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Re: Protests update
Lessons learned by PDRC supporters 2 years after the coup
Submitted by editor2 on Sat, 21/05/2016
Kornkritch Somjittranukit
To commemorate the second anniversary of the 2014 coup d’état, Prachatai presents interviews with some of those who had protested against the government and against elections, aka the PDRC, whose lives and political ideas have been changed under the junta. Branded as the ones who paved the way for the coup two years ago, they have now learned that it is better to have an elected government, even a ‘bad’ one, than a dictatorship.... (read more)... http://prachatai.org/english/node/6178
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Re: Protests update
Yingluck asks NCPO to return power to the people
Published: 22/05/2016 at 11:41 AM
Writer: Online Reporters
As the National Council for Peace and Order marks the second anniversary of its seizure of power on May 22, 2014, former prime minister Yingluck Shinawatra has called for the junta to return power, rights, independence and freedom to the people.
Ms Yingluck posted her call on her Facebook page on Sunday.... (read more)...
http://m.bangkokpost.com/news/983437...kokpost.com%2F
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Re: Protests update
Pravit Rojanaphruk
22 May 2016
What Has Thailand Learned 2 Years After Coup? Not to Believe Junta's Promises
BANGKOK — Today marks two years since the 2014 military coup. Some will gather in illegal protest while others will let it pass as just another Sunday. For those cerebrally inclined, it’s worthwhile to reflect upon the lessons of the past two years. Here are some of mine.... (read more)...
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail...te=06§ion=
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Re: Protests update
EU Warns Thailand: ‘Free And Fair Elections’ Or Face Consequences
MAY 22, 2016
By Matthew Tempest
(EurActiv) — Chair of the European Parliament ASEAN delegation, Dr Werner Langen warned, “I don’t believe that the right way forward is to have a military regime in place on a long-term basis.”
Senior MEPs have warned the military junta ruling Thailand that the country must return to “free and fair elections” or risk the future of all EU-Thailand relations..... (read more)....
http://www.eurasiareview.com/2205201...-consequences/
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Re: Protests update
Sasiwan Mokkhasen
22 May 2016
Protesters Reject Junta in Mock Referendum on 2nd Anniversary of Coup (Photos, Video)
BANGKOK — Several hundred people marched from Thammasat University to Bangkok's Democracy Monument on Sunday on the second anniversary of the 2014 coup d'etat.
Leading the march was the activist group New Democracy Movement, many of whom were arbitrarily detained and charged last year for arranging an event on the first anniversary outside the Bangkok Art and Culture Centre.... (read more)... http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail...te=06§ion=
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Re: Protests update
Pro-junta group rallies in front of US Embassy
Submitted by editor2 on Mon, 23/05/2016
A pro-junta women group gathered in front of the US Embassy in Bangkok at 11:30 am on Monday, 23 May 2016, calling for an ouster of the US Ambassador to Thailand.
The group of about 40 women who called themselves ‘Satree Sri Siam’ (Siamese Ladies) submitted a letter addressing to Barack Obama, the US president, urging the US to remove Glyn T. Davies, the US Ambassador to Thailand, from his post.... (read more)...
http://prachatai.org/english/node/61...medium=twitter
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Re: Protests update
Voices from Isaan: two years under military rule
Posted on 05/23/2016 by The Isaan Record
KHON KAEN- This week marks the second anniversary of the coup d’état that ousted the elected Pheu Thai Party government on May 22, 2014, and put Thailand under the rule of the military-led National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). Under the slogan “Return Happiness to the People,” Prime Minister General Prayuth Chan-ocha has been promising political reform, a return to democracy, and reconciliation to the deeply divided country.... (read more)...
http://isaanrecord.com/2016/05/23/vo...litary-rule-2/
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Re: Protests update
Elderly teacher gets 3 months jail for giving flower to anti-junta activist
Submitted by editor2 on Mon, 23/05/2016
The Military Court handed out three months jail term to an elderly teacher accused of sedition for giving flower to an anti-junta activist.
Matichon Online reported that the Military Court of Bangkok at 11:40 am on Monday, 23 May 2016, sentenced Preecha Kaewbanpaew, a 77-year-old retired teacher, to six months imprisonment and fined him for 8,000 baht....(read more)... http://www.prachatai.org/english/node/6180
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Re: Protests update
Interview with ANFREL, on charter referendum observation
Submitted by editor1 on Mon, 23/05/2016
Austin Silvan and Kornkritch Somjittranukit
Fair access to information for voters, free access to a voting, fair ‘umpiring’ by the elections commission, and equal values of votes are among some of the most important things that Damaso G. Magbual and the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL) will be looking at in the upcoming Thai Referendum vote on 7 August 2016.
Damaso is a professor of Philosophy and Political Science at St. Louis University in the Philippines. He also sits as a chairperson for ANFREL, and has been an elections monitoring consultant for elections in more than 12 countries since 1987....(read more)...
http://www.prachatai.org/english/node/6181
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Re: Protests update
‘What’s The Point of Having a Military?’ Revisited: Security Sector Deform in Thailand - Submitted by editor1 on Mon, 23/05/2016 - John Draper
Renowned Thai academic and social commentator Nidhi Eoseewong’s column titled What’s the point of having a military?, originally in Thai on Matichon Online, stirred up a veritable hornet’s nest of interest in both the Thai mainstream and English alternative media. The role of the Thai military was also recently analysed by veteran academic Paul Chambers in a Peace Research Institute Frankfurt report, Civil-Military Relations in Thailand since the 2014 coup: The Tragedy of Security Sector “Deform”, ‘deform’ being a technical term for the opposite of reform. This column attempts to briefly summarize the first two sections of Chamber’s 45-page report, with some additional remarks.... (more)...
http://www.prachatai.org/english/node/6183