Showing 1 - 10 of 17
The political class
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 02/12/2018
» While the politicians asking for your priceless vote were trying to make appointments at the spinal replacement clinic, the general prime minister went to Germany. Chancellor Angela Merkel told him he should restore democracy in Thailand. He said he's going to have an election next year, and that was the end of it.
The good old days
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 09/09/2018
» If you've ever said in support of the coup regime that, yes, it's great that junta and government are dedicated to returning Thailand to those good old days, then you'll be forever grateful to the national police chief and the whole bunch of the unreformed Royal Thai Police.
Punishment and crime
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 10/09/2017
» A country without clear rule of law is a nation adrift. Citizens have pride, patriotism but little control or input to their own country's future.
Section 44 is forever
News, Alan Dawson, Published on 16/04/2017
» There exists in exceptional Thailand a force so powerful it only can be used for good or for evil. The men (exclusively) who run the country insist the power of Section 44 is (exclusively) designed and used only to produce positive results. Not everyone agrees.
The big issue: Using process as punishment
Alan Dawson, Published on 31/07/2016
» Three years ago last month, a two-person website published an article in the pair’s continuing coverage of human trafficking, and the roles of Thai agencies and phuyai in the sordid business. The fallout from that article spread ripples, now waves across the most basic civil rights and freedoms - press, speech, recourse.
The big issue: How exceptional of you
Alan Dawson, Published on 24/07/2016
» When the rebels fled and events cooled down a bit in Turkey, Thailand’s opposition was ecstatic. Citizens poured onto the streets, even assaulted soldiers, forcing the Turkish military to beat feet. Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha’s regime felt it had to say something and that something was "exceptionalism" and Thainess. Sure, Turks couldn't run a military coup, but Thailand is different, with an excellent coup.
The big issue: You can't win 'em all
Alan Dawson, Published on 03/07/2016
» If demotion was humiliating two years ago, the promotion from the dark and dank cellar of Tier 3 wasn't exactly a champagne moment either. Even the new designation, "Tier 2 Watch List" is a 24/7 reminder that the world policeman is still watching the human trafficking scene in Thailand.
The big issue: Looking away
Alan Dawson, Published on 17/01/2016
» At 1.30am on Oct 11, more than 100 masked soldiers, police and militia raided a house in Kolo Tanyong village near Pattani province’s northern coast.
The big issue: Appearing for the disappeared
Alan Dawson, Published on 27/12/2015
» On March 12, 2004, five policemen pulled Somchai Neelapaijit from his car in Bangkok, and he never was seen in public since. His wife Angkhana has kept the case alive, and authorities have made some attempts to resolve what the prime minister of the day called a “complicated case” involving official violence.
The big issue: Time for truth: Life isn’t fair
Alan Dawson, Published on 02/08/2015
» For Malaysia and Cuba it was a good week, locked for the moment in the embrace of The Superpower, and off the hook for human trafficking. Rewards favoured the member of the Trans-Pacific Partnership for higher drug prices and the worst human rights violator in the entire Western Hemisphere.