<p>Much has been made of the National Council for Peace and Order’s attempts at political reconciliation and its voting down its own draft constitution in an act of political theater. In fact, everyone in ‘Amazing Thailand’ right now is engaged in a giant ‘democratic thought experiment’ – trapped in a giant, country-size military camp. As no one except General Prayut, the NCPO, and the National Legislative Assembly has any power in these ‘special circumstances’, the whole country has an ideal opportunity to collectively consider the nature of power and the absence of it – nautonomy.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-1c186738-87b6-fd85-06ff-7ad65e4de0a6">On August 26</span>th Khon Kaen University was visited by a joint EU-French delegation consisting of Mrs. Luisa Ragher, Deputy Head of EU Delegation, and Mr. Pierre Colliot, Counsellor for Culture and Cooperation (Embassy of France), guests at a seminar to emphasize the importance of the upcoming 21st Conference of Parties Climate Change Conference, to be held in Paris from November 30 to December 11.</p>

<p>August 30 marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances. Thailand has not been immune to enforced disappearances. Over the past two years, two United Nations (UN) bodies, the Committee Against Torture and the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, have expressed concern over the numerous cases of enforced disappearances in Thailand.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-7211f4b6-4ac4-d896-f3fb-3f276b0fe182">The August 16 ‘</span><a href="https://www.bikeformom2015.com/">Bike for Mom</a>’ cycling event personally sponsored and led by His Royal Highness Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn set a world record – with 294,863 registered, of whom 146,266 cyclists nationwide (40,000 in Bangkok alone) successfully met the Guinness Book of World Records’ criteria, blowing Taiwan’s previous record of 72,919 out of the water.</p>

<p>On 10 August 2015, North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong paid an official visit to Bangkok to boost bilateral ties. Among many issues, ironically, the two countries pledged to promote human rights and to enhance economic cooperation. They also discussed the issue of “nuclear” which might have made some Western nations disturbingly uncomfortable.</p>

<p dir="ltr"><span id="docs-internal-guid-d5744fea-16a9-e000-c2bc-07993f4f517d">This week </span>The Nation <a href="http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politics/Parents-claim-intimidation-30265761.html">reported</a> alleged intimidation and harassment of the parents of one of The Fourteen Students of the New Democracy Movement who have publicly protested the military dictatorship.</p>

<p>Thai education has been thrown into tumult by new regulations governing the siting of schools, colleges and universities.</p> <p>A ministerial order from the Prime Minister’s Office will ban any establishment from offering formal tertiary educational services within 300 metres from a military facility.&nbsp; But this order, based on the Critical Thinking Prohibition Act, has not yet been published in the Royal Gazette and enforcement will not start until 30 days after that.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Nattanan Warintawaret is a Thai high school student from one of Thailand’s finest public schools: Triam Udom Suksa. She is also an enemy of the state, with a school administrator accusing her of being ‘mentally ill’ for the past two years and even the Minister of Education, Admiral Narong Pipattanasai, accusing her of being ‘abnormal’. Her crime? Criticizing the fact that Thailand’s 12 Core Values have become a state ideology.</p>

<p align="center"><strong>Examination on Civic Leadership and General Sense of Superiority</strong></p> <p><em>To be taken by Prime Ministers, Test Writers for Civic Duty classes, Administrators of Triam Udom Suksa School who are not psychiatrists but can still diagnose mental illness from test answers, and True Believers in True Thainess.</em></p>

<p dir="ltr"><em><span id="docs-internal-guid-53f9b86e-d24d-e80a-e18f-f6474d7a8f9a">Prefatory note to the English translation: During the crackdown on red shirt protestors during April-May 2010, at least 94 people were killed and over 2000 injured.</span></em></p>

<p>A recent <a href="http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/626964/privacy-fears-over-hacking-revelations">piece</a> of investigative journalism by <em>The Bangkok Post</em> has provided evidence of Thailand acquiring an advanced electronic surveillance capability.</p>

<p>I'm a legal adviser, so not exactly a stranger to courts. I've even been in Thai courts before. But I still find the scene surreal. I was in a Bangkok military court on 7 July 2015, and I'm talking to 14 young students and activists who face the might of Thailand's military justice system.</p>