<p><span><span>I really wish I could write about something constructive going on in Thai society, but here I am</span></span><span><span> again, having to raise the alarm on yet another attempt to undermine our democratic rights and civil liberties.</span></span></p>

<p>The journey the Pangdaeng Palaung took was long and dangerous, from their old villages in Burma&#39;s Shan state across forests, rivers and mountains before reaching the Thai border.</p>

<p>There seems no light at the end of the tunnel for the Palaung. It is like their lives have been condemned to darkness, forever trapped in misery. March 26, 1998, Pangdaeng villagers were arrested for a second time.</p>

<p>Tens of Thousands of Buddhist monks as well as civilians gathered in Rangoon and other provinces in Burma recently, in demonbstrations that ended with violent deaths and arrests of protestors by the military government. This is not the first time that we have heard such reports from Burma.</p>

<p>"Actually, Pangdaeng has a lot more to learn about&hellip;" Sakunee "Koy" Natpoolwat talked to me one night. Perhaps true. The woman felt for the fate of Pangdaeng villagers. She has been researching on the community together with other researchers at Chiang Mai University for several years.</p>

<p>The offer from the European Union to observe the forthcoming Thai elections has been finally rejected. The reasons given in the media range from Thai outrage at the implied slur on the integrity of Thai elections, to legalistic problems with a constitutional article on signing agreements which infringe national sovereignty.</p>

<p><em>It was long after the sunset behind Doi Luang Chiang Dao. </em><em>Turn around, to face the eastern side, you will see. </em><em>As dark as the sky blanketed over Pangdaeng</em></p>

<p><span>Poverty and </span><span>economic disparity are enduring problems. In 2004, there were 8.8 million poor people or 14.4% of the whole population. Average household debt was 104,571 baht per family.&nbsp;<span>&nbsp;The 20% of the population with the lowest income made 982 baht per person per month, and their total income was 4.54% of all income. the 20% of the population with the highest income made 11,874 baht per person per month, and their total income was 54.86% of all income. <span>These problems need urgent solutions; otherwise they will undermine economic development and threaten national security.</span></span></span></p>

<p>"Is doing this bad or not, friends?" This question has been familiar to Thais since the beginning of 2006 when the movement to oust Thaksin Shinawatra^{<a name="sdfootnote1anc" href="#sdfootnote1sym" title="sdfootnote1anc">¹</a>} started up. The discourse of Thaksin as a bad person was repeated and emphasized until the moral conscience of those who follow politics was so jolted that it cracked open in a months-long show of force on the streets.</p>

<p>Banning books must be contagious in Thailand! The Thai government has now ordered censorship of the Thai translation of <u>Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party</u>, "à¡éÒº·ÇÔ¨Òóì¾Ãä¤ÍÁÁÔǹÔʵì" FACT readers may be forgiven for wondering what criticising the Chinese government has to do with us!</p>

<p>AS HARVARD&#39;S new president takes the helm, over 300 students from the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom converged on the university last weekend for the fourth annual conference of Universities Allied for Essential Medicines. UAEM leads an international student movement to make the fruits of university research - in particular, lifesaving medications developed in university labs - available in developing countries.</p>

<p>The National Legislative Assembly today was supposed to consider two bills that would further erode freedom of political expression in Thailand. Each bill is being sponsored by over 60 members of the NLA, including several supposed media representatives. It is only good that both bills have been withdrawn. </p>