Protests update

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Rubber ainтАЩt rice (or is it?)
January 14, 2016
This is a tale of two commodities that have political connotations.
Rice, long a staple of the Thai diet and defining of basics like what food is and how it is eaten, has been associated with the political parties of Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra, their political bases in the north, northeast and central regions. Rice farmers were once consider the backbone of the nation. They have long been exploited and whatever way you look at it, poverty data show that being a smallholder or tenant rice farmer in the regions mentioned is not a bad indicator of the likelihood of a family living in poverty.
Rubber has long been associated with the farmers of the mid-south. On average, the poverty data shows that farming in this region has produced higher than average incomes. The Democrat Party has, in recent years, dominated the region, aided by organizers like the godfather figures like Suthep Thaugsuban. People from the region were the backbone (and muscle) of SuthepтАЩs PeopleтАЩs Democratic Reform Committee.
General Prayuth Chan-ocha led his 2014 military coup in part based on a setiment that the the Puea Thai Party governmentтАЩs rice subsidy scheme was тАЬcorrupt.тАЭ Indeed, the courts are still dealing with a case that could see Yingluck jailed and fined a huge amount of money.
Now that rubber prices have plummeted and southerners are becoming agitated, how does The Dictator respond?..... (read more)....https://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpres ... -or-is-it/

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News Bill for corruption courts gets first NLA nod
Published: 14/01/2016
The National Legislative Assembly has approved the first reading of a bill to establish corruption courts to deliver "instant karma" for bureaucrats and private citizens.
Assembly members on Thursday threw their full support behind the legislation to establish criminal courts dealing with corruption and malfeasance by a vote of 174-0 with five abstentions. The legislation... (read more)....
http://m.bangkokpost.com/news/826360?re ... RbUg0FREIL

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Military searches house of anti-junta student activist
Submitted by editor2 on Thu, 14/01/2016
Military officers reportedly searched a house of a well known anti-junta student activist currently facing an arrest warrant.

The Resistant Citizen, an anti-junta activist group, posted on its facebook page that at around 3 pm on Thursday, 14 January 2016, 5-6 military officers from an unidentified unit came to search the house of Sirawit Seritiwat, a 23-year-old student activist from Thammasat University.

The military officers went into the house without a search warrant and carried out a search while only the grandmother of Sirawit was present in the house..... (read more)...http://prachatai.org/english/node/5770

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Buddhist politics and ThailandтАЩs dangerous path
BY KHEMTHONG TONSAKULRUNGRUANG тАУ 15 JANUARY 2016
As the religion finds it harder to compete in todayтАЩs world, its becoming more hardline and seeks greater state power.
The Constitutional Drafting Committee (CDC) has finally confirmed that it will not recognise Buddhism as ThailandтАЩs official religion. The decision brought relief to many and anger to others.

The rejection proved that, no matter how radical and conservative the CDC has been, it is still..... (read more)....http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandal ... rous-path/

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PCAD Links тАШIn the Past,тАЩ Says New Govt. Spokesman
By Pravit Rojanaphruk
Senior Staff Writer
BANGKOK тАФ A newly appointed spokesman for the military government is playing down his ties to the movement which helped unseat the former civilian government.

Col. Atisith Chainuvati says he only participated in rallies, despite appearing in videos and photographs jovially celebrating the coup at a controversial, invitation-only party for the elite inner circle and leadership of the PeopleтАЩs Committee for Absolute Democracy with the King as Head of State, or PCAD..... (read more)......http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 6&section=

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SUTHEP, ANTI-DEMOCRACY AND THE JUNTA
January 15, 2016 ┬╖ by Political prisoners of thailand
There is no shock in learning that Suthep Thaugsuban, self-proclaimed leader of the PeopleтАЩs Democratic Reform Committee, generally likes the work of the military dictatorship.

It would be odd if he didnтАЩt as he and his lieutenants from the Democrat Party that did so much over a long period to encourage the military to make their coup.

Yesterday The Nation interviewed the Suratthani godfather on television and now has an English verion in its pages. The journalist appears to have wanted to see how Suthep was feeling about the coup and the junta...... (read more)....https://politicalprisonersofthailand.wo ... the-junta/

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16 January 2016
Democracy Activists Commit to Fight Over Flight
By Chayanit Itthipongmaetee
BANGKOK тАФ Members of the New Democracy Movement issued a statement this morning saying they will not flee the country and will continue тАЬfighting for freedom and democracy.тАЭ

The statement referenced fresh warrants and summons for several of the groupsтАЩ members in the wake of their campaign to call attention to the Rajabhakti Park scandal and vowed to remain in the country to call attention to the allegations of corruption in the armyтАЩs construction of the billion-baht park..... (read more)....http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 1452921740

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January 15, 2016
A much-needed correction in ThailandтАЩs erratic course
By Robert Held
Next month, the United States will host a summit in California with the 10 ASEAN nations. The White House says the Sunnylands meeting will advance the administrationтАЩs rebalance to Asia and the Pacific, and reinforce what U.S. ambassador to ASEAN Nina Hachigian calls, тАЬa new normal.тАЭ But despite the attention that breathless headlines about the U.S. pivot to Asia have grabbed, what cannot be considered normal is the sharp deterioration in U.S. ties with key ASEAN member Thailand, and an exasperating Thai proclivity to escalate it.

Since the 2014 coup to oust former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra and install Prayuth Chan-o-cha in power, the flashpoints between Thailand and the U.S. have included everything from human rights violations to corruption and the business climate, from air safety to compromised democratic principles..... (read more).....http://thehill.com/blogs/congress-blog/ ... tic-course

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16 January 2016
Public's Watchdogs Become Dictator's Lapdogs
By Pravit Rojanaphruk
BANGKOK тАФ In a country where military coups are common occurrences, the mass media serve as more than just victims of repression. All too often they serve as admirers, supporters, collaborators and even spin doctors for the junta.
Instead of holding the coup-makers feet to the fire, some media in Thailand instead serve to normalize what is an otherwise unpalatable, illegitimate and anti-democratic regime.
For example, the kingdomтАЩs best-selling tabloid, Thai Rath, often refers to the junta leaderтАЩs dictatorial power under Article 44 of its provisional charter using the Thai word for тАЬspecialтАЭ (phisaet), which has a much more positive meaning than it does in English..... (read more).....http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail.ph ... 1452933920

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Police fail to arrest Rajabhakti protesters Published: 16/01/2016 at 08:10 PM Writer: Online Reporters Siriwich Serithiwat
Police and soldiers declined to arrest five anti-coup activists wanted on warrants during a standoff at Thon Buri train station on Saturday for fear of "playing into their hands".....(read more)....

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