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junta

Pro-democracy activists rally in Bangkok as election faces delay

Pro-democracy activists rally in Bangkok as election faces delay

Human rights activists protest possible postponement of Thai election. ...

Rap Against Dictatorship

Rap Against Dictatorship

“Polarizing the people is the authoritarian’s ultimate weapon. When this happens, the people’s power will be take away.” Rap Against Dictatorship Artist : – Lady Thanom – Gentle Pr ...

Thailand faces another coup d’etat if military hates election outcome

Thailand faces another coup d’etat if military hates election outcome

Thailand’s Chief of Defence Forces Pornpipat Benyasri has defended the army chief, who said he would not rule out another military coup, saying this would only be proposed as a final option to deal with politic ...

Forget Genuine, Rights-Respecting Democracy

Forget Genuine, Rights-Respecting Democracy

Thailand. General Prayuth Chan-Ocha, who seized power in a coup in May 2014, said in August that the election should take place on February 24. Previous time-lines for a poll were repeatedly pushed back. Human Rights ...

Gold Mine Terror: ‘Men came to our village, held us captive and beat us’

Gold Mine Terror: ‘Men came to our village, held us captive and beat us’

Originally from BenarNews (Pimuk Rakkanam, Nontarat Phaicharoen and Imran Vittachi). Thai authorities and a mining firm have used intimidation and lawsuits to target environmental activists from a northeastern commun ...

I am a politician who used to be a soldier

I am a politician who used to be a soldier

The head of Thailand’s military government declared Monday he is “interested” in participating in politics, in a new indication he may seek to remain in office after elections scheduled for early n ...

Lost Decade: Despite Military Persecution, Former Thai PM Thaksin Calls For Unity

Lost Decade: Despite Military Persecution, Former Thai PM Thaksin Calls For Unity

12 Years from September 19, 2006 to September 19, 2018 Via “Oak” Panthongtae Shinawatra. Today I wish all of us could for a moment, put ourself in the right frame of mind without any prejudice and serious ...

Media Regulator Intimidates Voice TV, Again

Media Regulator Intimidates Voice TV, Again

Pressures from Thailand’s media regulator, the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), has forced Voice TV to suspend two news commentators for alleged partiality and frequently reportin ...

An Election Without Fundamental Rights

An Election Without Fundamental Rights

It has been four years since the ruling Pheu Thai party was removed from power in Thailand in a military coup. Four years of flip-flops, of abrupt reversals of decisions, and of broken promises. Four years of propaga ...

Towards Political Extinction

Towards Political Extinction

Road-map promises have led nowhere. Democratic aspirations are on the verge of extinction. The junta-controlled National Legislative Assembly voted unanimously to approve Thailand’s 20-year National Strategy. T ...

Thai Ban on Women Police Cadets Increases Vulnerability of Sexual Assault Victims

Thai Ban on Women Police Cadets Increases Vulnerability of Sexual Assault Victims

The Royal Police Cadet Academy announced this week that it will not admit female candidates from the next academic year. It has given no explanation for the decision. “This is a very backward move for womenR ...

Politics Fragmented into a Series of Hopelessness

Politics Fragmented into a Series of Hopelessness

Throughout a decade of struggles in a state of kleptocracy, Malaysians, mainly those from the lower middle class, have told me that they were unable to find equal opportunities for work. But then one day, Malaysians ...

Political autonomy is not part of the equation

Political autonomy is not part of the equation

Thailand’s junta chief General Prayut Chan-o-cha said that political restrictions would be eased to allow political parties to conduct political activities – limited and obviously closely-monitored activi ...

Thailand’s 2014 Coup and Call for Democracy

Thailand’s 2014 Coup and Call for Democracy

Rome Ramsignam from Thailand’s Democracy Restoration Group (DRG) talks to Peoples Dispatch about the current political scenario in the country and the people’s movement for elections and democracy.   ...

A Tall Order: Free and Fair Elections

A Tall Order: Free and Fair Elections

While people talk about political parties and the usual predictions of who will be the prime minister, there’s very little open debate about the role and responsibilities of the Election Commission of Thailand. ...

Time Will Remember Their Perseverance

Time Will Remember Their Perseverance

Bangkok. As I walk on a narrow alley towards my sanctuary, I see no improvements for many urban poor Thai families. They live in slums – often seen as a labyrinth of confusion and destitution. The part where sm ...

Communities, Landscapes Shaped by Apathy

Communities, Landscapes Shaped by Apathy

Home Urban settlements, with their self-built structures of mismatched wood, cheap cement and rusted zinc. They’re vulnerable to rain and flood, and now, the dreaded cold. Maze Neighbourhoods, their alleys fill ...

Regret Nothing

Regret Nothing

In Times of Protest by Zashnain Bangkok – May 24, 2014   ...

Housing Beyond Reach

Housing Beyond Reach

Economic prosperity is an oddity of some sort, an irony at best, especially for marginalised communities in Thailand and Malaysia. According to experts, the economy is expanding, but based on what I have observed dur ...

Fall from grace

Fall from grace

Three years of junta rule, no progress in sight. The urban poor continue to grow in cities, and the marginalised are abandoned to the karma that society has unfortunately accepted. Social equilibrium Bangkok, Thailan ...