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mazeltov
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Posts posted by mazeltov
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In the many hours that I spent around the fighting and protests I never witnessed any tension or hostilities between the protesters and the ambulance personnel -- they were shoulder to shoulder like brothers in arms. I have video footage on the night of May 14th at Soi Rangnam where Vajira Hospital medical personnel attempted to rescue a dead person and being shot at multiple times, taking great risk, but made it out. On the very next day a person from the same Hospital crew was shot in the head and killed by the army, I believe in the same location. It seems to be an indication of media manipulation to say that Reds and Army "alike" were anti-medical personnel. Apparently this is a lie to cover up the truth.
Somtumtiger and hammerred, your comments show your lack of honesty as well as where your loyalty lies, duly noted.
"...............a person from the same Hospital crew was shot in the head and killed by the army............"
As you're not sure of the location, is it not reasonable to assume that you did not witness this event? Yet you blame the army, with no grounds for this belief given, or even a suggestion that it may not have been the army or that the incident was accidental.
Your red slip is showing, again.
Tell that to the journalists who saw the nurse shot in the back by the army at the Temple.
Andrew Buncombe JOURNALIST
jotman has an informative and extensive collection of different accounts and eyewitness reports about the incident at the Wat, including photos, videos and all the links to them and newspaper articles.
Killings at Wat Pathum Buddhist temple and medical tent
http://jotman.blogspot.com/2010/05/killing...ist-temple.html
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People should keep in mind that INTERPOL does not have a rapid response police force that darts all over the world arresting fugitives. Any arrest would likely be done by the local police in whatever country Thaksin is hiding. INTERPOL may only act to inform the local police agency that Thaksin is wanted and request their action.
The Thai government could achieve similar results by contacting the country directly, INTERPOL may not have to be involved at all.
Good information, but unless the Thai government can produce hard evidence that Thaksin was behind terrorist actions in Thailand, I doubt any country will extradite him back to Thailand. My view is that this will all go nowhere.
exactly.
agree with your view here.
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INTERPOL is an international police unit. They don't render verdicts, they arrest people with outstanding warrants and let courts come up with verdicts. It is quite common for a national of one country to commit a crime in another country. The passport they hold doesn't prevent them from being tried in the country they committed the crime against. Thaksin could be a native born Montenegrin and he could still be tried in Thailand for terrorism. Osama Bin Laden is Saudi, but the USA would love to put him on trial. The only difficulty comes if Montenegro says "we love terrorism and we will protect Thaksin and refuse to extradite him because he is so rich and awesome". That sort of attitude can come back to bite Montenegro when they require international cooperation.
Thaksin travels. He isn't only in Montenegro. So the authorities of other countries where he travels to could still extradite him.
read the old news from last year:
Thailand Revokes Thaksin's Passport, Arrest Warrant Issued For Thaksin Over Bangkok Riots
did anything happen since then?
C'mon Mazeltov, give me a clue as to how I should regard you. What do you think of young Devakula?
I don't really think that he is PM material. But a person like him could be a wing man. get some job in the cabinet, can become a minister with some profile and charisma in a couple of years. but his charisma isn't actually that of a politician politican style.
I really liked his famous opinion piece " Rosana Tositrakul, are you kidding me?" (you can google it)
i think it was you who wrote that he dislike the way Nattakorn speaks.
i like the way Visaradee Techateerawat (วิสาระดี เตชะธีราวัฒน์) speaks.
here in an interview
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1eLd_lcpyLY
and here in the parliament
the Nation run an article about her with the headline: A star is born?
of course, she is not somebody who could become the PM in Thailand, but i wish her a future in politics. (and i hope she not turn into something like Rosana Tositrakul)
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1. Person commits crime
2. Police investigate gather evidence
3. Based on evidence police obtain arrest warrant
4. Person is arrested
4a. If person is in another country local police may arrest him
4b Extradition process occurs
5. Trial
6. Guilt is determined
7 Sentencing if necessary
Usual course of a police investigation and subsequent trial, not sure why it's so difficult to understand.
4a
4b
There are arrest warrents out, Thaksin also found guilty and was sentenced two 2 years jail in one case allready. and this is not since yesterday. also the call that interpol should help is not new.
The question is how likely is it that 4a/4b will really happen?
to get a clue the study if older from threads maybe can help.
Arrest Warrants Issued For 14 Red Shirt Leaders And Thaksin topic started 2009-04-14, discussion over 49 Pages
Thailand Revokes Thaksin's Passport, Arrest Warrant Issued For Thaksin Over Bangkok Riots 2009-04-15, 26 pages
Govt Using All Means To Corner Thaksin, Two passports confirmed, third might be Cambodian travel document topic started on 2009-04-28,
Interpol Asked To Help Find Thaksin 2009-05-22
UAE says Thaksin no longer welcome there 2009-04-28
Understand?
and here are some thread that discuss Thaksins recent travel itineraries
Thaksin - from Russia with love2010-03-31
Sweden Says It Did Not Ask Thaksin To Leave 2010-04-02
Deposed Thai Premier Thaksin Now In Montenegro, Arrived by private jet 2010-03-17, 18 pages don't cover only Montenegro
And that is the news from yesterday:
Interpol says no call received to arrest Thaksin
The government propaganda just tries to make their Terrorism charges and any other charges against Thaksin to look more serious and tries to create an image of Thaksin as the the dangerous international criminal who is hunted by the law enforcment agencies world wide. but this is not true.
your point 4a/4b did not happen outside Thailand and it is very likely that it will not happen in the future. not in Thaksins case. is that so difficult to see?
get real.
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INTERPOL is an international police unit. They don't render verdicts, they arrest people with outstanding warrants and let courts come up with verdicts. It is quite common for a national of one country to commit a crime in another country. The passport they hold doesn't prevent them from being tried in the country they committed the crime against. Thaksin could be a native born Montenegrin and he could still be tried in Thailand for terrorism. Osama Bin Laden is Saudi, but the USA would love to put him on trial. The only difficulty comes if Montenegro says "we love terrorism and we will protect Thaksin and refuse to extradite him because he is so rich and awesome". That sort of attitude can come back to bite Montenegro when they require international cooperation.
Thaksin travels. He isn't only in Montenegro. So the authorities of other countries where he travels to could still extradite him.
read the old news from last year:
Thailand Revokes Thaksin's Passport, Arrest Warrant Issued For Thaksin Over Bangkok Riots
did anything happen since then?
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Thanks mazeltov.
You are welcome. feel always free to ask if something is unclear.
unlike others i am able to substantiate my claims and it is a pleasure for me to provide additional information.
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Thaksin is afraid of jail - he's a coward, and all cowards are weak in the face of real adversity. Look at the Red leaders (With the exception of Nattawut and Jatuporn - the only 2 who didn't run away)
I find it puzzling that the Thai gov. let Thaksin leave the country before initiating their coup. The ideal thing would be to wait until he returns then arrest him.
Whom was running the country when Mr.T was running of to Beijing Olympics????
What? The Beijing olympics were in 2008, 2 years after the coup, so Mr. T wasn't running the country, unless you mean through his puppets. Did that post make sense to anyone I'm confused.
if the government don't put itself with some special emergencies decrees in uberpower it is the decicion of an independent court to let Thaksin travel or not. an independent court who act according to the book of laws and not on behalf of any political party who leads the government.
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Interpol says no call received to arrest Thaksin
(AFP) – 10 hours ago
LYON, France — Cross-border police agency Interpol said Friday it had received no request to track fugitive Thai ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and that it would not arrest him on purely "political" grounds.
Thailand said Thursday it would request Interpol's co-operation after it issued an arrest warrant on terrorism charges for Thaksin, whom it accuses of funding protests that led to deadly clashes in Bangkok in recent months.
Interpol's headquarters in Lyon, France, quoted its Secretary General Ronald Noble as saying he had "no knowledge" yet of an official demand from Bangkok for help in the case.
If such a demand were made it would be subject to Interpol's "normal procedure" and referred to the agency's judicial advisers.
A spokesman for Interpol, which helps coordinate investigations between its 188 member countries, told AFP that its statutes forbid it to ask its member states to carry out arrests of a "political nature".
Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and later went into exile to avoid a jail term for corruption. He has been living mainly in Dubai, with visits to other countries including Montenegro, France and Britain.
The Thai government accuses him of inciting unrest and bankrolling rallies by "Red Shirt" opposition protesters which have sparked deadly outbreaks of violence.
Thai deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban said on Thursday that a request for Interpol's help would be sent "so any country that knows of his whereabouts can notify Thailand, so Thailand can begin the extradition procedure".
Thaksin said in a radio interview Wednesday that Interpol would recognise the accusations were "politically motivated".
-- ©Copyright AFP May 28, 2010
Published with written approval from AFP.
[newsfooter][/newsfooter]
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/artic...AKqRrHYBQ8Aw6wg
Excellent.. More loss of face to the Thai government. When will these clowns be put out of their misery I wonder?
the whole Interpol thing is just silly propaganda to keep the gullible antiThaksin obsessed tuned in.
Funny is to check the old forum threads who fell for it all the time. the dream that Interpol will get Thaksin isn't actually that new NEWS, but something that never came true since over one year. true believers are still full of hope. 55555
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Dramatic headline grabbing, no new detail padded out with the usual dialogue......any person with an imagination could easily have penned that article
er.....
and here is some video evidence to it
Between 0:11 - 0:19 you can see a person in civilian clothes, t-shirt and shorts, armed with a rifle and probably also shooting. Similar to the clips with a sighting of one of the 'terrorists'. But the problem here is that he is together with regular army troops, soldiers in combat gear, Abhisits security forces.
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Saturday , May 29 , 2010
The Thai Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Thaksin on terrorism charges .........
<snip, full article above>
16 th April 2010: Red shirts bomb attacks at three high voltage electricity pylons in Ayuthaya's Bang Pa-in district were intended to plunge parts of Bangkok into darkness. See http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/3...lackout-averted (breach of item 2 as above-listed). On the same day , two high-ranking officers were taken hostage by Red Shirt protesters. See http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world...i-1225854613652 (breach of item 3).
continued http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/ThaiTalk/2010/05/29/entry-1
All right! He explains the pylons. This one act is near conclusive prove that the whole show was planned from the start, including the assassination of army commanders and shooting of a 100 soldiers on April 10. If all 7 bombs had detonated, nothing would have been recorded that night. Probably the biggest oops of all by the reds.
Right in line with the reds destroying video cameras and shooting out street lights before the crackdown.
Ahhh, the pylons, and as hard evidence there is an link to a newspaper article which close with the following sentence:
" investigations have yet to identify the culprits behind the blasts."
sorry the whole letter is nothing more than some yellow propaganda, trash by someone who is clearly obssed with Thaksin and cannot get enough.
ultra right wing extremist and believer in conspiracy theories will never get objective.
Ah, yes. seven 5 kilogram C4 plastic explosive bombs rigged to alarm clock detonators to go off just when the reds attack the military on Saturday, obvious terrorism.
From the same article where you find a few words to defend Thaksin, but oops, no reference??? , ...........
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The governor said the bombings were a terrorist act." unquote
...........and you say mentioning fact in not being objective??
Yes, the article called it terrorism, but where is the connection to Thaksin?
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after last years songkran, the burning buses and so on, wasn't that a similar offence? They charged Thaksin for that.
Did they? Do you have a source for that? I wasn't aware of any charges against Thaksin over the events of Black Songkhran.
read this:
Thailand Revokes Thaksin's Passport, Arrest Warrant Issued For Thaksin Over Bangkok Riots
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thailand-Rev...rt-t257706.html
over one year old forum topic, the thread includes a couple of articles on that subject.
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Do they get to lock Thaksin up regardless of whether they get a conviction of terrorism? Yes. Does that mean they can proceed with the approximately 19 outstanding cases against Thaksin that require his presence in court at least once to proceed? Yes
Do you know of any definitive list of the outstanding charges against Thaksin JD. I haven't been able to find one.
I would like to know that too.
the initial article of this topic mentioned 5 arrest warrants.
(Inflammatory statement deleted)
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The problem with the whole extradition process is that Thailand has the death penalty. And they already spoke about the death penalty against the red shirt leaders. So, assuming Thaksin is the man directing the red shirt leaders, as it is being said, he would obviously also be eligible for the death penalty. See, that's where the problem lies. Very few countries in the world will extradite someone if he faces the death penalty. And Thaksin has visited none of the countries that do.
The whole extradition story is a lot of smoke blowing, but both sides already know that it will lead to nothing.
If they didn't want him to leave, they should have arrested him when he was in Thailand. After all, the coup generals were in control back then.
smoke blowing, leads to nothing - yes.
but it isn't the deatn penalty. it are the terrorism charges itself that will really convince nobody outside Thailand who is in charge to make such decisions like an extradition.
after last years songkran, the burning buses and so on, wasn't that a similar offence? They charged Thaksin for that. And how many countries and how many Interpol organisation have helped since that time to arrest Thaskin? ZERO!
Because the Abhisit government is responsible for the 2010 Bangkok massacre, no foreign government will be now anyhow more impressed by this government demands in their Thaksin hunt.
get real. be objective!
all this interpol talk never will become true, that is just propaganda BS, food for the ultra right wing extremist and lunatics obsessed with Thaksin.
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Saturday , May 29 , 2010
The Thai Criminal Court has issued an arrest warrant for Thaksin on terrorism charges .........
<snip, full article above>
16 th April 2010: Red shirts bomb attacks at three high voltage electricity pylons in Ayuthaya's Bang Pa-in district were intended to plunge parts of Bangkok into darkness. See http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/security/3...lackout-averted (breach of item 2 as above-listed). On the same day , two high-ranking officers were taken hostage by Red Shirt protesters. See http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/world...i-1225854613652 (breach of item 3).
continued http://blog.nationmultimedia.com/ThaiTalk/2010/05/29/entry-1
All right! He explains the pylons. This one act is near conclusive prove that the whole show was planned from the start, including the assassination of army commanders and shooting of a 100 soldiers on April 10. If all 7 bombs had detonated, nothing would have been recorded that night. Probably the biggest oops of all by the reds.
Right in line with the reds destroying video cameras and shooting out street lights before the crackdown.
Ahhh, the pylons, and as hard evidence there is an link to a newspaper article which close with the following sentence:
" investigations have yet to identify the culprits behind the blasts."
sorry the whole letter is nothing more than some yellow propaganda, trash by someone who is clearly obssed with Thaksin and cannot get enough.
ultra right wing extremist and believer in conspiracy theories will never get objective.
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Interpol says no call received to arrest Thaksin
(AFP) – 10 hours ago
LYON, France — Cross-border police agency Interpol said Friday it had received no request to track fugitive Thai ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra and that it would not arrest him on purely "political" grounds.
Thailand said Thursday it would request Interpol's co-operation after it issued an arrest warrant on terrorism charges for Thaksin, whom it accuses of funding protests that led to deadly clashes in Bangkok in recent months.
Interpol's headquarters in Lyon, France, quoted its Secretary General Ronald Noble as saying he had "no knowledge" yet of an official demand from Bangkok for help in the case.
If such a demand were made it would be subject to Interpol's "normal procedure" and referred to the agency's judicial advisers.
A spokesman for Interpol, which helps coordinate investigations between its 188 member countries, told AFP that its statutes forbid it to ask its member states to carry out arrests of a "political nature".
Thaksin was ousted in a 2006 coup and later went into exile to avoid a jail term for corruption. He has been living mainly in Dubai, with visits to other countries including Montenegro, France and Britain.
The Thai government accuses him of inciting unrest and bankrolling rallies by "Red Shirt" opposition protesters which have sparked deadly outbreaks of violence.
Thai deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban said on Thursday that a request for Interpol's help would be sent "so any country that knows of his whereabouts can notify Thailand, so Thailand can begin the extradition procedure".
Thaksin said in a radio interview Wednesday that Interpol would recognise the accusations were "politically motivated".
-- ©Copyright AFP May 28, 2010
Published with written approval from AFP.
[newsfooter][/newsfooter]
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/artic...AKqRrHYBQ8Aw6wg
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There is no doubt it will fall further this year as well.
I hope you're wrong but fear the opposite.
The Farang Expats and other people who are interested in Thailand are mainly fed with colour painted news...
Non-biased news about Thailand is hard to find and if there is any it's brushed away by those who claim the Western Press is colour painted.
An endless circle.
LaoPo
It seems impossible for it not to fall further given the media restrictions that went along with the SOE. Personally, I think those restrictions were completely justified and most western governments would have done the same thing given the stuff that PTV was spewing. Nevertheless it has been perceived by the int'l press as a media freedom violation and Thailand's rating from RWB will surely fall because of it.
of course, plus Thailand will go further down the list and than you can check which countries would act same and have similar media restrictions. Cuba, Burma, Iran, Turkmenistan and North Korea.
Wow, role models of developed democracy and being at their level completely justify everything.
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Don't tell me you're proud of #130 for Thailand out of 175 countries....one step higher on the ladder than notorious censor shipped Malaysia on # 131 and Singapore (YES, good old S'pore) on # 133....
It's a bloody shame
LaoPo
What you forgot to mention is that the slide down the slippery slope started when K. Thaksin was PM the first time. The rate of descent has slowed down in recent years. Open-mindedness is needed to get back up.
I didn't forget to mention; the website of Reporters Without Borders goes back to only 2002 when Thailand was on a shared # 65, together with Madagascar.
According to the website of the above mentioned organization the slide down the slippery slope as you call it (Freedom of Press in Thailand) is indeed downwards since 2002 (last numbers available); however, if you and others trust those numbers, and I have no reason to doubt a serious organization as RWB, the Press Freedom got even worse AFTER Thaksin was ousted and FAR WORSE since 2002..............
:Thailand Press Freedom Index:
2002: # 65 (out of 139 countries)
2003: # 82 (out of 166 countries)
2004: # 59 (out of 169 countries)
2005: # 107 (out of 167 countries)
2006: # 122 (out of 168 countries) Thaksin ousted September 2006
2007: # 135 (out of 169 countries)
2008: # 124 (out of 173 countries)
2009: # 130 (out of 175 countries)
LaoPo
I am sure someone will come up with the logic: without Thaksin - no putsch, and without red shirts - no censorship.
the ultra right wing nutcases and apologists for the Bangkok massacre will always find a way to twist and spin the story and point at someone else or blame the victims.
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No, Mr. 'Expert'. you mixing up here something and/or probably unable to understand the written words.
By no means am I an expert on the issue, but I am very anxious to find out which source you are referring to when you state that Interpol has found the present terrorist accusations against Thaksin politically motivated. Please enlighten us? Am I not able to understand written words? I find that a childish statement on which I will, wisely, not comment.
Okay, it becomes more clear now that you are not an expert but only understand little to nothing and jump to conclusions much to quickly.
i never said that Interpol found the present terrorist accusations against Thaksin politically motivated. you made that just up in your own mind.
please point out where you saw something like that written.
so let me quote myself once more:
Meanwhile Interpol called Thaksins conviction in the conflict of interest case "politically motivated".
FYI: the conflict of interest case is the Ratchadaphisek land deal.
yeah, the big master mind crime of the international fugitive of justice, the convicted criminal, his two year sentence Interpol called politically motivated and in such case will never assist Thailand 'to get' Thaksin, whatever FM Kasit, ultra right wing extremist or some beer bar patrons and expats in Thailand maybe think about.
during tha last year we could here that Interpol story by Thai government officials so often, now they finally admit that Interpol never agreed with the Thai demands.
anyway, there is little hope that Interpol will now change 'their minds' and assist Thailand in the hunt for the terrorists.
Wait and see, nothing will happen. it is all just fantasy and propaganda smoke.
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PS: Please don't make throw away remarks about things you know nothing about. that is something you should obey yourself.
Btw. did you found in the meantime the article about the 'politically motivated case' and Interpols position about it?
Yes I did. It refers to Thaksin's previous criminal conviction for the land deal, not the present charge of terrorism. Here's the words:
"Thai police failed in previous attempts to have Thaksin placed on Interpol's wanted list despite a top court sentencing him to two years jail over the Ratchadaphisek land deal.Interpol considered the case to be politically motivated, said Police Maj-General Therdsak Rujirawong, commander of the Royal Thai Police's International Affairs Division."
Understand it now?
I note that your Reporters Without Borders stats show that Thailand's Press Freedom ranking fell from 65 to 122 while Thaksin was Prime Minister. Any other brilliant pro-Thaksin evidence you'd care to share with us? Perhaps how many people were slaughtered without trial during the war on drugs?
Mr. Expert0.2, you failed to read and/or failed to understand what was written once more.
i was exactly talking about this previous case and nothing else when i said: "Meanwhile Interpol called Thaksins conviction in the conflict of interest case "politically motivated"."
Understand it now?
furthermore did you also check the recent scores reporters without borders giving to Thailand? Do you realise it is getting more worse instead of anyhow better?
and what is about the 'war on drugs' was Thaksin convicted of anything? what are the results of the latest investigations?
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(not surprising in THailand's current climate of fear)
Current climate of fear?
Care to expand on that?
need some graphic photo of a red shirt protester executed with a head shot by an army sniper?
or read about the arrest of people without any clear evidence:
Chula academics call for “return of justice and academic freedom”
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Unmasked: Thailand's men in black
By Kenneth Todd Ruiz and Olivier Sarbil
http://atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/LE29Ae02.html
Red lovers please read.
here is some video evidence to it.
Between 0:11 - 0:19 you can see a person in civilian clothes, t-shirt and shorts, armed with a rifle and probably also shooting. Similar to the clips with a sighting of one of the 'terrorists'. But the problem here is that he is together with regular army troops, soldiers in combat gear, Abhisits security forces.
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BTW ---- I note that our "intelligent indepedent viewpoint" that Jayboy failed to cite IS in fact from NewMandala --- and written by a "guest contributor" with no history --- named ... "A. Smith" ---- yeay! Score another point for credibility!
Don't get so worked up.You are like Caliban raging at his own reflection in the mirror.Yes the piece is anonymous (not surprising in THailand's current climate of fear) and taken from New Mandala.So what? Try thinking about the content, avoid flailing around with your tired, stale and dishonest platitudes and if it isn't too much of a stretch deal with the substance.
I like the new rating system at New Mandela.
That will make the ultra right wing extremist and their fan team of the international community of beer bar patons in Thailand even more angry in their rants about the opinions the sober academics and educated contributors at NM have.
Thumbs down to the yellow propaganda lies.
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hello 'experts',
did you try to read the first entry of this thread, the The Nation article?
"Thai police failed in previous attempts to have Thaksin placed on Interpol's wanted list despite a top court sentencing him to two years jail over the Ratchadaphisek land deal.Interpol considered the case to be politically motivated,said Police Maj-General Therdsak Rujirawong, commander of the Royal Thai Police's International Affairs Division."I think your mixing up previous attempts of extradition with the present one! And since when do you use the Nation as part of your argument?
No, Mr. 'Expert'. you mixing up here something and/or probably unable to understand the written words.
Meanwhile Interpol called Thaksins conviction in the conflict of interest case "politically motivated".
Did they? I thought it was your man Thaksin's reaction not Interpol's. Maybe you have access to better media than we have.
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Many of us believe that Central World should not be rebuilt. Instead a People's Park should be built with a large memorial to the citizens slaughtered by the military in the 1976, 1992 and 2010 pro-democracy demonstrations.
well, a good idea. but i doubt that the ultra right wing extremists and their fan team at this board will agree with it.
Thaksin - Will Interpol Act?
in Thailand News
Posted
you are aware that the time moves forward and not backward? So did it become anyhow better AFTER Thaksin?
okay lets have a look what we can find at the freedomhouse.org uf reporters without borders isn't objective for you.
from your source freedom house
http://www.freedomhouse.org/uploads/UNHRC/2010UNHRC.pdf
EXPERT EVALUATION OF CANDIDATES
TO THE UN HUMAN RIGHTS COUNCIL FOR THE TERM 2010-2013
JOINT REPORT BY FREEDOM HOUSE and UN WATCH
PRESENTED AT UNITED NATIONS HEADQUARTERS, New York, May 4, 2010
...
Thailand
UN VOTING RECORD: Negative
SUITABILITY FOR HRC MEMBERSHIP: Questionable
Human Rights Record
Thailand is ranked Partly Free by Freedom House with a score of a 5 out of a worst possible 7 for political rights and a 4 on the scale from 1 to 7 for civil liberties. After the fall of the People’s Power Party in late 2008, Democratic Party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva formed a new coalition and took office as prime minister. Red-shirted opposition protests were ongoing throughout the year and turned violent over the Songkran holiday, the Thai New Year. In retaliation, Abhisit’s government moved swiftly to crack down on the opposition by revoking former prime minster Thaksin’s remaining passport, issuing arrest warrants for protest leaders, and shutting down radio stations involved in mobilizing support for the anti-government movement. The government also invoked the Internal Security Act to curtail UDD protests and arrested red shirt leaders on lèse majesté grounds.The government’s coercive use of lèse majesté to curb freedom of expression and political speech increased dramatically this past year, though the opposition also stretched the boundaries of acceptable protest. Lèse majesté laws prohibit the defamation of the monarchy, but over the year authorities used the law to target political activists, scholars, students, journalists, foreign authors, and politicians who were critical of the government. The Defense Ministry and the Information and Communication Technology (MICT) Ministry are the prime enforcers of lèse majesté laws. In August 2009, the MICT created a police taskforce within the ministry to monitor websites and identify those posting content that violates lèse majesté law. Thailand’s broadcast media is also subject to restrictions; the country’s six main television stations and all 525 radio frequencies are monopolized by the government and military.
UN Voting Record
In the past year at the GA, Thailand abstained on the resolutions condemning the human rights situations in Iran, Myanmar (Burma) and North Korea and voted in favor of ―Combating defamation of religions.‖ It was not a member of the HRC.
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freedom scores of the past years. (scale from 1 to 7, a score of 1 is best and a score of 7 is worst possible)
Thailand (2010)
Political Rights Score: 5
Civil Liberties Score: 4
Status: Partly Free
Thailand (2007)
Political Rights Score: 7
Civil Liberties Score: 4
Status: Not Free
Thailand (2005)
Political Rights Score: 2
Civil Liberties Score: 3
Status: Free
Thailand (2004)
Political Rights Score: 2
Civil Liberties Score: 3
Status: Free
Thailand (2002)
Political Rights Score: 2
Civil Liberties Score: 3
Status: Free