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Re: Protests update
26 November 2015
Assassination Plot Foiled, Police Say; Conspirators Arrested
Teeranai Charuvastra
BANGKOK тАФ Police say they have disrupted a plot to assassinate top government officials and arrested three men, two said to be from the northeastern of Thailand.
Police chief Chakthip Chaijinda announced yesterday that three suspects, a former police officer and two civilians, were detained after police foiled their plan to assassinate тАЬimportant figures in the governmentтАЭ and stage terror attacks in Bangkok, though he gave no concrete details.
Rumors of a plot to assassinate junta chairman and Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha began circulating on Monday..... (read more).... http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... section=11
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Re: Protests update
in Breaking News | November 27, 2015
The Pheu Thai Party today issued a statement calling on the deputy defence minister Gen Udomdej Sitabutr to step down to show his responsibility after two of his aides were involved in the Rajabhakti museum park scandal and also become lese majeste charge suspects.
Gen Udomdej was former Army commander-in-chief. http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/139930-2
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Re: Protests update
Friendly words sought from new US ambassador
Published: 27/11/2015
Dozens of demonstrators gathered at the United States embassy in Bangkok on Friday to protest against new American ambassador Glyn Davies' criticism of Thailand's lese majeste law.
Led by activist abbot Buddha Isara, they urged Mr Davies, who took up his post just nine weeks ago, to better understand Thai culture and not to intervene in the debates related to politics and the royal institution.
They called on the ambassador to consider the longstanding good ties between both countries. Demonstrators raised banners in Thai and English expressing their disapproval of his comments.
A few dozen police officers stood in front of the embassy as protesters held placards saying "This is Thailand, not the USA" and "Go, Go Home" accusing the envoy of meddling in the country's domestic affairs.
"You have no right and no power. ... We are not slaves of the US. The monarchy is a sacred symbol that all Thais are ready to defend with their lives," Abbot Buddha Isara said.... (read more).... http://m.bangkokpost.com/news/778653?re ... ost.com%2F
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Re: Protests update
Pheu Thai demands Udomdej resign over Rajabhakti
Published: 27/11/2015
The Pheu Thai Party demanded Friday that Gen Udomdej Sitabutr resign as the deputy defence minister over alleged corruption in the Rajabhakti Park project.
In a statement released today, the party kicked out of power in last year's military coup asserted that Gen Udomdej, the former army chief who headed the Rajabhakti Foundation during the Hua Hin park's scandal-plagued construction, should take responsibility by quitting because construction costs were unusually high, there were reports of irregularities, and his close military aides are wanted on arrest warrants for corruption in the project.... (read more)... http://m.bangkokpost.com/news/778501?re ... ost.com%2F
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Re: Protests update
Sasiwan Mokkhasen
28 November 2015
Ultra Royalists Call for Removal of U.S. Ambassador
BANGKOK тАФ For the second time in two months, ultraroyalist monk Buddha Isara led protesters to the U.S. Embassy on Friday, this time to demand the removal of newly appointed Ambassador Glyn Davies for criticizing ThailandтАЩs royal defamation law..... (read more)... http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... section=11
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Re: Protests update
Impeachment process begins for ousted Thai PM Yingluck
Fri, Nov 28 13:35 PM IST
By Amy Sawitta Lefevre
BANGKOK (Reuters) - Thailand's military-appointed legislature on Friday started impeachment proceedings against ousted former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra over a loss-making rice subsidy programme, seen as a further step to try to end the political influence of her powerful family.
Yingluck was removed from office in May, after a court found her guilty of abuse of power, days before the army staged a coup after months of sometimes violent street demonstrations in Bangkok aimed at ousting her government.
A day after she was removed, Thailand's National Anti-Corruption Commission found her guilty of mishandling the rice scheme.
Friday's decision sees the ruling junta, formally known as the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), edging a step closer to rooting out the influence of Yingluck and her brother, former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thailand has been convulsed by bouts of political turbulence ever since Thaksin was removed in a previous putsch in 2006. The kingdom is bitterly divided between his supporters and detractors..... (read more)... http://in.mobile.reuters.com/article/id ... 8?irpc=932
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Re: Protests update
Europe Must Follow Through on Rights in Thailand
Brussels must enforce its newfound approach to trade with Thailand.
By Anthony Kleven
November 29, 2015
The European Commission is to be applauded, having recently announced a commendable new values-driven global trade and investment strategy. This fresh approach will fuse jobs and growth with human rights and sustainability. It should leave the world in no doubt that a share of EuropeтАЩs riches comes at an ethical price тАУ respect for human dignity, liberty and democracy. The message must be clear: no freedom, no profits..... (read more).... http://thediplomat.com/2015/11/europe-m ... -thailand/
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Re: Protests update
Countersuit against officers
The Nation November 29, 2015
The lawyer of Thanakrit Thongngernpherm, one of suspects in a lese majeste case, today filed a countersuit, insisting that her client could not commit the crime while serving time in jail.
The charge was filed against Pol Gen Srivara Rangsipramanakul, the deputy national police chief, and other officers involved with the arrest warrants issued for Thanakrit and eight others. They were charged of exaggerating and causing damage to individuals.
Thanakrit, 49, was one of the red-shirt suspects in the "Khon Kaen Model" case. He was released on bail but has remained in prison since May 2014 on a forgery case..... (read more).... http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakin ... 73933.html
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Re: Protests update
NYTimes
Thai Economy and Spirits Are Sagging
By THOMAS FULLERNOV. 29, 2015
тАФ Do not be fooled by the throngs of Chinese tourists clogging the entrance to the gilded Grand Palace, the roads buzzing with traffic or the plastic smiles of hostesses greeting the business lunch crowd at luxury hotels.
Thailand is in a rut.
The economy is moribund and Thai households are among the most indebted in Asia.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, the epoxy of a fractured nation who commands divine-like reverence and turns 88 next month, is ailing and has not been seen in public since September.
A military government that seized power last year is showing no haste in handing back power to politicians who have spent the past decade in often violent conflict...... (read more).... http://www.nytimes.com/2015/11/30/world ... share&_r=0
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Re: Protests update
Pravit Rojanaphruk
30 November 2015
Redshirt Leaders Detained En Route to Rajabhakti Park
SAMUT SAKHON тАФ Soldiers whisked away Redshirt leaders this morning while they were en route to the Rajabhakti Historical Park in Hua Hin, Prachuap Khiri Khan province.
Nattawut Saikua and Jatuphon Prompan, two leaders of the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship, or UDD, were speaking to reporters this morning at about 10am in the Mahachai area of Samut Sakhon province, southwest of Bangkok, when soldiers appeared and took them away.... (read more).... http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 1448857835