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Re: Protests update
No Change to Charter Referendum Date, Official
July 17, 2015
BANGKOK - Thailand's Election Commission has assured the public that the referendum for the new constitution will still be held on 10 January 2016, despite a recent extension of the charter drafting period.
On Wednesday, the Thai King gave his formal signature to the military government's amendment to the current interim charter, extending the drafting process of the new constitution by 30 days.
However, Puchong Nutrawong, secretary-general of the Election Commission, confirmed today that the referendum is still set for 10 January 2016. "We have not seen any reason to change the date for the referendum," he said...... (read more)....
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... section=11
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Re: Protests update
Court Deems Former Govt's Censorship of Yellowshirt TV Legal
July 17, 2015
BANGKOK тАФ A court in Bangkok has ruled that the previous government was authorized to censor a Yellowshirt-affiliated television show that accused Redshirts of plotting to overthrow the Thai monarchy.
The case dates back to September 2011 when the state-run Channel 11 refused to air a segment produced by Green Intelligence company, which had a contract with the channel to air news every Friday from 9-10pm.
The company also produced programs for T-News, a private TV station allied to the conservative Yellowshirt movement that campaigned against the pre-coup government led by Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was elected with the overwhelming support of the rival Redshirts in July 2011.
At the time, the Department of Public Relations, which operates Channel 11, said the show falsely asserted that Redshirts were plotting to overthrow the monarchy, and argued that the segment could affect ThailandтАЩs national security...... (read more).....
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 6§ion=
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Re: Protests update
Pheu Thai Watana vents anger at junta for overseas travel ban
in Politics | July 17, 2015
Former commerce minister Watana Muangsook vented his anger on Friday after he found out that he was banned by the National Council for Peace and Order from leaving the country for 90 days until September 18 after which his case will be reconsidered.
In a written statement under the headline тАЬOne year that is more than a wasteтАЭ which was made available on Friday, the Pheu Thai PartyтАЩs core member said that the NCPOтАЩs thinking and working systems were so pathetic that he was not surprised that so much damages had been rendered to the country during their administration.
Citing economic performance, Watana said the NCPO had failed completely in all economic aspects with export and consumption slump, no new investments and less than half of governmentтАЩs spending was actually disbursed..... (read more).....
http://englishnews.thaipbs.or.th/pheu-t ... travel-ban
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Re: Protests update
Prosecutors skip last two days of Phuketwan defamation trial
Published on Thursday 16 July 2015.
The three-day trial of two English-language website journalists accused of defaming the Royal Thai Navy and violating the Computer Crimes Act was conducted in the absence of prosecutors representing the Royal Thai Navy on the second and third days.
As a result, the trial of Alan Morison, the Australian editor of the news website Phuketwan, and Chutima Sidasathian, one of his Thai reporters, ended at midday today in the southwestern province of Phuket after the defence witnesses were heard. The court is to issue its verdict on 1 September.
The absence of the prosecutors yesterday and today, for which no explanation was given, underscored the weakness of the prosecutionтАЩs case. In their absence, Morison and Chutima were questioned by the presiding judge and the eight lawyers who flanked him.
тАЬIf the prosecutors could not be bothered to come and cross-examine the main defence witnesses, their flimsy arguments were clearly no match for what was a well-argued and solid defence,тАЭ said Benjamin Isma├пl, the head of the Reporters Without Borders Asia-Pacific Bureau, who attended the trial as an observer...... (read more)......
http://linkis.com/en.rsf.org/fHX7g
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Re: Protests update
NYTimes
A Thai House Divided
By PAVIN CHACHAVALPONGPUN
July 19, 2015
A rift is growing within ThailandтАЩs military-royalist establishment, threatening the countryтАЩs stability and undermining prospects that the upcoming royal succession will unfold smoothly.
On one side is an old guard of senior officers who gradually consolidated power during the long reign of King Bhumibol Adulyadej. On the other is a new guard from a semi-autonomous elite military unit at the service of Queen Sirikit, which includes the leaders of last yearтАЩs coup against the elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra..... (read more)...
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2015/07/20/op ... ?referrer=
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Re: Protests update
Khaosod English
20 July 2015
Thai Junta Govt to Stay Until 2017:
BANGKOK тАФ Thailand will not see an elected government until early 2017, according to the deputy chairman of the juntaтАЩs interim parliament, the National Legislative Assembly (NLA).
Peerasak Porchit told reporters in Lopburi province on 18 July that he believes the "road map" promised by the ruling junta, which seized power from an elected government in May 2014, may be extended yet again in order to prepare for the referendum on the new constitution.
Under the current schedule, which has seen the date for elections postponed several times, the referendum for the junta-drafted charter will take place in January 2016, followed by a national election in September 2016, if the charter passes the vote.
But Peerasak said he believes referendum date may have to be postponed...... (read more).....
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 6§ion=
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Re: Protests update
Refer to the NYTimes article on the previous page
20 July 2015
Thai Govt Asks Japan to Reconsider Housing Exiled Academic
BANGKOK тАФ A minister of Thailand's military government said he has asked the Japanese ambassador to "reconsider" whether it is appropriate for Japan to shelter an academic charged with insulting the Thai monarchy, a crime known as lese majeste.
Justice Minister Paiboon Khumchaya told reporters he raised the issue during a meeting with Japanese ambassador Shiro Sadoshima at the Ministry of Justice today.
According to Gen. Paiboon, Sadoshima visited to the Ministry to introduce himself as JapanтАЩs new ambassador to Thailand. Gen Paiboon said he took the opportunity to discuss Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a Thai academic living in Japan who has been charged with insulting the monarchy, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in prison under Section 112 of the Thai Criminal Codes.
Pavin is believed to have left Thailand shortly after royalist military officers staged a coup against an elected government in May 2014. In July of that year, the military government charged Pavin with lese majeste and stripped him of his Thai passport.
Pavin is currently a professor at Kyoto University in Japan, and has continued to criticize the junta and write about the monarchy on social media and in op-eds for foreign publications, including the New York Times..... (read more)....
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 1437394181
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Re: Protests update
Army refutes Thaksin claim for reason behind coup
The Nation July 20, 2015
The Army staged the coup on May 22 last year on its own and was not influenced by any particular group of people, as had been claimed by former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Maj-General Sarayut Klinmahom, director of the Army's Judge Advocate Office, made the statement while testifying before the Criminal Court Monday during a hearing of the Army's libel case against the ex-PM.
"Nobody ordered the Army to seize political power," Sarayut told the court.
He represented the Army in bringing the case to court against Thaksin, who in May made the accusation in an interview with the media in South Korea.
Thaksin's interview later was posted on YouTube file-sharing website and social media.
Sarayut told the court that Thaksin had defamed the Army for painting it as damaging the country and admiring the dictatorial rule of Myanmar's military government.
He said the Army staged the coup to prevent further destabilisation of the country, following months of protest, a political deadlock and loss of lives from the use of war weapons.
"The Army needed to restore peace and prevent further harm to national security. The power seizure was unlikely to cause a negative impact on the country. As many as 80-90 per cent of the people agreed with the coup. There were people who opposed it, but the number was very [low]," he said. http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakin ... 64838.html
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Re: Protests update
21 July 2015
Junta Says Yingluck Free to Attend Brother's Birthday Abroad
BANGKOK тАФ Thailand's ruling military junta has dismissed claims that former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has been barred from attending the birthday of her brother Thaksin Shinawatra, another former PM who is currently living in a self-imposed exile to avoid a corruption conviction.
Many supporters of Yingluck, known as the Redshirts, have been posting on social media that Yingluck and other Pheu Thai Party politicians have been banned from leaving the country for ThaksinтАЩs birthday celebration. In spite of his exile, Thaksin, who will turn 66 on 26 July, remains extremely influential among the Redshirts and his political dynasty in Thailand.
Speaking to reporters today, the deputy sec-gen of the military junta, which toppled Yingluck's government last May, dismissed the claims that the former PM has been banned from traveling abroad.
..... (read more)......
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 1437459182
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Re: Protests update
Will only post the link. You will have to read for yourself, sorry
Thailand will never have democracy unlessтАж
By
Somchai Rattanakosin, Guest Contributor
тАУ 21 July 2015
http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandal ... cy-unless/