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Re: Protests update
CDC insists on new voting plan
Meechai says system fairer to electorate
06/11/2015
The Constitution Drafting Committee (CDC) has insisted it will stick to the proposed mixed-member apportionment electoral system (MMA) despite criticism from political parties and academics.
CDC chairman Meechai Ruchupan said Thursday the committee had decided the MMA system will be adopted in the new constitution.
Under the proposal, the House of Representatives will comprise 500 members, with 350 constituency MPs and 150 party-list MPs, compared to the previous election system under the 2007 charter with 375 constituency MPs and 125 from party lists.
A single ballot will be used for both constituency and party-list MPs, Mr Meechai said. All votes cast for the losing constituency candidates will be used to calculate the number of party-list seats, rather than being thrown away under the old first-past-the-post system..... (read more).... http://m.bangkokpost.com/news/755848
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Re: Protests update
Reuters
05 November 2015
Junta Launches Crackdown on 'Influential Figures' Stoking Crime
Amy Sawitta Lefevre
BANGKOK тАФ Thailand's junta launched a crackdown today on organized crime, its latest effort to clean up the country and improve the image of the military government as it struggles to get a sluggish economy on track.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, ushered in a "clean up Thailand" campaign shortly after he, as army chief, took power from an elected government in a 2014 coup, promising to root out vice and corruption in government and society in general.
This time, he said, the junta was targeting mafia-style crime bosses styled as "influential figures.".... (read more).... http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 6§ion=
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Re: Protests update
The unknown life of Thai exiles
Submitted by editor1 on Wed, 04/11/2015
Since 2006, Thailand has been plagued with an unending storm of political conflict. Political thought is divided on nearly every single issue; from former Prime Minister ThaksinтАЩs reign, the monarchical institution, nation development, democracy, elections, reform, politicians, political parties and so forth.
The 22 May 2014 coup has exacerbated ThailandтАЩs political situation. Activists, politicians, and even ordinary citizens branded as тАЬideologically hardcoreтАЭ were left with no choice but to flee the country in self-imposed exile. A year later, any perceived improvement in the situation is essentially superficial; these political exiles still cannot return home. What were their reasons for fleeing? Was it because their ideologies conflicted with the current government? What are their living conditions as exiles? We take this opportunity to provide an in-depth look at how our fellow countrymen are surviving and their fate as the тАЬOther.тАЭ... (read more).... http://prachatai.org/english/node/5584
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Re: Protests update
There is a news article of interest in the asiasentinel.com, I will not publish the link do to it's sensitive nature. Proxy or vpn required if you are in Thailand.
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Re: Protests update
06 November 2015
Redshirt Militants Convicted of 2014 Grenade Attack
Teeranai Charuvastra
BANGKOK тАФ Two Redshirt supporters were found guilty of attempted murder by the Criminal Court today for allegedly firing a grenade launcher at anti-government protesters in 2014.
Narongsak Plai-aram and Peerapong Sinthusonthichart were sentenced to 43 years and five months in prison for the attack, which police said was intended to kill demonstrators rallying against the government..... (read more)... http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 6§ion=
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Re: Protests update
Court acquits anti-election protester accused of preventing 2014 election
Submitted by editor2 on Fri, 06/11/2015
The court dismissed charges against an anti-election protester alleged for preventing the 2014 advanced election, saying that it was the election officials who cancelled the election.
I The Court of Prakanong District, Bangkok, on Thursday, 5 November 2015, dismissed charges against Thawatchai Promchan, 45, an ex-key leader of People Force and Thai Energy Reform Network, a political group, which joined the PeopleтАЩs Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC), an anti-election protest, to prevent the 2014 advanced voting..... (read more).... http://prachatai.org/english/node/5594
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Re: Protests update
41937 views, 1035 posts over 70 pages [and growing]. Gotta be a record for Sawatdee.
Up2u ... are you going to continue this saga until the military have been swept aside by free and fair elections and all military officers under the rank of colonel are tried, convicted, and living in the hoosegow.
But do carry on . . .
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Re: Protests update
I had hoped this saga would have been over by now and elections restored but...... no one has the answer now. The perpetrators will never be prosecuted.
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Re: Protests update
07 November 2015
Down the Memory Hole Lies тАШJuntalandтАЩ
By Pravit Rojanaphruk
Has it been 15, 16 or perhaps 17 months weтАЩve lived under military rule? Some, myself included, have begun to lose track of how long weтАЩve lived under the junta since the May 2014 coup. And we have no idea how many more years weтАЩll have to endure.
As rule under Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha stretches on far past the year originally promised, many now feel resigned and helpless, accepting a new тАЬnormalтАЭ for the nation. Threatening to execute journalists once provoked surprise, in the early months. Recently a threat to shut the nation off from the rest of the world was met with only a few shrugs...... (read more).... http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 1446833596
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Re: Protests update
No Light in the NortheastтАЩs Grey Economy as ThailandтАЩs Economic Outlook Darkens
2015 November 7
by The Isaan Record
ThailandтАЩs economic downturn is often discussed in terms of GDP, national markets, and investment statistics, but behind the numbers, individuals employed in the countryтАЩs enormous informal economy are feeling deep financial strain. At the Aorjira market in Khon Kaen, vendors struggle to turn enough profit to support themselves and keep their small businesses afloat.
By Mariko Powers and Zoe Swartz.... (read more).... http://isaanrecord.com/category/feature/