Protests update

[Up2U]

How Thailand is using a draconian law to silence critics, including me
By Pavin Chachavalpongpun March 9
Pavin Chachavalpongpun is an associate professor at Kyoto University’s Center for Southeast Asian Studies. He is currently a visiting scholar at St John’s College, University of Cambridge.
Just as I was about to begin a lecture recently at Oxford University about the future of Thailand’s monarchy, I received an urgent message from my family in Bangkok to call home. When my sister answered the phone, her voice quivered with stress and worry: “The junta are demanding that you stop commenting on the monarchy immediately. Otherwise, your family will pay the price.”

My sister told me that four plainclothes police officers had visited our home in central Bangkok and ordered my family to.... (read more)....https://www.washingtonpost.com/opini...5970&tid=ss_fb

[Up2U]

Academics oppose idea of a selected Senate
KASAMAKORN CHANWANPEN
THE NATION March 10, 2016
Many see it as Junta's move to 'cling on to power'; Prawit denies claim.

ACADEMICS yesterday voiced opposition to the junta's perceived move to cling on to power via selected senators, even as Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said he saw nothing wrong in members of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) getting appointed as senators.

In a democratic system, senators have to get their mandate from the people if they are to have the checks-and-balances power, the academics pointed out..... (read more)... http://www.nationmultimedia.com/poli...-30281204.html

[Up2U]

Associated Press
10 March 2016
Thaksin Says Junta Seeks 'Backward Democracy'

NEW YORK — Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006, has accused the ruling junta of trying to push through a new constitution designed to limit democracy.

After dismissing Thaksin and seizing power, the military held elections in 2007, which Thaksin's party won easily. But after a series of political upheavels, during which Thaksin fled the country,.... (read more).... http://www.khaosodenglish.com/detail...sid=1457595652

[Up2U]

Former PM Thaksin fears Thailand's junta will cling on to power 'as long as possible'
Published March 10, 2016
NEW YORK (AFP) - The Thai military junta wants to cling onto power as long as possible, the country's fugitive former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said in an interview in New York, not ruling out a return to politics.

The telecoms tycoon, who was toppled in a 2006 coup and now lives in self-exile overseas, said he "wished" he could go home but would consider a return only if it would "benefit the country and the people".

In May 2014, Thailand's generals deposed the government of Thaksin's younger sister Yingluck and.... (read more).... http://www.straitstimes.com/asia/se-...ng-as-possible

[Up2U]

Appointed Senate 'could topple government' ANALYSIS: Fears are growing the Upper House may wield more power than first thought
Published: 11/03/2016
The controversial proposal for a fully appointed Senate during the transitional post-election period could weaken an elected government and make national reform an excuse to bring it down, according to... (read more)...

Please credit and share this article with others using this link: http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/poli...ple-government.

[Up2U]

Thaksin says he will ‘never’ give up on Thailand, but is prepared to ‘stay out’
by Sebastian Loh | 10th March 2016 |
THAILAND’S former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has said he would “never” give up on returning to his home country, but also indicated his readiness to “stay out, if the country is moving forward and [the authorities] respect the voice of the people.”

Speaking from the Metropolitan Club in New York City, Thaksin gave.... (read more).... https://asiancorrespondent.com/2016/...d-to-stay-out/

[Up2U]

Latest draft Thai constitution unlikely to restore democracy
11 March 2016
Author: Sarah Bishop, ANU

On 29 January, the latest draft of what may become Thailand’s 20th constitution was released. The draft was not the first since security forces seized power in May 2014 — an earlier draft, by a different body, was rejected in September 2015 amid speculation that the junta had orchestrated the rejection in order to avert tensions and gain more time in power.

The drafts have been composed under a questionable framework set by the Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand (Interim) B.E. 2557 (2014), by drafting teams known for their conservative views, and in an environment in which freedom of speech and scope for public participation were severely curtailed. As such, they were never expected to be exemplary.

Yet, even with low expectations,.... (read more).... http://www.eastasiaforum.org/2016/03...=socialnetwork

[Up2U]

WORRYING ABOUT MORE CRACKDOWNS
March 10, 2016
When it comes to crackdowns on “influential people,” there are several reasons to worry.

The first is that the people doing the crackdowns are usually acting in the service of “villains” at the top of the military and police. It is well known that the police and military brass are, almost to a person, “unusually wealthy.” Their wealth is unusual because it far exceeds.... (read more).... https://politicalprisonersofthailand...re-crackdowns/

[Up2U]

The bitter oppositions of Thai politics can seem strangely lacking in ideological substance. How might they be explained? In one of his last lectures, Benedict Anderson considers a crucial but overlooked factor: divisions within the country’s Sino-Thai communities.
An essay by Benedict Anderson - Riddles of the Yellow and Red - posted March 9, 2016

"Journalists and scholars, both foreign and local, have put forward a number of explanations for the hatred and the violence of Thai politics: it is a struggle between dictatorship and democracy, conservatives and populists, monarchists and republicans, honesty and corruption—or between one class and another. These explanations are partial at best, and none of them captures the whole truth.... "
https://newleftreview.org/II/97/bene...yellow-and-red

[Khor tose]

Thanks Up2U, one of the most insightful articles on Thailand I have ever read. I truly did not see this division, nor do I think many others-even the critics of Thailand--are aware of it. It helps explain some things that seemed unclear to me.