Showing 51 - 60 of 91
World’s focus now on path back to democracy, rights
News, Achara Ashayagachat, Published on 22/07/2014
» Two months after the May 22 coup, the red-shirt movement which had rallied behind the Pheu Thai Party and the United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD) has actually become dormant. The anti-coup exile movement has failed to ignite their defiance against military rule.
Military regime can't turn back the clock of progress
News, Achara Ashayagachat, Published on 12/08/2014
» My memory of one of this country's democratic milestones — the student uprising of Oct 14, 1973 — was my grandmother sobbing while watching His Majesty the King's announcement on TV about a new government replacing the military dictatorship that students had tried to topple.
Asean turns deaf ear to concerns on rights in Thailand
News, Achara Ashayagachat, Published on 17/08/2014
» The junta may feel a bit smug that there was no mention of the May 22 coup at the 47th Asean Foreign Ministers Meeting in Myanmar last week.
Army resorts to populism as it wields its iron fist
News, Achara Ashayagachat, Published on 10/06/2014
» Twenty days under military rule and we have witnessed earnest attempts to quieten dissenting anti-coup views. And, although corruption was not cited as the reason for the putsch this time around, people still expect the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to take steps to eliminate this deep-rooted, cancerous problem.
Public can afford to be less uncritical of the coup
News, Achara Ashayagachat, Published on 08/07/2014
» Congratulations to the military for taking control of the nation and managing to win over the public in opinion polls, even if they are doing so with the connivance of a largely uncritical media.
One month on, signs of repression linger
News, Achara Ashayagachat, Published on 22/06/2014
» The quote above was one of the recent comments posted on Facebook by Sukunya Prueksakasemsuk, wife of red-shirt magazine editor Somyot Prueksakasemsuk who was sentenced to 11 years in jail for lese majeste in January last year. Somyot has been behind bars since his arrest on April 30, 2011, his bail requests denied by the court 15 times.
For change, speak out and be counted
News, Achara Ashayagachat, Published on 08/04/2014
» Tired of political stagnation? Don’t be, please. Your detachment from politics will only do harm to your own future. We cannot allow anyone, any single group to chart the future path of this society, in particular a group of people who brand themselves “representatives of the great mass of people”, as well as those regular faces who always make their way to parliament.
Losing our sanity in the political abyss
News, Achara Ashayagachat, Published on 13/05/2014
» The political chaos made me rush to check my Oxford Learners’ Dictionary for the meaning of "sanity" (the state of having a normal healthy mind; and the state of being sensible and reasonable). It is something that is currently hard to find in our society as warring parties try to justify their own unbending aims. Those holding the middle ground will be automatically dubbed “un-Thai”, disloyal, or hired/paid by the other side.
Elites hatch backroom deals as country stumbles on
News, Achara Ashayagachat, Published on 11/02/2014
» The protracted political deadlock, aggravated by escalating violence, has prompted members of the social elite to come out and share their concerns.
Get out of the way and let us form a govt
News, Achara Ashayagachat, Published on 11/03/2014
» As the Constitution Court is to decide this week if the Feb 2 election is valid, I’ve realised how well-educated, elitist members of Thai society cannot connect to the majority of people regarding their real aspirations and needs.