Our lost is our gain.
Thitinan Pongsudhirak has an op-ed at the Wall Street Journal that will get some attention, not least because the author assures readers that the royalist elite has lost the battle to defeat Thaksin Shinawatra. He begins:
The Thai military, the minority Democrat Party, and monarchists clad in yellow and other colors all cannot stand the former prime minister. They have jointly kept him at bay after a military coup deposed him in September 2006. But it hasn’t worked….
Thitinan has an “unspoken truce,” where the “Yingluck government has gone out of its way not to challenge the army’s high command and to ensure the monarchy remains sacrosanct in Thailand’s hierarchical society.”
The return on this “truce” is that Yingluck “gets to rule without the crippling street protests by colorful royalists as happened in the recent past and Mr. Thaksin has to remain in exile.”
He even sees Yingluck, who has an “even-handed temperament and disarming charm” as having “endeared her to establishment figures and defused tensions between them and her brother.”
This means that “establishment figures, particularly Privy Council President Gen. Prem Tinsulanond and Army Commander in Chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, have tacitly conceded their inability to put Mr. Thaksin away for good.”
On this expansion of “reconciliation for the elite,” Thitinan says that “the color-coded masses from yellows, reds and other stripes will not stand down easily.” He is right to see these as powerful social movements that “may be beyond deactivation and dismantlement.”
He then observes that “[e]stablishment figures would risk the future of the monarchy if they openly succumb to the forces of electoral democracy.” Thitinan explain that there is no open platform on which to discuss the important issues:
Yet right now, strict lese-majeste laws deter the debates Thailand needs to undertake reforms and undergo an inevitable transformation in the twilight of a 65-year reign and thereafter…. Thailand needs to bring its monarchy squarely within its constitutional confines, pre-empting future coups and extraconstitutional and extraparliamentary power plays. The best window to recalibrate the institution of the monarchy and its attendant privileges and perquisites is during the current reign when King Bhumibol Adulyadej remains popular.
The danger is that these reforms will be delayed.
http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/the-royalist-elite-has-lost/
Thitinan Pongsudhirak has an op-ed at the Wall Street Journal that will get some attention, not least because the author assures readers that the royalist elite has lost the battle to defeat Thaksin Shinawatra. He begins:
The Thai military, the minority Democrat Party, and monarchists clad in yellow and other colors all cannot stand the former prime minister. They have jointly kept him at bay after a military coup deposed him in September 2006. But it hasn’t worked….
Thitinan has an “unspoken truce,” where the “Yingluck government has gone out of its way not to challenge the army’s high command and to ensure the monarchy remains sacrosanct in Thailand’s hierarchical society.”
The return on this “truce” is that Yingluck “gets to rule without the crippling street protests by colorful royalists as happened in the recent past and Mr. Thaksin has to remain in exile.”
He even sees Yingluck, who has an “even-handed temperament and disarming charm” as having “endeared her to establishment figures and defused tensions between them and her brother.”
This means that “establishment figures, particularly Privy Council President Gen. Prem Tinsulanond and Army Commander in Chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha, have tacitly conceded their inability to put Mr. Thaksin away for good.”
On this expansion of “reconciliation for the elite,” Thitinan says that “the color-coded masses from yellows, reds and other stripes will not stand down easily.” He is right to see these as powerful social movements that “may be beyond deactivation and dismantlement.”
He then observes that “[e]stablishment figures would risk the future of the monarchy if they openly succumb to the forces of electoral democracy.” Thitinan explain that there is no open platform on which to discuss the important issues:
Yet right now, strict lese-majeste laws deter the debates Thailand needs to undertake reforms and undergo an inevitable transformation in the twilight of a 65-year reign and thereafter…. Thailand needs to bring its monarchy squarely within its constitutional confines, pre-empting future coups and extraconstitutional and extraparliamentary power plays. The best window to recalibrate the institution of the monarchy and its attendant privileges and perquisites is during the current reign when King Bhumibol Adulyadej remains popular.
The danger is that these reforms will be delayed.
http://thaipoliticalprisoners.wordpress.com/2012/05/08/the-royalist-elite-has-lost/
Add a comment...
After a conspiracy of silence Thai political prisoner, Ah Kong, is dead
Tue, 08/05/2012 - 13:50 | by prachatai
Andrew Spooner
I woke up this morning to terrible news. The 62 year old Thai political prisoner Ampon "Ah Kong" Tangnoppakul is dead. Three days ago, on the 5th of May, it was his 44th wedding anniversary and he leaves behind his wife, Pa Ou, and a large loving family.
We had had reports over the last couple of days that he had a bad stomach and wasn’t feeling well. Apparently he has had this condition for a month and was trying to secure bail to get it treated but bail was continually refused. We’re being told now his sickness got increasingly worse and that no doctor was available to see him. Ah Kong was likely left to die in a filthy prison hospital, alone. At the moment our information is that an autopsy is being performed on his body. This could point to some other causes, rather than natural, that led to his death. Many people in the Red Shirt community we have spoken to today are deeply suspicious as to the cause of his death.
Ah Kong and his wife, Pa Ou, on their wedding day.
Ah Kong was arrested after the intervention of an aide to the former Democrat Party Prime Minister, Mark Abhisit, decided to press charges after this aide received a number of private and personal SMS messages defaming the Thai queen. A court decided, despite very flimsy and weak evidence, that the SMS messages could be traced back to Ah Kong and he received a 20year prison sentence. Why Abhisit’s toadying lickspittle aide couldn’t just delete the messages and forget them is beyond my understanding. I am also convinced that the aide would not have proceeded with such a prosecution without Abhisit’s blessing. I have also seen some evidence that Ah Kong was badly treated whilst awaiting trial and that his mistreatment was directly ordered by the Abhisit government.
I met Ah Kong three times. Each time these meetings took place in the Bangkok Remand Prison. He was obviously frail yet, despite his terrible ordeal, his eyes shone and his smile was broad. He also looked tearful. At that point almost no foreigners had ever been to meet him – not Bangkok’s huge foreign media corps and not the so-called human rights’ NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty. A foreigner visiting him was a surprise. Likely it let him know at least someone in the wider world knew of his ordeal I asked him about how he was being treated. “Things are getting better now,” he said, with a quiet smile.
I was also lucky enough to meet Ah Kong’s wife, Pa Ou, on a couple of occasions. The last time I saw her we had lunch at MK in Big C in Samrong, just outside Bangkok. There was something indomitable, charismatic and bright about her. She combined this with an easy beauty and an obvious intelligence. Another thing that was very obvious was her love for her husband. Today my thoughts are with her and the rest of Ah Kong’s family
The international community have been pathetically lacking in response to dealing with lese majeste. The USA Embassy continually claim there are no political prisoners in Thailand. The British Embassy – a mission whose foreign minister made recent pronouncements about human rights being at the centre of its policy – gave interviews about flood preventions, yet has remained resolutely quiet on Thai human rights, its former Ambassador taking up work with a huge Thai conglomerate after years of abject silence. Human Rights Watch refused to visit any lese majeste prisoners for years and refused to take up lese majeste cases, their supine Thai researcher once stating that dealing with lese majeste would "damage his ability to work as a human rights defender". When I met Ah Kong in February of this year I asked him if he had any visits from either Amnesty or HRW. "Who and what are Amnesty and HRW," he responded, quizzically. Of course Amnesty International previously stated their tacit support for lese majeste saying “we can see why” such a law needs to exist. As far as I’m aware Western journalists in Bangkok never go to the prison to visit lese majeste prisoners, their silence part of a conspiracy that can only be described as evil.
This evil and the conspiracy of silence that surrounds it led to the death of Ah Kong. His death can be laid at the door of those who participated and the door of the wretched and malicious Thai elite and the present Thai government who perpetuate the malignant lese majeste law.
http://prachatai.com/english/node/3201
Tue, 08/05/2012 - 13:50 | by prachatai
Andrew Spooner
I woke up this morning to terrible news. The 62 year old Thai political prisoner Ampon "Ah Kong" Tangnoppakul is dead. Three days ago, on the 5th of May, it was his 44th wedding anniversary and he leaves behind his wife, Pa Ou, and a large loving family.
We had had reports over the last couple of days that he had a bad stomach and wasn’t feeling well. Apparently he has had this condition for a month and was trying to secure bail to get it treated but bail was continually refused. We’re being told now his sickness got increasingly worse and that no doctor was available to see him. Ah Kong was likely left to die in a filthy prison hospital, alone. At the moment our information is that an autopsy is being performed on his body. This could point to some other causes, rather than natural, that led to his death. Many people in the Red Shirt community we have spoken to today are deeply suspicious as to the cause of his death.
Ah Kong and his wife, Pa Ou, on their wedding day.
Ah Kong was arrested after the intervention of an aide to the former Democrat Party Prime Minister, Mark Abhisit, decided to press charges after this aide received a number of private and personal SMS messages defaming the Thai queen. A court decided, despite very flimsy and weak evidence, that the SMS messages could be traced back to Ah Kong and he received a 20year prison sentence. Why Abhisit’s toadying lickspittle aide couldn’t just delete the messages and forget them is beyond my understanding. I am also convinced that the aide would not have proceeded with such a prosecution without Abhisit’s blessing. I have also seen some evidence that Ah Kong was badly treated whilst awaiting trial and that his mistreatment was directly ordered by the Abhisit government.
I met Ah Kong three times. Each time these meetings took place in the Bangkok Remand Prison. He was obviously frail yet, despite his terrible ordeal, his eyes shone and his smile was broad. He also looked tearful. At that point almost no foreigners had ever been to meet him – not Bangkok’s huge foreign media corps and not the so-called human rights’ NGOs such as Human Rights Watch and Amnesty. A foreigner visiting him was a surprise. Likely it let him know at least someone in the wider world knew of his ordeal I asked him about how he was being treated. “Things are getting better now,” he said, with a quiet smile.
I was also lucky enough to meet Ah Kong’s wife, Pa Ou, on a couple of occasions. The last time I saw her we had lunch at MK in Big C in Samrong, just outside Bangkok. There was something indomitable, charismatic and bright about her. She combined this with an easy beauty and an obvious intelligence. Another thing that was very obvious was her love for her husband. Today my thoughts are with her and the rest of Ah Kong’s family
The international community have been pathetically lacking in response to dealing with lese majeste. The USA Embassy continually claim there are no political prisoners in Thailand. The British Embassy – a mission whose foreign minister made recent pronouncements about human rights being at the centre of its policy – gave interviews about flood preventions, yet has remained resolutely quiet on Thai human rights, its former Ambassador taking up work with a huge Thai conglomerate after years of abject silence. Human Rights Watch refused to visit any lese majeste prisoners for years and refused to take up lese majeste cases, their supine Thai researcher once stating that dealing with lese majeste would "damage his ability to work as a human rights defender". When I met Ah Kong in February of this year I asked him if he had any visits from either Amnesty or HRW. "Who and what are Amnesty and HRW," he responded, quizzically. Of course Amnesty International previously stated their tacit support for lese majeste saying “we can see why” such a law needs to exist. As far as I’m aware Western journalists in Bangkok never go to the prison to visit lese majeste prisoners, their silence part of a conspiracy that can only be described as evil.
This evil and the conspiracy of silence that surrounds it led to the death of Ah Kong. His death can be laid at the door of those who participated and the door of the wretched and malicious Thai elite and the present Thai government who perpetuate the malignant lese majeste law.
http://prachatai.com/english/node/3201
Add a comment...
Add a comment...
Amphon Tangnoppakul, 62 years, died while being imprisoned in Thailand today.
After being convicted to 20 years in jail for allegedly sending four offensive text messages to the secretary of former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva in November 2011, his lawyers applied for his temporary release several times citing his medical need as he had been suffering from cancer among other illnesses. The latest request was made in February 2012 and it was rejected by the Appeals Court who claimed that “The illness which the defendant claims [as one of the reasons for the bail] does not appear to be life-threatening.”
http://prachatai.com/english/node/3200
After being convicted to 20 years in jail for allegedly sending four offensive text messages to the secretary of former PM Abhisit Vejjajiva in November 2011, his lawyers applied for his temporary release several times citing his medical need as he had been suffering from cancer among other illnesses. The latest request was made in February 2012 and it was rejected by the Appeals Court who claimed that “The illness which the defendant claims [as one of the reasons for the bail] does not appear to be life-threatening.”
http://prachatai.com/english/node/3200
Add a comment...
KP Page
10:27 AM (edited) - Public
งานนี้ guardian ไม่พลาด ...
The sentence was believed to be the heaviest received in a lese-majesty case because of additional penalties issued under a related law, the 2007 Computer Crimes Act.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/08/thai-uncle-sms-insulting-queen-dies-prison
The sentence was believed to be the heaviest received in a lese-majesty case because of additional penalties issued under a related law, the 2007 Computer Crimes Act.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/08/thai-uncle-sms-insulting-queen-dies-prison
Add a comment...
"พิเคราะห์พฤติการณ์แห่งคดี และเหตุผลแห่งคำวินิจฉัยของศาลชั้นต้นแล้ว เห็นว่า เป็นเรื่องร้ายแรงประกอบกับศาลชั้นต้นลงโทษจำคุกจำเลยถึง ๒๐ ปี หากได้รับการปล่อยตัวชั่วคราวเชื่อว่าจำเลยจะหลบหนี ส่วนที่จำเลยอ้างความป่วยเจ็บนั้นเห็นว่า จำเลยมีสิทธิที่จะได้รับการรักษาพยาบาลโดยหน่วยงานของรัฐอยู่แล้ว จึงไม่อนุญาตให้ปล่อยจำเลยชั่วคราวในระหว่างอุทธรณ์ ศาลอุทธรณ์ไม่อนุญาตให้ปล่อยจำเลยชั่วคราวชอบแล้ว ยกคำร้อง"
http://prachatai.com/journal/2012/05/40407
http://prachatai.com/journal/2012/05/40407
Add a comment...
มีโรคประจำตัวมาก่อน โดยเป็นมะเร็งที่ช่องปาก โดยนายอำพลมีอาการปวดท้อง ท้องโตเมื่อวันศุกร์ที่ผ่านมา จึงส่งตัวมาที่ รพ. กรมราชทัณฑ์ อย่างไรก็ตาม อาการโดยทั่วไปไม่ได้รุนแรงขนาดที่จะส่งสัญญาณว่าจะเสียชีวิต
มีการชี้แจงจากเจ้าหน้าที่กรมราชทัณฑ์ว่า อากงถูกส่งมาที่ รพ. ด้วยอาการปวดท้องเมื่อช่วงเที่ยงวันศุกร์ที่ผ่านมา และได้เข้าเตียงเมื่อ 15.40 น. แต่ยังไม่ทันได้เจาะเลือดหรือตรวจอะไร เพราะหมดเวลา และติดวันหยุดเสาร์-อาทิตย์ ต่อมา มีการเจาะเลือดในวันจันทร์ แต่ผลแล็ปยังไม่มา เบื้องต้นสันนิษฐานว่าเป็นปัญหาเกี่ยวกับตับ เพราะตับโต
จริงๆ นายอำพลขอปล่อยตัวมาแปดครั้งแล้ว แต่ศาลยกคำร้องตลอด หากนายอำพลได้สิทธิการประกันตัวตั้งแต่ต้น จะได้ไปหาหมอทุก 3-6 เดือนอย่างที่ควรจะเป็น เพราะนายอำพลเพิ่งไปผ่าตัดมะเร็งในช่องปาก และอาจจะไม่เกิดเหตุการณ์นี้
พูนสุข กล่าวว่า จริงๆ อากงมีอาการปวดท้องมาเป็นเดือนแล้ว แต่เพิ่งเป็นหนักเมื่อวันศุกร์ที่ผ่านมา ขณะนี้ ถอนอุทธรณ์แล้ว อยู่ระหว่างการเตรียมยื่นเรื่องขอพระราชทานอภัยโทษ ซึ่งมีกำหนดจะทำภายในอาทิตย์นี้หรืออาทิตย์หน้า
http://prachatai.com/journal/2012/05/40404
มีการชี้แจงจากเจ้าหน้าที่กรมราชทัณฑ์ว่า อากงถูกส่งมาที่ รพ. ด้วยอาการปวดท้องเมื่อช่วงเที่ยงวันศุกร์ที่ผ่านมา และได้เข้าเตียงเมื่อ 15.40 น. แต่ยังไม่ทันได้เจาะเลือดหรือตรวจอะไร เพราะหมดเวลา และติดวันหยุดเสาร์-อาทิตย์ ต่อมา มีการเจาะเลือดในวันจันทร์ แต่ผลแล็ปยังไม่มา เบื้องต้นสันนิษฐานว่าเป็นปัญหาเกี่ยวกับตับ เพราะตับโต
จริงๆ นายอำพลขอปล่อยตัวมาแปดครั้งแล้ว แต่ศาลยกคำร้องตลอด หากนายอำพลได้สิทธิการประกันตัวตั้งแต่ต้น จะได้ไปหาหมอทุก 3-6 เดือนอย่างที่ควรจะเป็น เพราะนายอำพลเพิ่งไปผ่าตัดมะเร็งในช่องปาก และอาจจะไม่เกิดเหตุการณ์นี้
พูนสุข กล่าวว่า จริงๆ อากงมีอาการปวดท้องมาเป็นเดือนแล้ว แต่เพิ่งเป็นหนักเมื่อวันศุกร์ที่ผ่านมา ขณะนี้ ถอนอุทธรณ์แล้ว อยู่ระหว่างการเตรียมยื่นเรื่องขอพระราชทานอภัยโทษ ซึ่งมีกำหนดจะทำภายในอาทิตย์นี้หรืออาทิตย์หน้า
http://prachatai.com/journal/2012/05/40404
Add a comment...
Thailand's Fearlessness: Free Akong...Album 3.. More to come.
(101 photos) By Pavin Chachavalpongpun (Albums)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.155248207910284.23645.100002753173461
(101 photos) By Pavin Chachavalpongpun (Albums)
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.155248207910284.23645.100002753173461
No comments:
Post a Comment