New Mandala

Sitting here at the National Thai Studies Centre’s 2009 Thai Update I am struck by the news that two Thai citizens have been charged with ”feeding untrue information through a computer system which undermined the security of the nation”.  They have been accused of spreading rumours about the king’s health.  Apparently a translation of a Bloomberg article is [...]

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While people may and should debate on the merit of the lese majeste law, outright verbal attacks online, especially those that are unsubstantiated have led to a feeling that the online virtual debating community is degenerating into verbal abuse and uncompromising dogmatism, both from the political left and right. These reckless and vicious contributors end [...]

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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 [...]

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The short essay I wrote earlier in the week titled “Thailand and lese majeste” has now been translated into Thai.  It is available here.  The comments that follow the translation may be of interest to those who read Thai.

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New Mandala has long sought to draw attention to the injustices of Thailand’s lese majeste law.
From Oliver Jufer and Harry Nicolaides, to Suwicha Thakor and Daranee “Da Torpedo” Charnchoengsilpakul, whenever a lese majeste case is prosecuted, and every time an outrageous sentence is proclaimed, we receive a tragic spike in readership.  Outrage is voiced by [...]

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

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Michael J. Montesano, from the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore, has written an analysis of the April 2009 political showdown in Thailand.  It was just published in Contemporary Southeast Asia and is available here.  Towards the end of the article, Montesano offers some important comparative reflections.  That section begins:

Thailand and many scholars [...]

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Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ended her recent week-long trip through Asia in Thailand. She met with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva in Bangkok, and then concluded her trip with attendance at the summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations in Phuket.  Her mantra throughout the week – “The United States is Back” – seemed [...]

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When we launched the campaign to name Taronga Zoo’s baby elephant in honour of Thai political prisoner Suwicha Thakor we had no real expectation that the first elephant born on Australian soil would be named “Suwicha” (สุวิชา).
Our small hope was that our effort would raise awareness of Suwicha’s plight.  Suwicha Thakor’s incarceration is a black mark [...]

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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.

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