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Life for a Thai in exile: Jaran Ditapichai
Thaweeporn Kummetha Since the coup on 22 May 2014, about a hundred pro-democracy activists have fled the country. Most were involved in the red-shirt movement. Most decided to flee after they were...
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Testimony from wife of lèse majesté prisoner serving longest Article 112...
Metta Wongwat Tiensutham S. , aka Yai Daengdueat, 58 years old, graduated from a top-tier Thai university with a degree in chemical engineering and most recently worked as a consultant to a number of...
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Tom Dundee: French-educated country singer-turned-lèse majesté prisoner
Metta Wongwat Thanat Thanawatcharanon aka Tom Dundee was recognized as a celebrity for more than a decade before he disappeared from the media. Recently he re-appeared after being accused of defaming...
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Thai theater actors in exile after coup
Thaweeporn Kummetha Two theater activists have been jailed for insulting the King for their involvement with the Wolf Bride, a student play which parodies the Thai political conflict. At least two...
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Romancing the tanks: how military rom-com’s constant remakes since the ʼ70s...
Asaree Thaitrakulpanich Above: A promotional photo of Phu Kong Yod Rak. Below: Soldiers suppress a miners’ protest in Isaan after the 2014 coup. Since the 70s, Thais have been encountering...
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Fast & Furious Bus Line 8: An investigation into poor service
Patranit Jitsamruay Editor’s note: While expatriates regularly complain about Bangkok's tricky taxi drivers, Bangkokian Thais are facing much worse -- the poor bus services, offered by both the Thai...
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Localized KFC and Starbucks in Thailand’s restive Deep South
Thaweeporn Kummetha Decades of insurgency in Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat, and four districts of Songkhla have embroiled the region in violence. A large number of people, especially Chinese business...
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Story of Sasiwimon: Mother of two given 28 years by military court
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights In two separate cases, military courts on 7 August handed down the harshest Article 112 (lèse-majesté) sentences yet. That morning, the Bangkok court slapped a man,...
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Lower Sesan 2 Dam jeopardizes lives of millions of Cambodia’s river dwellers
Kongpob Areerat With an increasing need for energy, the Royal Cambodian Government has spent nearly a billion US dollars on a hydroelectric dam that it claimed was necessary for industry. However, the...
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Investigation into professionalism of Thai sex workers
Pimkamol Phijitsiri Note from editor: At the mention of the Thai sex industry, sexpats may start spouting off about their expertise in establishments at Soi Cowboy, Nana, Patpong, and Pattaya. Much...
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Interrupted normalcy of everyday lives in Thailand’s restive Deep South
Thaweeporn Kummetha Constant military search checkpoints are one example of an originally obtrusive element that has become common in everyday Deep South life. These checkpoints block an entire lane...
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Veteran journalist Pravit says military ill-treated him during detention
Veteran journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk was detained incommunicado by the military junta for allegedly spreading false information about the junta on social media. Pravit is known for his anti-junta,...
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Rubbing salt on open wounds: enforced disappearance, torture and...
Kongpob Areerat and Thaweeporn Kummetha More than ten years after the war on drugs wreaked havoc on many Lahu ethnic minority families in the hilly northern Thai-Myanmar border, arbitrary abuses and...
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Music of the unutterable in exile
Thaweeporn Kummetha “Faiyen” is a pop and luk thung band well-known to red-shirts. With their lyrics sharply criticizing the elite, the band seeks to politically “enlighten” listeners. Faiyen have...
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Junta to pass law banning homosexuals from monkhood
Kongpob Areerat The junta cabinet has approved a bill on religion which can be used to prosecute, with jail terms, people who propagate ‘incorrect’ versions of Buddhist doctrines or cause harm to...
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Exclusive: Bomb suspect reveals details of torture allegations “They tortured...
Four of nine suspects in a case related to explosions in Bangkok say they faced torture and ill-treatment during military detention in March. A communist-turned-red-shirt, Sansern Sriounruen is one of...
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Life after eviction
Eight months after the implementation of the Thai government’s Master Plan to reforest the country, villagers in Isaan bear the burden of a flawed policy at the cost of their livelihood and health....
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Isaan lives: “Thaksin put the nation on sale and Lee Kuan Yew bought it.”
The Isaan Record Among a wilderness of green shrubbery, Somkit Singsong sat in front of a small clay hut outside his village in Khon Kaen province. Sporting a beard akin to Vietnamese revolutionary...
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Thai theater actors in exile after coup
Two theater activists have been jailed for insulting the King for their involvement with the Wolf Bride, a student play which parodies the Thai political conflict. At least two actors have fled...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Music of the unutterable in exile
“Faiyen” is a pop and luk thung band well-known to red-shirts. With their lyrics sharply criticizing the elite, the band seeks to politically “enlighten” listeners. Faiyen have been harassed by the...
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