<p>The Military Junta should be careful how it reacts to the passing of King Bhumibol. Emotions are high right now in Thailand which the military will no doubt aim to exploit to consolidate its political power over the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>In the past months, dozens of multilingual signs have been installed across Khon Kaen province in Northeast Thailand. Part of an innovative cultural maintenance and revitalisation project, the signs bear messages in three languages - Thai, Isaan (Thai Lao) and English.</p>

<p>The finding guilty of human rights activist Andy Hall for defamation and violation of the Computer Crimes Act was lauded by the plaintiff, the president of Natural Fruit. After hearing the verdict, the president stated to the press that "No foreigner should think they have power above Thai sovereignty". Because Natural Fruit’s president has invoked Thai values, it is worthwhile examining the case through official normative Thai values, the Twelve Core Values of Thai People.</p>

<p>A first-year Kasetsart University student was put in a coma after a near-drowning in a pond at the university’s Sri Racha campus.</p> <p>The university authorities strenuously denied claims on social media that this was part of a freshman hazing activity that went wrong.&nbsp; Anonymous posts (from, it must be said, suspiciously distant places) say that the freshman was ordered or challenged by senior students to go into the pond to wash himself after being muddied in other hazing activities.</p>

<div>It was the first time a Czech mole entertained the French Institute in Yangon. The mole, the iconic character of the Czech animation that are popular worldwide, played a role of decoy in the military-dominant Burma, which is now more widely called Myanmar, to trick the military intelligence. It was the year 2005, when the military regime was so powerful that it seemed nothing would work, whether it was the sanction from the West or the UN pressure. </div>

<p>[SOS – Save/Slaughter Our Students]</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://c1.staticflickr.com/9/8065/29647735421_abfb278c7c_c.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 452px;" /></p> <p style="text-align: center;"><span style="color:#ff8c00;">Photo from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/199177920480536/">Fundamental's Facebook Page</a></span></p> <p>How does one discuss the undiscussed and undiscussable past?</p> <p>How does one represent the unrepresented and unrepresentable present?</p> <p>How does one imagine the unimagined and unimaginable future?</p>

<p dir="ltr">Thailand&rsquo;s political landscape seems haunted by figures, events and images that once symbolised progressive change. Such change arguably has not come, yet the same symbols linger on, in newspapers, activist pamphlets and state media.</p>

<p>In Thailand, there is a long and distinguished tradition of citizens and non-citizens being able to petition the reigning monarch. This tradition leads dates back at least to the time of the King Ram Khamhaeng stele. Given the circumstances, this open letter to General Prem Tinsulanonda, Head of the Privy Council, is an exercising of that right.</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>CC HRH the Heir Apparent Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>General,</p>

<p>This major essay addresses the issues of terrorism, inclusion and reconciliation in Thailand and more widely in Southeast Asia, using the means of language in education to build social inclusion, citizenship affiliation and inter-ethnic reconciliation.</p>

<p dir="ltr">With the north and Isan (northeast), the three southernmost provinces (Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat) are where the majority of the people rejected the draft constitution in the referendum held on 7 August 2016. It also must be noted that in 5 districts in the region, a majority of voters failed to cast a ballot (Khok Pho District in Pattani, Mueang and Betong districts in Yala, and Su-ngai Kolok and Sukhirin districts in Narathiwat).</p>

<p dir="ltr">This analysis of the recently released Project for a Social Democracy’s Statement of Purpose, available in full below, attempts to put Social Democracy in context in the Thai Situation. As can be seen, there is a significant emphasis on philosophy, or political ideology, as well as on human solidarity, worker’s rights, internationalism, and economic, social, and cultural rights as well as civil and political ones. This is new for Thailand and should be welcomed.</p>

<p>Many foreigners, it seems, often cite the Thai media as being cowardly and not performing the noble job that the Fourth Estate is poetically linked with – establishing truth, fighting injustice, exposing graft, fighting for the people, etc. For Thai media critics or just people that want to read why things are so difficult for Thai media, allow me to relate a story to you…</p> <p>Note that often below when I say “I” I might be referring to my Thai wife who was legally registered as the paper’s owner and editor.</p>