<div>I've received the official invitation letter from the United States Embassy of Thailand 2 weeks ago. It was sent to the faculty of Chulalongkorn university. I learned from the letter that I'm invited to attend the 241 years of Independence Day celebration which will be held on 29th of June, at InterContinental hotel, Bangkok: As an ordinary student, of course, I’m genuinely delighted for such an opportunity.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>However, being invited to this event also made me question something. Why am I invited to this event? I'm not different from any other student. </div>

<p>Seminal historian Thongchai Winichakul argues that Thailand’s many constitutions have progressively torn power from the people to be placed back in the hands of the King — &nbsp;a process seen most clearly in the latest charter.</p> <p></p>

<p dir="ltr">The ongoing<a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/7222"> debate</a> on the organic law on the new Thai National Human Rights Commission focuses on the selection process and level of authority of the NHRC, i.e., whether it can advise the Constitutional and Administrative Courts. The regime’s official position is that the NHRC should be more diverse and should meet the international human rights Paris Principles, a somewhat paradoxical position given it was under the regime that the NHRC was downgraded according to the Paris Principles. Civil society also emphasizes greater diversity and that there should be a stronger emphasis on the NHRC investigating human rights abuses.</p> <p></p>

<div>1. The months of May and June mark several key milestones in Thai history. There is June 1932 (the People’s Revolution) and June 1946 (the assassination of King Rama VIII), the two bloody crackdowns in May 1992 and 2010, and the coup in May 2014.</div> <p></p>

<p>The Fifth Wave of the Unicef Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) on women and children’s health was administered by the Thai National Statistical Office (NSO) in 2015-2016, with the <a href="https://www.unicef.org/thailand/Thailand_MICS_Full_Report_EN.pdf">main report</a> being published earlier this year. The survey illustrates how children and young people living in remote and rural areas, children from poor households, and children whose parents have low levels of education are falling behind in health, education, and overall development.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><em>Avoiding colonization by Europe simply meant that we colonized our own people. This internal colonialism, in which officials appointed from the metropolis rule and drain the countryside like conquered provinces, has led to obvious differences among the Thai.</em></p> <p dir="ltr">(Gen. Saiyut Koetphon, former head of Internal Security Operations Command, 1976.)</p>

<p dir="ltr"><em>Note: On 29 April, a university professor was<a href="http://prachatai.org/english/node/7132"> arrested</a> as part of a sweep of six individuals accused of committing lèse majesté by posting to Facebook. He has been denied bail, as most are in these cases. Last week, Yukti Mukdawijitra, an anthropology professor at Thammasat University went to visit him. What follows are his reflections on their conversation, which was first published in Thai in his usual<a href="https://blogazine.pub/blogs/yukti-mukdawijitra/post/6013"> blog column</a> for Prachatai.—trans.</em></p>

<p>A bomb goes off at Phramongkutklao Hospital and 25 are injured.&nbsp; The Prime Minister next day says that if such things go on, the election (in the most optimistic scenario at least 18 months away) may have to be delayed.</p>

<div><a href="https://prachatai.com/english/node/6805">Porntip ‘Kolf’ Mankhong</a>, a former political prisoner, looks back at her more-than-a-decade of activism, arguing that the rise of ‘heroism’ among student activists is threatening solidarity and participation in Thailand’s democracy movement. Prontip gave this speech at the 2017 Asia Youth Leadership Forum For Democracy in Seoul.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>I’m lucky to have been an activist since the age of 16; it means I got to know myself early. I had time to try many things, to make mistakes and learn from them too. </div>

<div>&nbsp;</div> <div><img alt="" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4165/34654218016_9ee357b1ec_b.jpg" /></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>Last month, a photo of Saudi Arabia’s Girl’s Council became viral because of one peculiarity: the total absence of women and girls in it. Thousands of Thais – including many LGBTIs – must have sniggered at the image. </div>

<p>Thailand’s military government hurriedly approved the budget to purchase three submarines from China, defending its decision as “strategically necessary” in the age of uncertain security situation in the region. However, the junta’s decision has been heavily criticised by the Thai public on the real need for the costly submarines at the time of the country’s economic downturn.</p>

<p>As if our non-elected Prime Minister didn’t already have little enough faith in democracy, Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal has gone and got himself elected as president of Chulalongkorn University Student Council.</p> <p>Chula, that bastion of elitism, conformity and 100-year-old privilege in pink; the university where students wear uniforms to sign petitions against uniforms, and where new graduates give Nazi salutes in front of murals of Hitler (just for the laugh, of course); Chula, of all places, has elected a free-thinking anti-authoritarian, anti-militarist iconoclast.</p>