<p dir="ltr"><em>A highly respected conservation organisation in the UK, the RSPB, just released a planning document which provides a close-to-zero target for UK greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. However, Thailand is still locked into a coal future, despite clean coal being illusory and despite encouragement by the International Energy Agency (IEA) to embrace more solar. According to the World Bank, a similar attitude across Asia would end the world.</em></p> <p></p>

<p>The future of Wat Ratha Dharma Nun has been cast into further question by the discovery of yet more grisly evidence of corpses of democracy and apparent links to the shadowy world of international dictatorship trafficking.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><em>Thai kindergarten children have been taught discipline by wearing military uniforms, drilling, and practicing Nazi salutes in any other country should have immediately triggered a rescue operation by social services, involving psychiatric care and deprogramming. In Thailand, however, the central administration has praised the school.</em></p> <p></p>

<p><em>In a police station in northern Bangkok</em></p> <p>So we’ve got the arrest warrant and that’s OK?</p> <p>Double checked. All the right signatures.&nbsp; No spelling mistakes.</p> <p>OK, good, so I think the way is clear, we just go in and …</p> <p>Hang on, have you seen the pictures on the front page?</p> <p>No.&nbsp; Why?</p> <p>They’ve parked two excavators right in front of the gates.</p> <p>So that’s put the mockers on that.&nbsp; How do we get in now?&nbsp;</p> <p>We’ll have to call it all off again.&nbsp; Pity.</p>

<div>In January 2013, the Criminal Court convicted and sentenced a magazine editor to ten years in prison in Thailand. His crime was violation of the lèse majesté law by publishing and disseminating two articles. The court proved the guilt of the editor by asking witnesses to read the articles in question and interpret them for the court. Upon listening to the interpretation of these witnesses, the court concluded that the editor must have reached the same interpretation. Therefore, this indicated that the editor intended to defame the king by printing and disseminating the two articles. </div>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-4e981652-dcab-30c5-5842-8256fd3d45e8">Renowned Thai academic and social commentator Nidhi Eoseewong’s column titled </span><a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/5874">What’s the point of having a military?</a>, originally in Thai on <a href="http://www.matichon.co.th/news/2227">Matichon Online</a>, stirred up a veritable hornet’s nest of interest in both the Thai mainstream and English alternative media.</p>

<p><em>Abu Hafez Al-Hakim, a MARA Patani delegate discussed about the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the peace dialogue between Bangkok and MARA Patani, as umbreralla organization of the insurgent movements. The TOR, if endorsed, will kick start the official peace dialogue.&nbsp;</em></p> <p></p>

<p>Well that was a right farce last Wednesday in Geneva, eh?&nbsp; Talk about a dialogue of the deaf.</p> <p>I am of course referring to Thailand’s starring role in the latest episode in the UPR saga of the UNHRC.&nbsp;</p> <p>And for those who don’t follow the arcane acronyms of international human rights (so how the hell did you get to this website?), let me explain that it was Thailand’s turn to sit in the naughty chair and face a barrage of questions and recommendations about how to improve its human rights record.</p>

<p>John Draper discussed a Wikileaks cable.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<p dir="ltr">Second part of Hara Shintaro's analysis on the Pondok Jihad phenomena in Thailand's restive Deep South.</p> <p></p>

<div>The removal of a senior military officer who had played a key role in the Thai dialogue team in the southern peace talks, and the team's unreadiness to endorse the draft terms of reference (ToR), raise concerns about whether the process is facing a deadlock.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div>The technical teams of Party A, representing the Thai government, and Party B, a term defined as "people with different opinions from the state" and represented by Mara Patani, have spent several months working on the ToR. </div>

<p dir="ltr">Dear Former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva,</p>