<ol> <li>Argentina, Australia, Luxembourg, Rwanda and South Korea all became members of the UN Security Council on New Year’s Day.</li> <li>At his public inauguration, President Obama put his left hand on bibles once owned by President Lincoln and Martin Luther King.</li> <li>A cleaning woman was badly injured while cleaning an empty commuter train in the middle of the night in Sweden in January when she accidentally started it.<br /> </li></ol>

<p>Both in print and on television, I have warned that the (great) mass (of the people) has already been born in Thailand, and that the mass politics of the people could take two different paths. One path was the expansion of the democratic apparatus and political participation, if the apparatus and various institutions were prepared to adapt. Or the other possible path was the emergence of totalitarian politics. Without a (great) mass (of the people), totalitarian dictatorship cannot be born.</p> <p></p>

<p>With nothing better to do than wonder what to do with all the leftovers, find drawer space for yet more unwanted gifts and pale at the prospect of another year of all this, you will no doubt want the distraction of these 36 questions about what happened last year.&nbsp; Googling not allowed, asking the significant other for guidance not allowed, kicking the cat out of frustration not allowed.&nbsp; Answers next week.</p> <p></p>

<p>Thailand’s Social Regimen – Thainess as an addictive substance.<br />The following is right off the keyboard and may be rambling a bit, but it’s sincere and hopefully worth reading through for reflection purposes. From time to time I wonder why I didn’t see a certain aspect of culture, my own or Thai, that is suddenly clear now, or why fellow expats are predicting certain things to follow form today’s political upheaval that just don’t have a chance of happening. But opening the mind and eyes is a continual process and hopefully this little piece will help that along…</p>

<p>The judicial process in Thailand is especially tricky to figure out.</p> <p>Just this week the international media showed pictures of former Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva climbing the many steps of the Criminal Court to be formally charged with murder.&nbsp; Commentators noted that even if prosecution of a PM for a crime of this severity is a first for Thailand, it is very much a selectively political case and few believe there is any serious chance of his future appearances being in leg irons.</p> <p></p>

<div> <div>FIDH and its member organization Union for Civil Liberty (UCL) express their serious concern over the decision by Thailand’s opposition party, the Democrat Party, to boycott the general election scheduled to take place on February 2, 2014.&nbsp;</div> </div> <div> </div>

<div>Thailand has surprised the world again with the abrupt violence during the political protests at the beginning of December 2013 as pro- and anti-government protesters confronted each other on the streets leading to 5 deaths. </div>

<p>It is with great sadness that this column announces the death this week in Thailand of Khun Pracha Thipatai.&nbsp; Coming so soon after that of Nelson Mandela in South Africa, it is natural and informative to draw comparisons between the two lives.</p> <p></p>

<div>Someone said this is about grabbing power, not reform. I say this is anarchy and oligarchy, not democracy.</div> <p></p>

<div>On 2 December 2013, the Council of University Presidents of Thailand (CUPT) issued their fourth statement, accompanied by a proposal from the group of demonstrators who use the name “The People’s Democratic Reform of Council,” or PDRC, and one group of academics, which called on the Prime Minister and Council of Ministers to take unconstitutional and undemocratic action. </div>

<p>While critics and apologists alike sift through the pronunciamentos of Suthep Thaugsuban, founder, leader, ideologue and sole spokesperson of the Civil Movement for Democracy, in a desperate search for something that is both practical and constitutional, there is one demand of his that deserves study.</p>

<p>This article looks into the US perception toward Thailand’s political divide. For the United States, traditionally, the benefits of preserving the pro-establishment forces position have been manifest. It permitted the bilateral relationship to become more predictable and less disruptive because of the elites’ continued domination of political power and foreign policy making process. Governments may come and go, but the traditional elites denoted a permanent feature of Thai politics.</p> <p></p>