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Re: Protests update
Gen Tawatchai : Father says son was brainwashed
in Politics | July 7, 2015
A member of the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) says the father of one of the 14 detained student activists has revealed that his son was brainwashed by a foreign organisation before having adopted anti government attitude.
Gen Tawatchai Samutsakon, former commander of the Second Army Region, and now a NLA member, said he met and talked to the father of a student activist who is a Surin resident yesterday.
The father told him that his son was taken out by a foreign organisation for two nights in a brainwashing session a month ago.
From that day his son has changed and turned to have adopted anti government attitude, he said.
The father also said he wanted bail for his son, he said.
He said he didnтАЩt want to elaborate but confirmed such movement from foreign organisation happened frequently in Surin province, starting from Khon Kaen to other provinces in the Northeast.
http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/gen-ta ... rainwashed
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Re: Protests update
Anti-coup protests tipped to continue
KASAMAKORN CHANWANPEN,
WASSAMON AUDJARINT
THE NATION July 8, 2015 1
ACADEMIC WARNS AS STUDENTS' RELEASE ORDERED
THE 14 anti-coup student activists are due to be freed this morning (Wed)after the first round of pre-trial detention ended yesterday and the Military Court rejected a police request to hold them for further 12 days.
However, police will continue to investigate the students, who face charges of sedition and violating a National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) ban on political gatherings of five or more people.
Prime Minister General Prayut Chan-o-cha called the court's move an act of mercy..... (read more)....
http://www.nationmultimedia.com/politic ... 63991.html
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Re: Protests update
THE NATION July 8, 2015
FACED WITH accusations that he violated the interim constitution, social activist Baramee Chairat stood by his innocence and said he would continue to fight for freedom and democracy.
In trouble for sheltering and observing anti-coup students
PRAVIT ROJANAPHRUK
THE NATION
FACED WITH accusations that he violated the interim constitution, social activist Baramee Chairat stood by his innocence and said he would continue to fight for freedom and democracy.
Baramee, a key member of the Assembly of the Poor, was with the 14 anti-coup students who were arrested last month. He was in charge of the Suan Ngern Mee Ma premises on Charoen Nakhon Road, where the students were given shelter for two nights before they were arrested. He also accompanied them when they staged a protest against the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO).
"I have been wrongly accused. I feel restricted [under the junta] and would like to ask how long will all of you put up with this?" Baramee said. "I think every citizen has the right and freedom to express themselves in order to protect his or her rights and liberty."
Baramee said he did not take part in the protest, but had merely been observing the students from a 10-metre distance at Democracy Monument..... (read more)....
http://linkis.com/nationmultimedia.com/Lx4Xg
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Re: Protests update
Junta Chairman Lectures Youth on Thai-style Monarchy & Democracy [Transcript]
July 8, 2015
BANGKOK тАФ Speaking to a group of young Thais who were raised abroad, junta chairman Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha stressed the importance of revering the Thai king, who he described as a "deity" that never interferes in politics.
Gen. Prayuth was speaking to 37 children and teenagers who were raised in America and invited by the government to visit Thailand and learn about its culture.
In the speech, the general explained that the Thai monarchy is "unique" and needs the special protection of the KingdomтАЩs lese majeste law, Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Codes, which punishes criticism of the royal family with up to 15 years in prison.
Gen. Prayuth, who came to power by staging a coup d'etat against an elected government on 22 May 2014, also told his young audience that he would return democracy to Thailand after a new constitution is approved in a referendum, which is set to take place in January of next year..... (read more)...
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 6§ion=
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Re: Protests update
Junta Asks Overseas Thais to Explain Coup to Foreigners
July 8, 2015
BANGKOK тАФ The secretary-general of Thailand's ruling military junta has urged Thais living abroad to explain the reasons behind the May 2014 coup d'etat to foreigners.
"I want all of you who live abroad to explain the situation in our country to foreigners, so that they can understand what happened," said Gen. Chatchalerm Chalermsuk. "That the military does not want to hold on to power, and how we have been trying to restore peace in the country and move the nation forward, and enforce the laws."
Gen. Chatchalerm made the remark in an address to representatives of a Boston-based Thai charity who met with him at Government House in Bangkok to donate one million baht to soldiers stationed in southern Thailand to combat a separatist insurgency...... (read more).....
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 1436266628
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Re: Protests update
From the Diplomat..... It's Time for the US and the EU to Get Tough on Prayuth's Thailand
Prayuth Chan-o-chaтАЩs approach to Southeast AsiaтАЩs migrant crisis cannot be allowed to continue.
By Rob Edens
July 07, 2015
Since 1932, there have been 18 military coups that have overthrown the ruling Thai governments. In 2014, Thailand experienced its 19th led by General Prayuth Chan-o-cha. PrayuthтАЩs latest junta with its accompanied National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) toppled Yingluck Shinawatra and her extended clan on grounds of corruption, disrespecting the monarchy, and not uniting or bringing prosperity to the Thai people. But this military clampdown on dissenting political figures is rather a seizure of absolute power lending itself to a military dictatorship. What was supposed to be a caretaker cabinet to accelerate a democratic transition, purging the ill affected from governing over the Thai people, the new moral тАЬsoldier with a democratic heartтАЭ has thwarted freedoms, civil liberties, and any opposition through fear and silence..... (read more)....
http://thediplomat.com/2015/07/its-time ... -thailand/
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Re: Protests update
Junta to Invite Yingluck, Abhisit for TV Discussion
July 9, 2015
BANGKOK тАФ Thailand's ruling military junta is planning to invite prominent politicians from the country's rival factions to discuss the government's reform plans on national television.
Gen. Udomdet Sitabutr, a junta member and army chief, said the TV show will be launched by the junta-appointed Center for Reconciliation and Reform (CRR), and allow politicians to air their views on the military government's reform efforts since the May 2014 coup.
According to Gen. Udomdet, the invitees will include former Prime Ministers Yingluck Shinawatra and Abhisit Vejjajiva, who are top leaders of ThailandтАЩs two chief political camps тАУ known colloquially as the Redshirts and the Yellowshirts тАУ that have been locked in a protracted power struggle for the past decade..... (read more).....
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 6§ion=
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Re: Protests update
Police Investigating Rumor that Prayuth Transferred 10 Billion Baht to Singapore Bank
July 9, 2015
BANGKOK тАФ Thai police say they are monitoring the people who started a rumor on social media alleging that junta chairman Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha had transferred 10 billion baht to his personal bank account in Singapore.
Speaking at a press conference today, Thai police commander Pol.Gen. Somyot Pumpanmuang said those who started the allegation, which Gen. Prayuth has denied, will be charged with violating the Computer Crime Act.
According to Pol.Gen. Somyot, police have already identified at least one person who helped spread the rumor, but declined to say whether the person has been detained..... (read more).....
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 6§ion=
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Re: Protests update
Thai Consulate attacked.... PM defends Uighur expulsion to China
10 Jul 2015
NEWSPAPER SECTION: NEWS | WRITER: POST REPORTERS
The deportation of some 100 Uighur migrants to China followed proper procedures, insists Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha, despite an overnight protest at the Thai honorary consulate in Istanbul, where Turks are angry about the way the Uighur minority are being treated.
The government's expulsion of the group to China, after an earlier batch was sent to Turkey, has also drawn criticism by the UN and rights groups....... (read more)...
http://bangkokpost.com/news/general/618 ... n-to-china Search
Thailand condemned for repatriation of 109 Uighurs to China
Associated Press
By THANYARAT DOKSONE
BANGKOK (AP) тАФ Thailand faced a blizzard of international criticism Thursday, and its consulate in Istanbul was ransacked, after it deported 109 ethnic Uighur refugees to China despite fears that they would face persecution there.
The U.N. refugee agency called Thailand's action "a flagrant violation of international law." The United States also condemned the deportations, and voiced deep concern about protection of asylum-seekers in Thailand. Amnesty International said that the Muslim Uighurs could face detention or torture in China.
Protesters in Turkey, which has cultural ties to the Uighurs and accepted an earlier group of Uighur refugees from Thailand, ransacked the Thai Consulate in Istanbul overnight. Police in the capital, Ankara, used pepper spray to push back Uighur protesters who tried to break through a barricade outside the Chinese Embassy........ (read more).....
http://news.yahoo.com/thailand-sends-10 ... 52174.html
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Re: Protests update
Govt adds fuel to fire as resentment builds
What's all the fuss about the arrest of 14 so-called students who broke the law? Many in social media have expressed their bewilderment.
Published: 10/07/2015
Writer: Wasant Techawongtham
That reminds me of a saying: "Where there's smoke, there's fire." The students are the smoke while the fire has been burning or smouldering in many places.
And what have the authorities done to douse the fire? They throw in more fuel.
Some high-ranking officials have complained to the press that the students allowed themselves to be a tool of some third party which they refused to name.
Some others almost foamed at the mouth accusing the young activists of obstructing the government which has been trying to bring stability and peace to a faltering country. Fortunately, they stopped short of calling the youngsters traitors or terrorists.
Many junta supporters in social media resorted to familiar discrediting tactics. ''Where were these *&^%$ students when the previous government ran the country to the ground?'' they asked...... (read more).....
http://m.bangkokpost.com/opinion/618920