An anti-establishment red-shirt motorcycle taxi was beaten by what is alleged to be a group of guards of the People’s Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC).  He was seriously injured after the group found a red-shirt member card in his wallet near Ratchadamnoen Avenue, said Weng Tojirakarn, a core member of the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD), a red-shirt faction affiliated to the government. 

 

Weng said on Thursday that the incident occurred overnight between Sunday, Jan 12, and Monday, Jan 13, when Samphao (last name withheld due to safety concerns) was riding his motorcycle to Wat Ratchanadda to avoid traffic jams on Ratchadamnoen. He found a group of alleged PDRC guards inside the temple compound. The group then searched Somphao, took his wallet and cash, and coerced him into telling them his ATM passwords. They later found a UDD member card. He was then beaten and electrocuted, breaking his ribs.  

 

At about 2 a.m. on Monday, Somphao was released and a passer-by took him to hospital.   

 

Two of his left ribs were broken, his face was black and blue, the bridge of his nose was swollen and he was bleeding from his eyelid, according to Prachatai reporters who visited him at hospital. 

 

Samphao is from Surin province in the lower northeast. He said he has been working as a motorcycle taxi around Ratchadamnoen Avenue for four years.  

 

Thida Thawornseth, a UDD co-leader, said the UDD will help with the medical fees. She added that she will advise red shirts not to carry anything identifying themselves with the red-shirt movement near PDRC rally sites. “Carrying UDD member cards is not wrong; the fault is with people who use violence” 

 

 

 

Women’s rights groups have condemned sexist remarks made by a physician on a PDRC rally stage and a doctored photo of female PDRC spokesperson Jitpas Kridakorn. 

 

Several gender-related groups, such as the Women Networks Reshaping Thailand and LGBTIGs for Democracy, last week issued statements and open letters condemning sexist remarks made by Prasert Wasinanukorn, an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Prince of Songkhla University, on the PDRC rally stage on January 13. 

 

The troubling part of the speech states “I have only three requests for Yingluck. First, if Yingluck resigns from her [caretaker] PM post, all Thais across the country will produce a medal featuring a naked Yingluck for her. Secondly, if Yingluck is pregnant, I’ll send a cart to take her from Bangkok to help deliver the baby in Hat Yai. Third, it’s not too late for Yingluck to resign as [caretaker] PM because she’s not yet too old to become a [sexy] model for calendars [of Thai alcohol beverage brands]. Fourthly, if no one want to take Yingluck at all, I’ll be very happy to be her servant who will buy and change tampons for her forever.”

 

The Women Networks Reshaping Thailand also condemned an anonymously doctored photo of Jitpas Kridakorn and a speech by Assistant Professor Chak Panchuphet, aka the “Five Degrees Academic”, from the Faculty of Political Science, Naresuan University also on the PDRC stage. The speech, delivered on December 22, carries sexual double meanings about the PM.  

 

“Democracy will not prosper in a society that is full of sexism and debases human dignity,” said LGBTIGs for Democracy. 

 

 

 

The Democrat-affiliated Blue Sky channel, which currently broadcasts live from the PDRC protests, reported attempts to obstruct its signal, particularly during a speech by PDRC leader Suthep Thaugsuban.

 

Executives from Blue Sky, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunication Commission (NBTC), and Thaicom, Thailand’s satellite operator, last week held a meeting to discuss the jamming. 

 

Thakorn Tantasit, NBTC Secretary-General, said after the meeting that the investigation found that the Blue Sky signal was first jammed in November last year. The signal was jammed continuously for 30 minutes on December 5. On January 13-14, the signal was severely jammed again, especially during Suthep’s speech.   

 

The Secretary-General said the meeting agreed that the Thaicom satellite channel signal had been intentionally jammed and the jamming signals were likely to be from inside the country 

 

Thaicom will provide a backup satellite channel for Blue Sky in case the Blue Sky channel is severely jammed. 

 

 

 

The pro-election Assembly for the Defence of Democracy (AFDD), led by academics from Thammasat University and Chulalongkorn University, on Friday issued a statement condemning violence during PDRC demonstrations. 

 

The statement said the group would like to express its great remorse to the family of the dead protesters and the injured PDRC protesters and called for the government to offer compensation for the deaths and injuries.

 

AFDD urged those behind the violence who aimed to stir up conflict and hatred to stop. The escalating tension may lead to violence between people from different sides and between state authorities and protesters, which will be difficult to control.

 

“Most importantly, the violence will act as an invitation for a military intervention in the form of a coup d’état and stop the election on February 2. This will worsen the political conflict in Thailand.” 

 

The AFDD believes political conflict can be healed by reasoning, patience, and respect for each other’s’ dignity. The on-going violence must not be used as an excuse for the intervention of undemocratic forces, who will take power from the people, it says.