<div>The Patani conflict in southern Thailand has been seen as an internal issue for both sides of the conflict. The Thai authorities have always insisted that it is a domestic matter and even still refuses to recognize it as a conflict but rather criminal activity or banditry. On the separatist side, the militant organizations' leadership and fighters have always come from inside Patani despite the fact that in the past, some financial support and military training came from outside such as from the Libyan and Syrian governments. </div>

<div> <div>Harit Mahaton, a fiction and fantasy writer and ramen shop owner from Khon Kaen, was arrested and placed in military detention on 27 April 2016 for violating Article 116 of the Criminal Code (sedition) by allegedly working with others to make a Facebook page ridiculing the current prime minister in Thailand. While he was in detention, he was further accused of violating Article 112 (lèse majesté) in relation to a private Facebook conversation. After one night in military detention, he was transferred to the Bangkok Remand Prison, where he remained until being granted bail on 8 July 2016. This essay was first published on his personal Facebook page in Thai.</div> </div>

<div><em>Brazil’s long term policy on Proalcohol (sugarcane-based ethanol fuel programme) has provided a platform for Brazil to develop its sugar industry and subsequently dominate the world sugar trade. </em></div>

<p>If you think being a political prisoner in Thailand is already a nightmare, being an ordinary prisoner can be worse. A junta critic, accused of lèse majesté, has shared an experience after being rejected from visiting his cellmates just because they do not have a same surname.</p> <p style="text-align: center;"><img alt="" src="https://scontent.fbkk5-5.fna.fbcdn.net/t31.0-8/s960x960/13603828_1068155469939211_5092692340048842351_o.jpg" style="width: 640px; height: 828px;" /></p>

<p dir="ltr"><em>Thailand, a dictatorship with fading human rights, lost the June 28, 2016 UN Security Council vote for a temporary seat to Kazakhstan, a corrupt, authoritarian, single-party post-Soviet hellhole for human rights where electoral pluralism is practically unknown. ‘Team Thailand’ failed to leverage either its Chairmanship of the G77 or the Philosophy of Sufficiency Economy to provide a workable vision for sustainable development and global North-South co-operation. Read why.</em></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<div><em>Rangsiman Rome is 1 of the 7 students who was arrested and is being detained as a result of campaigning around the constitutional referendum. He dictated this letter to Somkit Lertpaithoon to a friend who came to visit him at the prison. </em></div>

<p dir="ltr"><em>One of the first social consequences of the UK vote to exit the EU has been an increase in race-based hate crimes perpetrated by sympathizers of Britain’s far-right movements. These reflect a discourse of polarization and hate of the ‘Other’ which underpins extremist organizations like the radical Islamic group ISIS, as well as the Trump Campaign in the US – which can only win in the event of a terrorist attack on US soil, now more likely than ever.</em></p> <p></p>

<p>Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn has attempted to put the kibosh on plans by the UDD to monitor the upcoming referendum.&nbsp; That much was entirely predictable.&nbsp; What was more surprising was the legal justification that he gave for saying that they couldn’t do it.</p> <p>He is reported to have said that the Referendum Act did not expressly permit it.&nbsp;</p> <p>But saying so you can’t do something if the law doesn’t explicitly permit you to do it – that’s complete bullshit.&nbsp;</p>

<div>Having spent over 15 years under house arrest imposed by the military junta that ruled Myanmar until 2011, Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Daw Aung San Suu Kyi knows a thing or two about dealing with military men. </div>

<div>As a Canadian Masters student who is researching development practices in Thailand, and works at Prachatai, I often hear and read about conflicts between authorities and activists. After observing interactions between the two groups this past weekend, from the explanations given by the authorities for their interventions at least, it seems like they are there just to help out! Let me explain.&nbsp;</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>There is an activist group called the New E-saan Movement, which is located in the northeast region of Isaan, in Thailand. </div>

<div>Muslims all over the world are observing their religious duty of fasting during the holy month, Ramadan. Hostility being prohibited during this month, many people have the naive hope that the conflict situation in Patani, or the Muslim-majority southernmost provinces of Thailand, will improve at least temporarily. </div>

<p>On June 13, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights welcomed Thailand’s decision to enact the Prevention and Suppression of Torture Act. However, the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) is currently suing three authors of a report published earlier this year on alleged military torture practices in the Deep South. Ignoring the 12 Core Values of Thai People is how to lose Thailand’s 4GW in the Deep South.</p> <p><strong>Thailand’s Fourth Generation War</strong></p>