By Harrison George |
<p>Uproar broke out in Parliament in the first sitting after the elections when the traditional hazing of new MPs was disrupted by a small protest group.</p>
By Harrison George |
<p><em>(The third phase of the new Identification Card Act, to take effect in July, requires children aged 7-14 years old to be issued with ID cards.)</em></p>
<p>‘But you must have put it somewhere, Note. Where is it?’</p>
By Frank G Anderson |
<p>The multitude of criminal defamation and lese majesté cases that has arisen in Thailand over the last few years, insofar as such cases apply to accused American persons, possibly represent clear and present danger to American persons who are by law and convention protected by the First Amendment of the Constitution of the Untied States. Whether the 2010 Speech Act does or can add further protection and recourse to counter initiatives against states and persons seen as infringing on First Amendment rights remains an unanswered question.</p>
By Lisa Gardner |
<p>Joe Gordon wears glasses in the style of John Lennon. They accentuate a sense of his wide-eyed disbelief, at the turn of events that should find him here. "I sleep between men," he says "on the concrete. When I wake up I can barely move."</p>
By Nopphatchak Attanond |
<p>With a number of chances to ask a question directly to PM Abhisit and in numerous interviews I have had with him, one of the things I have been most curious to know is if he would utter any apology after the crackdown in May last year. </p>
By Harrison George |
<p> The scene: Pheu Thai Party headquarters a few days after the election results have been announced.</p>
<p>‘Just like I said, an overall majority. So we can tell that clown from Buriram to go back to running his football team.’</p>
By Jaran Ditapichai, Former National Human Rights Commissioner, Thailand |
<p>On this coming July 3, 2011, there will be a general election in Thailand which apparently looks ordinary as any elections in democratic countries. But for those who follow the political situation in Thailand for many years would see that this is extraordinary election. It is unique in two respects.</p>
By Lisa Gardner |
<p>Should travelers find themselves on the wrong side of Thai law in a single "lapse in judgment", it could be all it takes "to lose all your civil liberties".</p>
By Prachatai |
<p> On Friday Prachatai reported that dual Thai/U.S. nationality Mr. Joe Gordon had been charged "with lèse majesté, inciting unrest and disobedience of the law in public, and disseminating computer data which threatens national security… The DSI allege that he owns a blog which offers a link to download 'The King Never Smiles', a book banned in Thailand."</p>
By Harrison George |
<p>The most recent issue of OK magazine (Thai version) has, perhaps inevitably, a photo spread on the latest British Royal Wedding. The story caption (and captions in OK Thailand are always in English) reads ‘The Duke and Dutchess of Cambridge’.</p>
By Lisa Gardner |
<p>In April 1992, a small band of Cambodian refugees marched alongside orange-swathed monks, as they slowly made their way across the Thai-Cambodian border. So began the first of what would become known as an annual <em>Dhammayatria</em>, or 'procession for peace'.</p>
By Harrison George |
<p> Much has been made of the comments by former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra about the selection of his younger sister, Yingluck, as the Pheu Thai candidate for prime minister in the forthcoming elections. Critics, including the Democrat Party, were quick to seize on his use of the word ‘clone’ to describe the relationship between himself and his sister.</p>