsquo;s violent &ldquo;red-shirt&rdquo; demonstrations in Bangkok on 13 April.<br /> &nbsp;</p>

<p>After watching the red shirts rioting on the streets of Bangkok, the degeneration into violence and finally the failed insurrection, no wonder some, if not many, people are now &quot;relieved&quot; that the pro-Thaksin Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship media are being silenced by the government.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> People who do not support the red-shirted movement or even oppose it should not succumb to the temptation of seeing this as a positive move for society, however.<br /> &nbsp;</p>

<p>Thailand's top diplomat on Tuesday linked exiled Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra to last week's violent attack on a prominent Thai protest leader.<br /> &nbsp;<br /> &nbsp;<br /> In a speech to the Asia Society, Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya accused Thaksin of playing a role in Friday's shooting of Sondhi Limthongkul, the leader of Thailand's &quot;yellow shirt&quot; protest movement that shut down Bangkok airports last year.<br /> &nbsp;</p>

<p><strong>In a SPIEGEL interview, Sukhumbhand Paribatra, the governor of Bangkok and a cousin of the king, condemns former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and criticizes the Thai Army. He says he is deeply concerned about the state of Thailand and the future of the monarchy.</strong></p>