BP saw a similar photo in the papers the other day and have been meaning to blog on it. It is of a group of journalism students at Thammasat University protesting against Nitirat as seen from the below photo: Caption: Former and current journalism students rally at Thammasat University against (!) proposals of...
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The Bangkok Post : Launched in 2001, the UCS covered the remaining 47 million people, mainly those who were not enrolled in two other health schemes – the civil service medical benefits for government officials and family members, and the social security scheme for employees in private sector. An assessment by a group...
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Every month Suan Dusit conducts a political index survey. The benefit of the Suan Dusit political index is that it is (1) nationwide, (2) a large sample size for the survey (5,490 for December), and (3) they ask the same questions each month and this makes it easier to provide a point of comparison.BP’s...
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The Bangkok Post on January 10: Disaster prevention and water management experts are worried that the delay in discharging water from the dams could lead to a repeat of last year’s catastrophic floods. “This is definitely a worrying sign,” National Disaster Warning Council chairman Smith Dharmasaroja told the Bangkok Post in a phone...
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The reshuffle of the Thai Cabinet is official as per the Bangkok Post : Ten new ministers appointed to the cabinet are: 1. Nalinee Taweesin, as PM’s Office Minister; 2. Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan, as PM’s Office Minister; 3. Tanusak Lek-uthai, as Deputy Finance Minister; 4. Nathawut Saikua, as PM’s Office Minister; 5.
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UPDATE: 6:30 pm : US Ambassador tweets “the info is specific and credible, concerns foreign terrorists and tourist areas in BKK” BBC : Thai Defence Minister General Yutthasak Sasiprapha said the US had warned Thai authorities that two suspected Muslim “terrorist s” had entered the country. But he told the AFP news agency...
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BP has previously blogged about about the case of Chotisk who faced a lese majeste complaint for failing to stand up for the Royal Anthem and the extreme rhetoric by ASTV Manager – see here and here . Voranai in the Bangkok Post has a very good and accurate summary of a disturbing case:...
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In a follow up or as a companion post to the post last week about a Suan Dusit poll in December, there is a NIDA Poll which surveyed 1,379 people nationwide from December 23-25. The title of the poll is “Satisfaction with the government and the Prime Minister, 1st poll, December 2011″ (“????????????????????????????????????????...
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A Suan Dusit Poll surveyed 4,238 people between December 10-24 on the 4 month performance of the government. However, BP thought it would be useful to compare with previous polls to get some context about what the scores mean (i.e is 6.5 out of 10 a phenomenally good score or well just average)....
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The Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) in its report to the government as presented in September – English summary here and Thai language document list can be viewed here . Then AFP reported the Government spokeswoman Titima Chaisang as stating that “he cabinet received recommendations and in order to create an atmosphere...
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Chris Baker, who is currently a Visiting Fellow at the Center of Southeast Asian Studies, Kyoto University, has an article for East Asia Forum. Key excerpts of the opening and the conclusion: The largest demonstrations in Thailand’s political history ended with over 90 deaths in April–May 2010, but 18 months later, with the...
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French journalist Arnaud Dubus recently blogged about an interview he did with Dr. Tul Sitthisomwong, multi-colored group/Network of Citizen Volunteers Protecting the Land, on lese majeste law. Key excerpt: The group which asked for reform of article 112 claims that the punishment is too severe, with a minimum sentence of three years and a...
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First, some background – see previous posts about Nittirat (about their earlier proposal ) and commentary on criticism of Nittirat ( here and here ) – and Prachatai earlier this week : Nitirat, a group of law academics at Thammasat University, has announced two activities to be held in January next year to...
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BP mentioned the issue of the problem of standing in regards to lese majeste in 2007 as excerpted below: 3.1 Standing Standing to bring an action under section 112 is not limited to the monarchy and anyone who thinks the monarchy has been harmed is allowed to bring an action. This makes it...
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Atiya in the Bangkok Post with an op-ed entitled “Let the people decide” opines on the timing of the referendum: I believe the current constitution should be amended but I also believe that other people should be given a chance to express their preference . That is why I believe the best way...
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In the previous post , BP looked at the increasing government crackdown on lese majeste particularly the blocking of Web sites. This arose after Chalerm’s meeting with the military – see also yesterday’s post about Yingluck and the military – which then lead to the establishment of a new lese majeste suppression committee....
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For some reason, BP missed this and just came across it in the process of writing another post and well it really deserves a post on its own. The New York Times back in October : Some defenders of the monarchy take extreme positions. Earlier this year, a woman from northern Thailand, Fahngai...
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In a previous post , BP looked at the relationship between Yingluck and the military and mentioned three issues, namely (1) the possible amendment of the Defence Ministry Administration Act, (2) the Military and the floods: Trying to be unified with the government, and (3) polls show military outshining the government. Since then...
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Thai Rath ‘s political analysis of December 24 was entitled “??????????????????” (Getting the rhythm reveals the trump card) opens with a quote and then continues: “2-3 days ago, one of my friends told me that someone wrote a poem making fan of the President and was jailed. I don’t know which section of farang law...
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Ploy Bunluesilp of NBC News : Many Thais feel great respect for the king, but there is increasing concern over whether restrictions on freedom of speech are damaging the monarchy rather than protecting it. As a Thai, I admire the king, but as a journalist I am concerned that I cannot discuss the...
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The Truth for Reconciliation Commission of Thailand (TRCT) in its report to the government as presented in September as summarized below – English summary here and Thai language document list can be viewed here . Then AFP reported the Government spokeswoman Titima Chaisang as stating that “he cabinet received recommendations and in order to...
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Every month Suan Dusit conducts a political index survey. The benefit of the Suan Dusit political index is that it is (1) nationwide, (2) a large sample size for the survey (5,535 for November), and (3) they ask the same questions each month and this makes it easier to provide a point of comparison.BP’s...
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This afternoon there is a public forum at Chula entitled “Post-Flood Thai Politics: What Now for Reconciliation?”. Details are below: Friday, 16 December 2011 at 2.00-4.00 p.m. The Chumbhot-Pantip Conference Room, 4th Floor Prajadhipok-Rambhaibarni Building Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University Speakers Mr. Suranand Vejjajiva Former Minister, Columnist for The Bangkok Post , Talk...
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Back in August, the Bangkok Post reported : The government will set up a war room to curb the activities of websites with lese majeste content , Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung said on Friday. I won’t let lese majeste websites stay on line during this government ,” said Mr Chalerm, who is...
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AP: A court in Thailand sentenced a U.S. citizen to two and a half years in prison Thursday for defaming the country’s royal family by translating excerpts of a locally banned biography of the king and posting them online. The verdict is the latest so-called lese majeste punishment handed down in the Southeast...
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The Bangkok Post recently had an editorial calling for reviewing and updating lese majeste laws (as blogged about here ), but its sister Thai language publication Post Today has an editorial also about lese majeste law, but this time essentially defending the law and criticizing the US. It relates to a statement by...
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The Bangkok Post : Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung announced two weeks ago that he is in the process of drafting an amnesty law for individuals who were affected by the 2006 coup. The law would allow Thaksin to be absolved of his corruption convictions and return a free man. Despite the government...
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On November 15, news leaked that the Thai Cabinet had discussed and had given initial approval to a draft for the collective pardon that would mark HM the King’s 84th Birthday. That there would be a collective pardon is not controversial. In 2010, those who had been convicted of corruption offences were excluded...
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BP has previously blogged about Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index in 2006 , 2007 , 2008 , and 2010 – see also this post here – so am very familiar with the CPI numbers for Thailand so was struck when saw The Nation yesterday with the headline “Thailand’s ranking shows decrease in corruption levels...
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BP has already blogged on the statement by Dr. Smith that the Irrigation Department should have released water earlier in the rainy season – see here and here – and then the level of water in the dams, water flowing into the dams, and discharge of water from the Sirkit and Bhumipol Dams....
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