New Mandala

Marwaan Macan-Markar has written an important article for IPS on the (non-)response of Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch to ongoing lese majeste oppression in Thailand. Here is an extract:
AI [Amnesty International] broke its long silence on lese majeste when Darunee’s case began in June this year. It criticised the court for ordering a closed trial of [...]

[Read more →]

[UPDATE: This disgrace is getting some coverage in Australia.]

[Read more →]

Don’t forget to take a minute to show your support for Suwicha Thakor. Details are here. We have already had some interest from Australian media. The more votes we get for “Suwicha” the more we can generate media interest in his fate.

[Read more →]

Sydney’s Taronga Park Zoo is celebrating the birth on 3 July 2009 of a male calf to Thai elephant Thong Dee:
Australia has welcomed the first elephant ever born in the country with the arrival of a 100-kilogram (220.4-pound) male calf at a Sydney zoo, according to keepers. The calf, yet to be named, was born [...]

[Read more →]

Some good sense from the Foreign Correspondent’s Club of China:
The Foreign Correspondents’ Club of China is appalled to learn that our colleagues, the entire board of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand, have been accused of committing lese majeste, a crime which could carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years.
Police will investigate the [...]

[Read more →]

From Reporters Without Borders:
Internet user gets ten years in jail for posting content that “defamed” monarchy
Reporters Without Borders condemns the 10-year jail sentence which a criminal court in the northeast Bangkok district of Ratchada imposed today on Suwicha Thakor for posting content online that was deemed to have insulted the monarchy. Thakor has been held [...]

[Read more →]

Harry Nicolaides has written an account of his time behind bars in Bangkok. It is published in The Monthly. The first 1500 words are available free to non-subscribers.  Here are the first three paragraphs:
On the night of 31 August 2008 my life took an unexpected turn. I had spent months preparing for an interview in [...]

[Read more →]

[Apologies that there have been so few posts over the past week. Both Nicholas and I have been travelling.  The following message from the Thai Netizen Network was one of many that I found in my inbox.]
The case of Internet user, Mr.Suwicha Thakhor, who was arrested on January 14, 2009, has been detained in KlongPrem [...]

[Read more →]

Academics from four Thai universities are holding a discussion on the lese majeste law on 21-22 March  at Thammasart University. Details are available here. This is a rare event with several panels, some high profile speakers and various points of view represented. Hopefully it will encourage ongoing public discussion of the law. If anyone attends the event, or [...]

[Read more →]

A group of Thai students at Oxford have petitioned Prime Minister Abhisit to reform lese majeste and computer crime laws, reform the constitution and hold an early election. Details are available here.

[Read more →]