<div id="contentsContainer"> <div id="contents"><qowt-section id="E12" named-flow="FLOW-2" qowt-eid="E12"><br /> <p id="E13" is="qowt-word-para" qowt-eid="E13" style="list-style-type:none;"><span id="E22" is="qowt-word-run" qowt-eid="E22">On February 23, the NCPO published an infomercial attached to </span><span id="E23" is="qowt-word-run" qowt-eid="E23">The Nation</span><span id="E24" is="qowt-word-run" qowt-eid="E24">. </span><span id="E26" is="qowt-word-run" qowt-eid="E26">Februuary</span><span id="E28" is="qowt-word-run" qowt-eid="E28"> 23 is admittedly some time ago.</span></p> </qowt-section></div></div>

<p>So we can see there the pictures of Trump Air Force One touching down at Bangkok airport on the latest stage of the President’s whistle-stop foreign tour.&nbsp; And in case any viewers are wondering about the name, remember that Air Force One was a military plane and so along with the rest of the military it has been privatized by presidential order.&nbsp; We are now going over to our correspondent Tony Crane who is on the tarmac.&nbsp; Tony, what can you see there?&nbsp;</p>

<div> <div><em>Hara Shintaro observes ISIS fad in Thailand's restive Deep South, and gives very insightful views on the similarities and differences between the Patani freedom movements and the pan-Islamism jihadist movements.&nbsp;</em> </div></div>

<p>The fourth paragraph of Article 50 of the Draft Constitution states that the general purpose of Thai education is to create good and disciplined students who are proud of their nation, which has been <a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/5933">criticised</a> by the group Education for the Liberation of Siam over the definitions of ‘good’ and ‘disciplined’.</p>

<p>Another school year over and time to reflect for a moment on all that budget wasted, and time and effort, and the young minds.&nbsp; So sad.</p> <p>The Thai education system, you might have thought, would be near the top of the to-do list for any government that comes to power speaking the language of reform.&nbsp; The whole shebang is so dysfunctional that anybody and his mother can pick holes in it, the latest critic being Supachai Panitchpakdi, ex-head of the WTO and UNCTAD.</p>

<div> <div><em>A MARA Patani delegate looks back at the struggle of Patani independence movements. As Thailand and MARA are about to a reach mutual agreement which will kick start the official peace talks, Abu Hafez Al-Hakim says MARA will only have one demand.&nbsp;</em></div> <div>&nbsp;</div> </div> <div> </div>

<h1><a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/politics/891940/top-villain-crackdown-set-to-intensify" style="font-size: 12px;" target="_blank">When it comes to crackdowns on “influential people,”</a><span style="font-size: 12px;">&nbsp;there are several reasons to worry.</span></h1> <div> <p>The first is that the people doing the crackdowns are usually acting in the service of “villains” at the top of the military and police.</p> </div>

<p>The code of omertà (silence) among mafia types is often portrayed as a form of honour among thieves.&nbsp; Something like not snitching on your mates, a lesson you learned in the school playground to show you were brave, principled even, and prepared to stand up to the sadistic bullying of small-minded authoritarians called teachers.&nbsp;</p> <p>But with all due respect to any members of the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%27Ndrangheta" title="'Ndrangheta">ʼNdrangheta</a>, Cosa Nostra or Camorra who might be reading this – bollocks.</p>

<div> <p>Today marks the 107th anniversary of the Anglo-Siamese Treaty.&nbsp;It will be remembered by those aware of the Treaty as the day Thailand colonized Patani. This isn't exactly true. Thailand or the Siamese Kingdom as it was at that time had already forcibly moved in to occupy the most northerly Malay State on the eastern coast of the Malay Peninsula much earlier.</p> </div>

<div> <p dir="ltr">I was relieved to read Ajan Nidhi Eoseewong’s <a href="http://prachatai.org/english/node/5892">article</a> in <em>Prachatai English</em> this past Tuesday, March 1st, about the rise of Islamophobia amongst Buddhist groups in northern Thailand. Ajan Nidhi’s article addresses the recent opposition to the construction of a halal industrial park in Chiang Mai on the part of a consortium of influential Buddhist groups. Sadly, this is only the most recent example of Buddhist objection to Muslim religious expression in the north.</p> </div>

<div>Hara Shintaro analyses weakness of the Deep South peace process and suggest ways to move forward productively.&nbsp;</div> <p></p>

<p>The <a href="https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/research/2016/02/annual-report-201516/">2015/2016 Amnesty International Report</a> Thailand analysis is, as you might expect, critical of the military regime. In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs released a <a href="http://www.mfa.go.th/main/en/media-center/14/64840-Thailand's-comments-on-Amnesty-International.html">press release</a> which lamented the fact that the Amnesty International (AI) report “only presents issues of concern” and “does not consider the particular context of Thailand”.</p>