<p>A former security guard who testified to the Criminal Court on the May 19, 2010 arson and death case at CentralWorld told judges yesterday that he had put his signature approving the police statement charging the two defendants without reading the document.</p>

<p>Prasong Panyatham, a 27-year-old homeless scavenger, is among 5 defendants who were arrested by the military in Din Daeng, Bangkok, on 21 May last year.&nbsp; While their trial is underway, his recent no-show has made the other defendants worry that their case might not end anytime soon.</p>

<p>Members of Peuthai party cannot deny the fact that one of the key factors which lead to it winning the recent election came from people&rsquo;s anger towards political injustice since the 2006 coup.</p>

<p><em>Two photo books document the movement that swept away the coup-makers</em></p>

<p>Now that the Pheu Thai Party is getting ready to form a new government, the so-called &quot;red shirts for democracy&quot; face the challenge of living up to their self-chosen tag of being &quot;truly democratic&quot;.</p>

<p>On 25 July, a group of lawyers and red shirts visited 53 red-shirt detainees in Bangkok prisons to give them food and other necessities in a bid to give them moral support and help ease their hardship in prison.</p>

<p>With the overwhelming win of the Pheu Thai Party in the July 3 elections and as Yingluck Shinawatra is headed to become the first ever female Prime Minister in Thailand, it is eerie to see the parallels between the recent developments in Thailand&rsquo;s political history centered around the figure of Thaksin Shinawatra and the period of the late General Juan Domingo Peron&rsquo;s influence in Argentina, particularly during the 1960&rsquo;s and 70&rsquo;s.</p>

<p>The afternoon of May 19, 2010 was a time of chaos at Zen department store after red shirts ended their protest and the Army moved into Ratchaprasong.</p>

<p>As we drive down to the village, about 20 minutes from the provincial capital of Udon Thani, 42-year-old Kamsaen, wife of village headman Korngchai Chaikang, complains about allegations that their village is a training site for anti-monarchist armed militants.</p>

<p>The provincial court in Ubon Ratchathani has given 9 red shirts suspended jail terms for their alleged involvement in the 19 May 2010 unrest, after they pleaded guilty.&nbsp; Another group of 21 red shirts will hear the court&rsquo;s rulings in early September.</p>

<p>On 23 May, the Civil Court accepted cases filed against the authorities by family members of two victims of the crackdown on red shirts last year.</p> <p><a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/1818">Samaphan Srithep</a>, 16, was shot and killed at Soi Rang Nam on 15 May 2010.&nbsp; Thanuthat Asawasirimankong, 53, has been paralysed after being shot in the back and shoulder on 14 May at Bon Kai on Rama IV Rd.</p>

<p>On 19 May, groups of red shirts under the banner of Democracy Networks held activities to mark the first anniversary of the crackdown in front of Lumpini Park, performing traditional rituals to curse the masterminds who ordered the killings, and campaigning for the release of political prisoners and the repeal of the l&egrave;se majest&eacute; law.</p>