On April 10, Songkhla Provincial Court postponed the hearing of the Tak Bai case to May 29, because the government had announced the day a special public holiday due to the ongoing political turmoil in Bangkok.

The hearing was to officially identify the 78 persons who died in the Tak Bai incident in 2004, and to determine the cause of death and those responsible.

The deceased were among hundreds of people arrested by the security forces during a protest on Oct 25, 2004, at the local police station in Tak Bai district in the southernmost province, Narathiwat.  Most died of suffocation after being thrown into military trucks, and forced to lie piled on top of each other, while being transported to a military base in Pattani province.

32 relatives of the victims were present in court, along with 3 lawyers and a group of observers from human rights and legal organizations.

There were only a few court officials at work, and few cases proceeded, as it had been announced a public holiday

The relatives and lawyers formally requested the court to continue to hold the hearing.

After checking the list of names of the relatives present in court, judge Yingyod Tanchon announced the postponement due to the fact that it was a holiday and not all of the relatives were present.