<p>Accepting the <em>status quo</em>, while at the same time claiming to fight against it, comes with some contradictions for UDD/Phue Thai Party. This will not appease all factions of the red shirts. Despite rhetoric of resistance and lots of emotive and expressive language at mass gatherings, there is little indication of a combined longer term vision or even of an ideology on which to achieve democracy. Neither has there been any intellectual discussion about what form that &ldquo;democracy&rdquo; should take, other than an assumption that it must come from the ballot box; that it must be built on the aspirations of the majority electorate. But an election under the current &ldquo;rules of the game&rdquo; established post 19 September 2006 can at best only be a means of redistributing political and economic benefits and in establishing new power sharing arrangements.</p>

<p>Most red shirts still oppose congress headed by Prawase and Anand despite claim of 'transcending political divide'<br /> The three-day National Reform Congress concluded yesterday with its chairman Prawase Wasi boasting that the meeting, which drew some 2,000 participants, &quot;transcended&quot; political division and &quot;united&quot; people from all walks.</p>

<p>On 11 Mar, two men hung banners blaming the red shirts for burning the country at a pedestrian bridge at Bon Kai on Rama IV Rd, an area where the military had a long standoff with red-shirt protesters about a year ago.</p>

<p>The case of Khun &ldquo;Pla&rdquo; (ปลา), a freelance media writer, arrested by police handing out information on 112 at the UDD rally on Saturday needs to be highlighted, not for the case itself (though that is important) but the <em>manner </em>in which she was arrested. Depressingly, she was handed over to the police by seven rude UDD guards (three were actually police hired as UDD guards) who then took her to the police station between 6-7 hours until after the demonstration finished and then released.</p>

<p>A red-shirt woman was seized and taken to the police by guards of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship during the rally on Saturday when she was distributing leaflets containing information about Article 112, or the l&egrave;se majest&eacute; law, and royal assets.</p>

<p>It appears that most so-called &ldquo;softer head&rdquo; (หัวอ่อน) hard-core leaders on the run since last year are returning back home accepting a new compact with the amaat regime which they took a stand against since events following 19 September 2006. This compact was enabled through the &ldquo;electoral&rdquo; UDD group, involving no doubt some interesting conversations with various stakeholders both at home and, importantly, abroad, and of course certain higher powers.</p>

<p><em>[This is the text of the presentation made by Nick Nostitz at the launch of his&nbsp; Red vs. Yellow, Volume 2: Thailand&rsquo;s Political Awakening in Bangkok yesterday.]</em></p>

<p>Democratic Alliance Against Dictatorship (DAAD) co-leader Weng Tojirakarn was recently released on bail after nine months in jail on charges of terrorism after the red-shirt uprising last year ended in a deadly crackdown on May 19. Here, Weng speaks to The Nation's Pravit Rojanaphruk about his time in prison, politics and internal divisions within the red-shirt movement.</p>

<p>22 red shirts held in prison in Udon Thani have been denied bail, while 6 red shirts in Mukdahan have been granted bail to receive treatment for mental illness.</p>

<p>&lsquo;Those who were killed here were like brothers and sisters, so I don&rsquo;t want them to be forgotten.&nbsp; At least, it should be remembered that people were killed here, not just at Ratchaprasong and Phan Fah,&rsquo; said a red shirt at Bon Kai on Rama IV Road.</p>

<p class="MsoNormal">Somphan Phuthajak, 39, was shot in the back during the unrest on 15 May last year, was hospitalized for two weeks, and took another 4 months to recover.&nbsp; She has received 2,800 baht in medical compensation from the Rights and Liberty Protection Department of the Ministry of Justice.</p>

<p>Santipong Injan, who lost his right eye during the clash on 10 April last year, has been denied visa by the British Embassy in Bangkok on grounds of the lack of sufficient fund, despite a formal invitation to attend a panel discussion held by an independent body at the House of Lords. The mother and brother of Kamonkade Akkahad, a volunteer nurse who was killed at Pathum Wanaram Temple on 19 May 2010, have also been denied visa for the same reason. However, here is his speech he has prepared for the occasion:</p> <p><em>Correction: the event, entitled 'Human Rights in Thailand', was held by Baroness Prosser of Battersea ( Deputy Chair of the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/pages/Equality-and-Human-Rights-Commission/111147332239704">Equality and Human Rights Commission</a>), at the House of Lords on 2 Feb.&nbsp; Other panelists invited included Elisabetta Polenghi (the sister of the murgered Italian photographer), Editor in Chief of Reuters David Schlesinger, Bangkok-based independent journalist Andrew Buncombe and Kwanravee Wangudom from People's Information Center: April - May 2010 (PIC).</em></p>