<p><span>Attention was nailed on the crisis in Burma over the last couple of weeks and rightly so. The crisis in Burma has once again brought home the grim reality that powerful elites, with little to nil concern for international human rights standards, feel they can justify extreme measures in order to ensure their grip on power. The military junta&#39;s use of extreme violence against unarmed monks and civilians aspiring freedom and democracy clearly highlights their fear and cowardice and has aroused condemnation all over the world. </span></p>

<p><span><strong>Prachatai today prints the first of a weekly column by Harrison George.&nbsp; </strong></span><span><strong>Bangkokians with long memories may remember his irreverent column in The Nation in the 1980&#39;s.</strong>&nbsp;&nbsp;During his period of enforced silence since then, he was variously reported as participating in a 999-day meditation retreat in a hill-top monastery in Mae Hong Son (he gave up after 998 days), as the Special Rapporteur for Satire of the UN High Commission for Human Rights, and as understudy for the male lead in the long-running &lsquo;Pussies -not the Musical&#39; at the Neasden International Palladium (formerly Park Lane Empire). <strong>And if you believe any of those stories, you might believe his columns.</strong></span></p>

<p><span><span>Since the military coup of 19</span></span>^{<span><span>th</span></span>}<span><span> September 2006, Thailand has almost caught up with China as a world leader in the field of internet censorship and control, particularly with regard to freedom of political expression. This is a completely unacceptable environment for the promised return to democracy at the end of this year.</span></span></p>

<p><span><span>I was going to begin the series by expressing my views on our government&#39;s suffocation of internet freedom, but that will have to wait till next week. The present situation in Burma (officially called "Myanmar" by the governing military junta) requires me to urgently call upon our government (established by our own home-made military junta) to relinquish its wimpish "non-interference" position on the Burmese domestic situation, and tell the Burmese regime in no uncertain terms that any use of violence to crackdown on the peaceful mass demonstrations for democracy and social justice taking place all over country will be completely unacceptable to Thailand.</span></span></p>

<p>While the mainstream media concentrate on the pronouncements of foreign governments and the role of the U.N. in stopping the bloodshed perpetrated by the Burmese junta, the real struggle is on the streets and in the cities around Burma.</p>

<p><span>Council for National Security spokesperson Col Sansern Kaewkamnerd told reporters after a CNS meeting on Sept 17 that martial </span><span>law would remain in force in 27 provinces including Pattani and those along the border; the number decreased from 35 previously. This might cheer up the urban middle class a little bit as a good sign of improvement in the situation, economic in particular.</span></p>

<p>In early 2007, as a small number of highly placed members of the<br />Lao Communist Party&#39;s (ruling) Politburo stated to the press that they<br />would like to see an absolute end to logging inside the country&#39;s<br />conservation areas.</p>

<p>...I begin with an illustration which reflects the condemnation and belittling of poor people all over the country. You may well remember this. Let&#39;s forget where it comes from, but try to interpret its meaning straightforwardly.&nbsp;</p>

<p>During 18 - 22 July 2007, Pornpen Kongkiatkachorn from the Working Group on Justice for Peace spoke at the training session for NGOs working on ethnic and human rights issues in the North. She related her experience in the past year as part of the Working Group on Justice for Peace which has shed light on discrimination that still exists in the justice system there.&nbsp; </p>

<p>This article wants to take the opinions on the referendum by people in Mukdahan province to argue against the claims put forward by the junta and its minions including politicians, academics, and the media, that northeasterners&#39; are backward in politics, and against the superficial attitudes generally held by the urban middle class towards the rural poor.</p>

<p>Many Thais have their reasons to vote &quot;Yes&quot; for the 2007 constitution some see it as a shift of the gear towards the next election while others endorse it as part of the post-coup efforts to right the wrong things incurred during Thaksin regime. But whether it really ends there or a less polarized and less despotic<br />political environment emerge after Sunday referendum, there remains a certain degree of uncertainty.</p>

<p><span>What re</span><span>asons do we use in deciding to accept or reject the draft 2007 constitution? The reasons given both publicly and privately are numerous, but can be grouped into two main categories: those concerning the content of the draft charter and those concerning considering the context.</span></p>