<p>One day after the British Parliament humbled Prime Minister David Cameron with a rejection of his plans to join military action against Syria, the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office issued a travel advisory.&nbsp; It warns UK citizens in Thailand and elsewhere to ‘be vigilant and avoid any protests or demonstrations’ because of ‘an increased risk of anti-western sentiment linked to the possibility of military action in Syria’.</p> <p>Acting on a tipoff, Prachatai arranged a clandestine meeting with a representative of the Bangkok Embassy about why this warning was issued.&nbsp; The representative gave the interview under conditions of anonymity and an umbrella amidst the rain-swept construction site on the Embassy grounds.</p> <p></p>

<p>It is true that most of the political opposition and many others across the country are now unsympathetic to the idea of bringing Mr Blair to Thailand. Yet his premiership saw a historic accomplishment in ending over thirty years of sectarian violence in Northern Ireland, and a near equivalent to the challenge of the Thai reconciliation process in attempting to heal profound societal divisions. Although an immediate significant breakthrough seems unlikely, the approach that Mr Blair brings to the table may well prove instructive.</p> <p></p>

<p>The Courts of Justice are facing the quandary of a new legal tactic by defence lawyers.&nbsp; Known informally as the ‘Democrat Defence’, this strategy, it is feared, may lead to an unacceptably large proportion of not guilty verdicts in criminal cases.</p> <p>In the ‘Democrat Defence’, criminal cases are presented in a way that absolves the direct perpetrator of any responsibility for his or her actions.&nbsp; This is instead placed on some other party, often the victim.&nbsp;</p> <p></p>

<div>On 19 August 2013, New Mandala published an article titled <a href="http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2013/08/19/the-role-of-public-interest-litigation-in-the-quest-for-democracy-in-malaysia/">“The role of public interest litigation in the quest for democracy in Malaysia.”</a> You are now invited to read this one, slightly different title, and significant differences between countries and cultures vis-à-vis Malaysia.</div> <div>&nbsp;</div> <div> </div>

<p>The long-delayed report of the National Human Rights Commission into the violence in April and May 2010 has finally been released. Ho-hum.</p> <p>While some commentators believe that the release was timed to distract public opinion from other matters like the Amnesty Bill, this seems a feeble argument. First, because of leaked drafts, its content was very much as expected.</p> <p></p>

<div><span style="font-size: 12px;">Next week, the witness hearings in the case of Yutthapoom (last name withheld) will begin in the Criminal Court on Ratchadaphisek Road in Bangkok. Yutthapoom was accused of violating Article 112 while watching television and writing an insulting message on a CD. What makes his case different from many others that have passed through the courts in the years since the 2006 coup is that the alleged criminal acts took place in the private space of his home. The person who filed the complaint against Yutthapoom was his older brother. </span></div>

<p>I recently had the opportunity to view a training film on gender relations in Thailand.&nbsp; Produced by a government agency, it adopted the format of a domestic drama, with acting and dialogue as dire as any Thai soap.</p> <p></p>

<p>It is summer in Japan. All the leaves are bright green, offering comfortable shade on a hot day. In Kyoto, an ancient capital of Japan and where I have been residing since late March last year, tourists are flooding the city. Kyoto has the second largest number of world heritage sites after Rome. Hundred of temples hide themselves deep in the tranquil mountains. Others line busy streets cheek by jowl with state-of-the-art buildings and shopping centres.</p> <p></p>

<p>The so-called Worst Interview Ever, though recently yanked from YouTube, can still be found with a bit of googling.&nbsp; In it, Fox News Religion Correspondent Lauren Green attempts to interview Reza Aslan about his book, <em>Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth</em> (now a best-seller largely thanks to her ineptness as an interviewer).&nbsp;</p>

<p>The rapid expansion of oil palm plantation in Southeast Asia has given rise to more violent conflicts between local people in the area of concession and the entrepreneurs including local, national and multinational capitalists.</p> <p>It has also led to conflicts between local people and the state that has given permission the private sector to carry out the oil palm plantation. It has escalated to disputes between the state and the investors who have been awarded the concessions in some areas.&nbsp;</p> <p>The case to be explained is an example of dispute in Aceh located in North Sumatra, Indonesia. It is a hub of oil palm plantation by local, national and multinational investors.</p>

<p>A rise in world demand for cooking oil and bio-fuels has affected land use in Indonesia, home to vast areas of oil palm plantations, not unlike Thailand. State policy to promote oil palm plantations has led to encroachment on large areas of wetland. Similarly, fallow paddy fields in Thailand have been turned into oil palm plantations in the Songkhla Lake basin covering the provinces of Songkhla, Phattalung, Nakhon Si Thammarat, and the Bacho and To Daeng peat swamp forests in the southern border provinces. These areas in Thailand have been targeted for the promotion of oil palm.</p>

<p>Acharn Thongchai <a href="http://sydney.edu.au/southeast-asia-centre/thai-studies-2014/speakers.shtml">Winichakul</a> was butchering more sacred cows this week at the opening of Thammasat University’s Southeast Asian Studies Institute, as <a href="http://prachatai.com/english/node/3649">reported on this website</a>. &nbsp;</p> <p>A parochial focus on a ‘royal nationalism’ to the neglect of neighbouring cultures and societies not only makes for some appalling history teaching in the Thai education system, he argued, but also distorts the Thais’ view of themselves vis-à-vis the rest of the world.&nbsp; From it flow such comforting fictions as this thing called Thainess, where you have to be it to get it.&nbsp; So only Thais can understand Thais and the rest of the world is automatically inferior because they can’t.</p> <p></p>