"After the coup, everything goes back to 2015."
28-year-old Myanmar activist Alexander is one of the costume designers participating in the 2024 #BangkokPride parade. We talk to him about the ideas behind his design, how it represents the threats against the LGBTQ community in Myanmar, and the situation after the 2021 military coup.
Also on YouTube: https://youtu.be/_CShx0xbcW0
#BangkokPride2024: THAI for Palestine
"We have to keep watch and record it to call to the world that this is a war crime and we will not accept it. No matter if it is in Palestine, in Ukraine, or in Myanmar."
In the #BangkokPride2024 parade on 1 June, pro-Palestine activists marched to call for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza. We spoke to Ae and Mim from THAI for Palestine about the intersection of identities, gender and religious bias, and why they are marching at Pride.
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrrTXkmoNyY
#THAIforPalestine #Palestine #Gaza #CeaseFireNow #BangkokPRIDE2024 #AllEyesOnRafah
"Ceasefire now!"
In the #BangkokPride2024 parade, which took place on Saturday (1 June), activists and other participants were seen holding banners calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza.
Escaped: Myanmar youths fleeing conscription law
“It is impossible to become soldiers. We’d have to harm others, or kill each other. It’s something I’ve never thought about doing.”
18-year-old Su Pan came to Thailand fleeing conscription by the Myanmar military. Even though the Myanmar military has delayed the conscription of women, Su Pan does not feel safe to go back to Myanmar.
Thiha, 23, and Thura, 20 were working on a fishing boat in Myeik. After coming to Thailand, they had to find work. They were arrested by a police officer who forced them to pay 5000 baht, and were also cheated of money when trying to get a work permit.
Shwe, 22, and Kyaw, 26, said that it would be good for the Thai government to implement a policy to help refugees legally stay in Thailand, at least legally.
Su Pan, Thiha, Thura, Shwe, and Kyaw are among many young people who fled Myanmar after the military issued an order on 10 February 2024 for the conscription of men aged 18 – 35 years old and women aged 18 – 27 years old. Although conscription was slated to begin in April, in many areas, it began in March.
The Myanmar Response Network (MRN) estimates that there are more than 14 million people in Myanmar who qualify for military conscription. Those who ignore conscription notifications can be sentenced to as many as 5 years in prison.
This story is supported by Staying Resilient Amidst Multiple Crises in Southeast Asia initiative of SEA Junction in partnership with CMB Foundation.
Watch on YouTube at https://youtu.be/n16tzuOiM-Y
Seminar "Media freedom in Thailand post-election"
For this year’s #WorldPressFreedomDay, Prachatai and UNESCO invite you to attend a seminar on “Media freedom in Thailand post-election amidst environmental crisis and the path towards anti-SLAPP law”.
3 May 2024
Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT), Penthouse floor, Maneeya Center
13.00 – 16.00
Register now: https://forms.gle/xQkPHBmRcNuwzn7D6
No entry fee.
Thai-English interpretation available
The event will be live-streamed with simultaneous interpretation on Facebook at UNESCO Bangkok (in English) and ประชาไท prachatai.com (in Thai)
See full programme at https://prachataienglish.com/node/10916
Nattaphon Phanphongsanon, an independent photographer arrested today (12 February) has been transferred to Thung Song Hong Police Station.
Along with Prachatai reporter Nuttaphol Meksobhon, Nattaphon was charged with being an accomplice to damaging a historic site and vandalizing a wall in a public place for covering an incident in March 2023 when an activist was arrested for spray-painting an anarchist symbol and the number 112 with a strike through it, signifying a protest against the royal defamation law, onto the wall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha, located within the Grand Palace.
Nuttaphol, meanwhile, was taken to Chalongkrung Police Station. The two reporters will spend the night in police custody and will be taken to court tomorrow morning for a temporary detention request.
#PressFreedom #JournalismIsNotACrime #นักข่าวโดนจับ
"This is not just about me personally. This is not just about our party, but this is about the future. It’s about the health of Thai democracy and the political landscape going forward,"
said Pita Limjaroenrat, Move Forward Party MP and former leader, during a press conference yesterday (31 January)
The press conference came after the Constitutional Court ruled that the party's campaign to amend the royal defamation law counts as treason and must end.
Read more: https://prachataienglish.com/node/10798
#พรรคก้าวไกล #ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ #ยกเลิก112 #WhatshappeningInThailand
Pita Limjaroenrat returns to parliament following Constitutional Court ruling
Former Move Forward Party leader Pita Limjaroenrat returned to parliamentary duties on 25 January 2024, after the Constitutional Court cleared him of an accusation that he ran in the 2023 general election while holding shares in a media company because he holds a small shares in the now-defunct broadcasting company iTV.
Pita has been suspended since 19 July 2023 on order of the Constitutional Court.
The complaint against him was filed by Ruangkrai Leekitwattana, a former Palang Pracharath party-list candidate. Pita said he has no intention of pressing charges against Ruangkrai.
Read more: https://prachataienglish.com/node/10789
Watch on YouTube: https://youtu.be/jQ8CTPucDKQ
#PrachataiEnglish #whatshappeninginthailand #MoveForwardParty #พิธา #พิธาลิ้มเจริญรัตน์ #ก้าวไกล #ศาลรัฐธรรมนูญ
15-year-old activist discuss prosecution of child protesters at Children's Day festival
"You should be questioning the government about why they are choosing to prosecute children who are exercising their freedom of expression."
15-year-old activist Thanalop Phalanchai was charged with royal defamation in 2023 for joining a protest on 13 October 2022. At the time, she was 14 years old.
Prachatai spoke with her while she visits the annual Children's Day festival at Government House on Saturday (13 January) about the prosecution of child protesters and activists.
While at the festival, Thanalop was being followed at all times by both uniformed and plainclothes police officers.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR) reported that, since the pro-democracy protests of 2020, at least 286 minors have been charged for political expression. Of this number, at least 20 were charged with royal defamation, two of whom are now held in a juvenile detention centre.
Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=calUwxiBcWs
#PrachataiEnglish #WhatsHappeningInThailand #ChildrensDay #วันเด็กแห่งชาติ
What Should Parental Leave Policies in Thailand Look Like?
There is a growing interest in parental leave benefits for workers in Thailand. Women’s and workers’ rights groups have called on Thai companies and the government to implement stronger parental leave policies, including fully paid six-month leave packages and other parental benefits. While the Thai government has shown a commitment to revise labor laws to address parental issues at work, progress has been slow to implement changes. How can Thai businesses and the government enhance parental leave benefits? What do stronger parental leave policies look like and what could be their challenges?
The Fort will host a panel event on parental leave policies in Thailand, featuring women and labor rights activists as well as academics and politicians, some of whom are parents themselves. The event will include stories from workers, parents, and activists pushing for stronger parental leave benefits for workers.
This event is open to the public and free of charge. It will also be live-streamed on The Fort’s page with simultaneous English language interpretation.
Panel Discussion:
Mother representative, the Rangsit Labor and Area Union Group
Asst. Prof. Sustarum Thammaboosadee, Director, Centre of Welfare State and Justice Studies, Thammasat University
Jaded Chaowilai, Women and Men Progressive Movement Foundation (WMP.)
Sasinan Thamnithinan, Member of Parliament, Moving Forward Party
Moderator:
Kanlayawee Waewklayhong, The Fort
We love the King: The far-right in the age of three-finger salutes
"Don’t even think about me stopping. I won’t. No matter what happens. I’ll continue. Continue to file complaints. To report 112 violations."
Since the pro-democracy protests of 2020, the call for monarchy reform and the repeal of the royal defamation law were followed by unprecedented discussions on the role of the monarchy, as well as the rise in number of prosecution under the royal defamation law.
Emerged during this time were ultra-royalist groups who have been filing royal defamation complaints against pro-democracy activists and netizens. They are often seen as laughing stocks, but they have made some wave with their campaigns.
However, the number of these groups' supporters seem greatly reduced from past royalist movements, raising the question of whether royalism is still strong in Thailand and where the country is heading. Prachatai explores the current royalism movement in a new documentary "We love the King: The far-right in the age of three-finger salutes"
*this version of video with English subtitles was translated from the one published on 11 July 2023*
สื่อพลิกผันในสถานการณ์พลิกขั้ว เสรีภาพสื่อและบทบาทสื่อมวลชนไทยในยุคพลิกผัน | 26 ก.ย. 66
🔥ปิดฉาก 9 ปีระบอบประยุทธ์ สู่ยุคนายกฯ พลเรือน
ขอเชิญร่วมเวทีสาธารณะ "สื่อพลิกผันในสถานการณ์พลิกขั้ว"
มองเสรีภาพสื่อและบทบาทสื่อมวลชนไทยในยุคพลิกผัน
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⏰วันอังคารที่ 26 กันยายน 2566 เวลา 09.30-13.00 น.
📌ห้อง Pinnacle ชั้น 4 โรงแรมไอบิส สไตล์ กรุงเทพฯ ถนนรัชดาภิเษก (MRT ห้วยขวาง ทางออก 2)
👉ลง��ะเบียนสำรองที่นั่งที่ https://forms.gle/HoYDvQTt7S8639rJ8
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กำหนดการ:::
09.30 - 10.00 น.: ลงทะเบียนและรับประทานอาหารว่าง
10.00 - 10.15 น.: ผู้ดำเนินรายการแนะนำวิทยากร
10.15 - 12.30 น.: เวทีสาธารณะ หัวข้อ "เสรีภาพสื่อและบทบาทสื่อมวลชนไทยในยุคพลิกผัน"
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หัวข้อในการนำเสนอ
(1) สื่อในการรายงานสถานการณ์ชุมนุมทางการเมือง (พ.ศ. 2557-2565) โดย ผู้ช่วยศาสตราจารย์ ดร.พรรษาสิริ กุหลาบ คณะนิเทศศาสตร์ จุฬาลงกรณ์มหาวิทยาลัย, จุฑารัตน์ กุลตัณกิจจา ผู้ช่วยวิจัยโครงการวิจัยการรายงานข่าวการประท้วง: บทบาทของสื่อมวลชนไทย
Community's Climate Resilience: People's Voices and Actions
#MAEW2023 Bangkok
Our Panelists:
(-) Amornrat Thongpat, Southern Peasants Federation of Thailand (SPFT)
(-) Qomarrun Nazmi, Serikat Petani Indonesia (SPI)
(-) Venerable THO Thoross, Sang Rukhavoan Community Forestry
(-) Emily Fajardo, Coal Free / Nuclear Free Bataan Movement (CFBM/NFBM) #KaBaRo
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Narumon Arunotai from CUSRI will share reflections on the importance of local knowledge and wisdom on climate change resilience.
Panel Discussion to be facilitated by Galileo de Guzman Castillo from Focus on the Global South
See all the #MAEW2023 Programs and registration links https://www.sevanasea.org/maew_2023.html
Thai Direct Investment: Impacts on Community, Environment and Human Rights Violations
#ETOs Watch Coalition เครือข่ายติดตามการลงทุนไทยและความรับผิดชอบข้ามพรมแดน #MAEW2023 Bangkok
Book Launch and Panel discussion
See all the #MAEW2023 Programs and registration links https://www.sevanasea.org/maew_2023.html
“Fresh from the field: Change, suffering, hope and the future In the Eyes of Mekong Peoples”
On the final day of #MAEW2023 Bangkok
the discussion from the fieldwork of the experienced researchers who spent most of
their research life with the local communities.
See all the #MAEW2023 Programs and registration links
https://www.sevanasea.org/maew_2023.html
Campaign experience across the region | #MAEW2023
#MAEW2023 Bangkok
the youth from Cambodia, Myanmar, and the Philippines.
See all the #MAEW2023 Programs and registration links https://www.sevanasea.org/maew_2023.html
"Discussion/workshop “Energy Democratization for Thailand's Sustainable Future”.
#MAEW2023 Bangkok
"Discussion/workshop “Energy Democratization for Thailand's Sustainable Future”.
An intensive discussion by the front-line energy experts and activists will lead you to understand how the energy trade and politics have worked their way in the region.
Watching YouTube Live on English Channel
Click to see all the program and registration links of #MAEW2023
https://www.sevanasea.org/maew_2023.html
During the parliamentary session yesterday (31 August), lawyer and Move Forward MP Weeranan Huadsri raised the issue of political prisoners and called for the right to bail for them, noting that two people are now on a hunger strike to protest their detention.
While Weeranan speaks, other MFP MPs held up pictures of royal defamation detainees, including Anchan Preelert, Sopon Surariddhidhamrong, and Warunee. They also held up placards saying "Free Warunee" and "Return the right to bail."
9 people are now detained for royal defamation in Thailand. Of this number, 3 are detained following a final verdict or after a decision not to appeal, while 6 are detained pending trial or appeal.
Read more about each detainee at https://prachataienglish.com/node/10559
Yesterday (2 August), after the Pheu Thai Party announced that it has parted ways with the Move Forward Party and will be forming a new government coalition while Move Forward will work as the opposition, activists covered three effigies in red paint and burned them in front of the Pheu Thai Party headquarters.
The monarchy reform activist group Thaluwang said on their page that the three effigies represented the 99 victims of the 2010 Red Shirt crackdown, victims of enforced disappearance, and those who died due to government mismanagement during the Covid-19 pandemic. The group said they wanted to remind Pheu Thai of these lives and to keep them in mind if the party is going to form a coalition with supporters of the 2014 military coup.
(Video by Zee Faozee)
"Today, we witnessed the destruction of constitutional principles, legal principles, in a way that is unforgivable by those in parliament," said Nuthamon Kongcharoen, Dean of Chiang Mai University’s Faculty of Law, during a protest in Chiang Mai on 19 July.
Nuthamon condemned parliament’s action as the destruction of the country’s constitutional and legal principles. She said that the country has come very far in the last 3 – 4 years since the student-led protests of 2020, which started conversations about things that used to be taboo in society, and called on people to stand up for their own rights.
The protest is one of many demonstrations that took place during the past weeks following the Constitutional Court’s decision to suspend Pita Limjaroenrat, Move Forward Party’s leader and Prime Minister candidate, from parliamentary duties while it considers whether to disqualify him for holding shares in the now-defunct iTV broadcasting company, and following parliament's decision to prohibit any Prime Minister candidate from being nominated more than once, preventing Pita from being re-nominated during the current parliament’s term.
(Translation of the speech by Nicha Rakpanichmanee)
