<p>Yesterday&nbsp;(26 February 2019), representatives of the People Go Network, led by Supaporn Malailoy from EnLAW Foundation, went to Parliament to deliver a petition, signed by 280 organizations, academics, lawyers and other individuals, calling for the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) to stop considering and passing new laws and to make way for the elected parliament.</p>

<p>Environmental and civil society groups condemned the new mining bill for ignoring environmental and health impacts and urged the junta government to stop deliberating the bill until Thailand has real representatives of the people.</p>

<p>The Thai police have been notorious for their use of torture to force confessions and the arrest of scapegoats. The two Myanmar suspects accused of killing two British backpackers on Thailand’s Koh Tao Island are good examples. In the restive Deep South, lawyers say that security officers regularly torture insurgent suspects to get confessions since the Thai police do not have enough evidence to issue arrest warrants by normal means. The Thai police are now aiming to optimize investigations by pushing for a law which will allow police from all divisions to intercept suspects’ communications. However, experts say the bill could ironically end up aggravating police abuses.</p> <p></p>

<p>Police arrested two people giving the three-fingered salute in front of Parliament in support of former PM Yingluck Shinawatra.</p> <p>The police at around 13:30 pm on Friday arrested a man and a woman who allegedly gave the three-fingered salute, a symbol of defiance against the junta derived from the ‘Hunger Games’ movie, in front of the Parliament compound in central Bangkok. &nbsp;</p> <p>The two came to support the former PM ousted by the coup d’état in May 2014, who was facing impeachment before the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) at Parliament on Wednesday.</p>

<p>Half a year after the coup d’état in May, martial law is still in place and all kinds of political expression against the junta, no matter how peaceful, are still not tolerated by the military regime. Similar to people who swiftly reacted against the military during the first few weeks after the coup with rallies, raising three-fingered salutes taken from the Hunger Games, or holding blank sheets of A4 paper, the paranoid military regime still arrests and detains people for ordinary actions.</p>

<p dir="ltr">Although the junta promised to eradicate the alleged corruption of the former civilian government which served the capitalists, the new Mining Bill is designed to give mining businesses easy access to more land without the need for mitigation of environmental and social impacts in most areas. &nbsp;Meanwhile marginalised people affected by mines will find it difficult under martial law to oppose the bill.</p> <p></p>

<p>Human rights groups and NGOs based in Thailand’s North East denounced the legitimacy of the coup makers and the authoritarian regime of the military government, arguing that reform cannot be carried out without public participation.</p>

<p dir="ltr">&nbsp;</p> <p dir="ltr">Visanu Kreungam, deputy minister on legal issue, said on Wednesday that the public gathering bill has been drafted and will be deliberated by the so-called rubber stamp National Legislative Assembly (NLA) soon.</p> <p>The royal Thai police was responsible for drafting the bill and has been submitted to the minister for a final review.</p> <p>Visanu added that he will improve the draft to be suitable to the current political situation that most of the gatherings are politically related.</p>

<div dir="ltr"> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>After the coup d’état in May, Thailand’s national budget for honouring the royal family has increased significantly by&nbsp;approximately 20&nbsp;per cent from around 14 billion baht or about US$435 million this year to over 17 billion&nbsp;baht or about US$536 million next year.</p> </div>

<p>When the summons was announced for the leaders of the anti-Israeli rally to report to the Thai Army Club, most observers assumed that it was the normal ‘we’ll have none of this marching about no matter what noble cause you say it’s in aid of’ message.&nbsp; And the representatives of the Al Quds International Council of Thailand emerged from their enforced conversation and reported telling the military that the protest was nothing to do with Thai politics.</p> <p>Oh yeah?</p>

<p>While Burma’s Constitution reserves 25 per cent of parliamentary seats for the military, Thailand now has 52.5% of seats in the newly appointed National Legislative Assembly (NLA) occupied by acting and retired military officers.</p> <div> </div>