<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Thantawut Taweewarodomkul aka “Noom Rednon”, a former convict under Article 112 or the lèse majesté law, revealed on Tuesday that his family has been followed and harassed by the military after he did not report to the junta as ordered.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Thantawut was sentenced to 13 years in jail for posting lèse majesté messages on a website. After serving three years in jail, he received a royal pardon. After he was freed in July 2013, he occasionally joined red-shirt pro-democracy activities. </div></div>

<div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The authorities on Monday morning transferred most of the red-shirt political prisoners who were arrested after the 2010 political violence in Bangkok from Laksi temporary prison to more crowded permanent prisons where conditions are worse.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The Laksi Prison for political prisoners was initiated during the Yingluck Shinawatra government. </div></div>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div>“I have no regrets, at all, that I decided not to report myself to the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).” Even though many people told me to reconsider, I remain firm in my original decision.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>As soon as the broadcast of Announcement No. 5/2557 [2014] of the military dictatorship of the NCPO on the afternoon of Saturday, 24 May 2014, which ordered 35 individuals to report themselves, was finished, I did not hesitate. </div>

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<p>Paris-Bangkok-Geneva, April 29, 2014. Thailand must release labour rights activist Somyot Prueksakasemsuk and promote a free, open, and informed public debate on lèse-majesté, FIDH and OMCT, within the framework of the Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, and Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) said today. On April 30, Somyot, a UCL member and the former editor of the Voice of Taksin magazine, will mark three years in jail.</p>

<p><strong>On the Occasion of the International Thai Studies Conference</strong><strong>, Sydney, Australia</strong><strong>, 24 April 2014</strong></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7420/14002282941_60dd82de55_z.jpg" /></p> <p><img alt="" src="https://farm3.staticflickr.com/2925/14025462953_be7842be64_z.jpg" /></p>

<div>Nitimonster, a network of young artists and activists based in Chiang Mai, wants their art exhibition to be provocative, and touch upon the hottest political issues of the day. But what they did not foresee was that their artwork would cause all the staff in the gallery to go on strike, and earn them an f-word curse from the chef in the restaurant opposite on the opening day. &nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<p>This is Thanthawut’s account of his day of release, originally published&nbsp;<a href="http://blogazine.in.th/blogs/littlevoicefromprisons/post/4240">in Thai</a>&nbsp;on Prachatai on 12 July 2013. He describes the process he went through on the day of his release and his experience of the pardon. This is a story of Thanthawut’s walk through the series of barred, iron doors that led him from inside the walls of the prison to the world of freedom outside.</p> <p></p>

<p>Thantawut Thaweewarodomkul, former webmaster of Red Shirt USA, who was sentenced to 13 years for lèse majesté, was granted a royal pardon and released from Bangkok Remand Prison on Friday, after serving 3 years. He was arrested in April 2010 for violating the lèse majesté law, or Article 112 of Criminal Code, and the Computer Crime Act.</p> <p></p>

<p>&nbsp;</p> <p><strong>Prison visit to Somyot on 27 June 2013</strong></p> <p>Thursday mornings at 08.30 am are when Somyot and I have a regular weekly visit. Iron bars and secure windows keep us apart but can’t separate our souls. I was given Room No. 1, which is the last interview room in the row in Bangkok Remand Prison. Without hesitation, Somyot walked fast and looked straight at me and smiled; his smile made the world so bright and full of hope and peace. I was so relieved to meet him that morning.&nbsp;</p>

<p><em>Truth panel seeks separate custody centre for political detainees</em></p> <p>Human rights and political activists welcomed the government's decision to set up a separate jail to detain political prisoners, though one person voiced doubts as to whether those detained over lese-majeste charges should be included or not. This idea comes as part of recommendations from the Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT).</p>

<p>Amnesty International welcomes the release of Aung San Suu Kyi, but calls on the government of Myanmar to immediately release all of the prisoners of conscience in the country.</p>