<p dir="ltr">The former fugitive Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has threatened to take legal actions against those accusing him of royal defamation.</p> <p>The former PM wrote on his twitter account on 9 October 2017 that he felt ‘extremely uncomfortable’ about the recent statement of Khemchai Chutiwongse, the Attorney General, that he will be indicted under Article 112 of the Criminal Code, the &nbsp;lèse majesté law.</p>

<p>After five years of legal struggle, a court has confirmed a ban on a film adaptation of Shakespeare’s play ‘Macbeth’, which touches on sensitive historical topics.</p> <p>On 11 August 2017, the Administrative Court maintained a ban on ‘Shakespeare Must Die’, a political film with references to the 6 October 1976 student massacre and the political violence during the red shirt demonstrations in 2009.</p> <p>The leading character of the movie, called ‘Dear Leader’, is believed to be based on the controversial former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. &nbsp;&nbsp;</p>

<div> <div>Thaksin Shinawatra has urged Thailand’s ruling junta to stop blaming him for political violence, adding he wants no place in the military government’s ongoing reconciliation efforts.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>On 31 March 2017, the exiled former Prime Minister condemned the junta <a href="https://www.facebook.com/thaksinofficial/?fref=nf&amp;pnref=story">on his Facebook page</a> for its failure to handle the country’s economy. </div></div>

<div style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://62e528761d0685343e1c-f3d1b99a743ffa4142d9d7f1978d9686.ssl.cf2.rackcdn.com/files/142881/width926/image-20161024-28409-114n5bi.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 426px;" /></div> <div style="text-align: center;">&nbsp;</div> <div style="text-align: center;"><span style="color:#ff8c00;">Under military rule, social order is attained at the expense of economic growth while elected governments usually lead to political turmoil. </span></div>

<p dir="ltr">Thailand&rsquo;s political landscape seems haunted by figures, events and images that once symbolised progressive change. Such change arguably has not come, yet the same symbols linger on, in newspapers, activist pamphlets and state media.</p>

<p>Junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha today accused the de facto leader of the Redshirt movement of plotting the recent resumption of public protests against his military regime.</p>

<p>The Thai military have summoned 2 journalists in the northern province of Chiang Mai for a discussion over a news report about a red bowl inscribed with Thai new year greetings from former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.</p>

<p>Thai military summoned a villager in the northern province of Chiang Mai for posting a picture of a red bowl with the signature of the controversial former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on it and accused her of sedition.</p>

<p>The Governor of Roi Et Province in Isan, the northeast, has barred civil servants and village chiefs from distributing Pheu Thai Party calendar with images of Yingluck and Thaksin Shinnawatra, the two ex-Prime Ministers, while the Thai junta said it is up to the Governor what to do.</p>

<p dir="ltr">The veteran politician, closed-aid to ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra has lived in self-imposed exile for 6 years. In part 3 of the interview, Jakrapob Penkair talked about the conflicts among the Thai elites within the junta regime, the role of Pheu Thai Party, and his life outside the country.</p> <p></p>

<div>The veteran politician, closed-aid to ex-PM Thaksin Shinawatra has lived in self-imposed exile for 6 years. In Part 2 of the interview, Jakrapob Penkair discussed the alleged violence of the red-shirt movement and prospect of Thai politics after the coup.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<p>As the latest corruption scandal shows, the Thai junta hasn’t rid the country of dodgy politicians; it’s simply taken their place.</p> <p>Anti-corruption has been a poster child of anti-democratic groups in Thailand since 2005.</p> <p>The People’s Alliance for Democracy (2005-2008), the Council for National Security (2006-2007), the People’s Democratic Reform Council (2013-2014), and the National Council of Peace and Order (2014–present) have all used it to drive their agenda.</p>