Last night, as with many nights these past months, crowd control police clashed with young people aged from early teens to early twenties. Again, there was a score of injuries and arrests, a scene rinsed and repeated. The people who call themselves “poo-yai” (adults, elders, social superiors) are gravely concerned.Continue Reading
Call it elitist mentality.Call it feudal mentality.Call it a narcissistic obsession.Call it by any other name; it’s Thailand all the same. The rigid social hierarchy expects the poo-noi (social inferior) to slobber at the feet of the poo-yai (social superior). This backward belief system does not recognize the rights ofContinue Reading
General Prayut Chan-o-cha came to power because of tanks; remains in power because of a rigged constitution; escapes no-confidence votes because of unscrupulous politicians. He has managed to convince a sizeable portion of the Thai population that without him, evil traitors and ungrateful nation-haters will overthrow the institution. No matterContinue Reading
Forget “love the monarchy” or “monarchy reform” for a moment. Forget Sa-lim versus Saam-geeb for a moment. Take a moment to ask ourselves: Are five more years of General Prayut Chan-o-cha the solution to Thailand’s problems? Because this is what we are looking at given the rigged constitution and 250Continue Reading
On 16 April 2021, an 18-year-old girl was lured by a girlfriend to be gang-raped by one adult and three teenage boys. On 28 August, the incident was exposed on Clubhouse. On 29 August, Police Colonel Thamrong Jikitsilapin of Mae Wong District, Nakorn Sawan Province, told the media a fullContinue Reading
He’s stripped of his rank, so we shall call Thitisant Uttanapol by his other nickname, Joe Ferrari. Joe Ferrari phoned into the police press conference last night and it became a heartfelt episode of: “Thank you, boss, for this personal platform to make excuses to the public.” He admitted whatContinue Reading
The words “extrajudicial killing” often appear in news headlines, and we, the people, shrug, “Mai pen rai.” In other words, we are fine with it. Thaksin Shinawatra’s 2003 “War on Drugs” greenlit the extrajudicial killing of suspected drug dealers. According to Human Rights Watch, “some 2,800” people were killed, andContinue Reading
When the police are caught on CCTV killing a suspect inside the Nakorn Sawan police station, who do you call? Who do you call when the police superintendent and a group of officers put a bag over the head of a handcuffed, suspected drug seller, extorting him for two millionContinue Reading
If you follow the top trending hashtags, it seems anti-monarchy sentiment is everywhere. Nonetheless, the pro-monarchy sentiment continues. Last week, in a video interview with Vogue Thailand regarding the COVID-19 pandemic, Princess Sirivannavari expressed her concerns for the well-being of the Thai people and gave the people encouragement. She alsoContinue Reading
Regarding youths clashing with the police at political protests, on 17 August, General Prayut Chan-o-cha said: “เรียนมายังไง ใช้แต่ความรุนแรง ท้าตีท้าต่อยตำรวจ พอใช้กฎหมายก็โวยวาย” “Is this what you learn in school? You use only violence. Challenge the police to fights. When the law is used, you complain.” The general is correct. This is exactlyContinue Reading
