Andrew Spooner

27 May 2014
This morning I managed to complete an interview with released political detainee Nattapat Akkahad. It is one of the first insights into life inside the camps for the detainees.  Nattapat was seized by the Thai Army on the day of the coup on 22nd May. He is the son of Payao Akkahad whose daughter, Kamolkade, was shot and killed by the Thai Army on May 19th 2010 whilst working as a medic.
18 Sep 2012
A celebration of the life of Thai political prisoner Amphon Pt. 1 Political prisoner Amphon Tangnoppakul (aka Ah Kong), died in a Bangkok prison hospital May 8th 2012. He had been sentenced to a 20year prison term after a Bangkok court decided he couldn’t “prove his innocence” in a case relating to four SMS messages sent to an aide of the then Prime Minister, Abhisit Vejjijva, that were deemed to defame the monarchy.
10 Sep 2012
French news outlet, Le Petit Journal, has just run an interview with four French Senators drawn from across the French political spectrum who recently visited Thailand and had some very interesting things to say about the political situation in the country. The ruling Socialist Party Senator, Gerard Miquel said that "[the Thai] Parliament does not have a considerable power. It is rather the army which has the power because of the Constitution, which was passed on the proposal of the military junta and does not give a lot of power in Parliament."
10 Sep 2012
Thai national newspaper, Khao Sod [http://www.khaosod.co.th/view_newsonline.php?newsid=TVRNME56QXdNakV3Tnc9..., are reporting that Payao Akkahad, the mother of Kamolkate Akkahad, aka Nurse Kate, a medical worker who was shot and killed at Wat Patum during the Abhisit-regime ordered massacre of April/May 2010, has been receiving numerous death threats.
30 Aug 2012
Whilst the Wall Street Journal, Financial Times and other associated bloggers and foreign media are fixated on the non-lethal lies of the Thailand’s finance minister, the leaders of Thailand’s Democrat Party and their allies in the Thai Army remain able to lie, scheme and threaten with complete impunity.
28 Aug 2012
Thailand’s former Deputy Prime Minister, Suthep Thaugsuban, who was also the man directly in charge of CRES, the infamous Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situation (the body which ordered snipers and soldiers on to the streets of Bangkok in 2010), has recently given 13 hours of testimony to Thailand’s Department of Special Investigations (DSI). The testimony was part of the DSI’s ongoing investigations into the deaths of 90+ civilians and 6 soldiers during Red Shirt protests in April and May 2010.
12 Jun 2012
After years of waiting for Amnesty International's support, lese majeste detainees hope smuggled letter will bring NGO on board The following is an English translation of a letter addressed directly to Amnesty International from a political prisoner in Thailand, Thanthawut Taweewarodomkul, who was sentenced to 13 years imprisonment for breaching Thailand's draconian lese majeste law.
11 Jun 2012
This is part two of my look at human rights groups, lese majeste and political prisoners in Thailand. Part one can be found here.
9 Jun 2012
A little background to this piece. The main research and interviews were completed earlier this year and so may seem a little dated now. However, I interviewed 9 lese majeste prisoners at the Bangkok Remand Prison and about 8 political prisoners at the “new” Lak Si political prison. One of the lese majeste prisoners I interviewed was Ah Kong – who I met on two occasions and who died in May 2012. Obviously it now seems horribly ironic when he told me personally that “conditions improved” after the Pheu Thai government were elected in 2011.
2 Jun 2012
This article is, of course, in reply to Pravit’s article directed at my Twitter responses to his stated position – that he privileges the rights of large powerful media companies to intimidate, harass and threaten young Thai women, over the rights of these young Thai women to live their lives free of such intimidation.
31 May 2012
Being a committed advocate for freedom of expression, I have recently had the honour of being accused on Twitter by one foreign supporter of the red-shirt movement, by the name of Andrew Spooner (@Andrewspoooner), of supporting the right of yellow-shirt mouthpiece ASTV-Manager Weekly News Magazine to engage in “hate campaign” against one young red-shirt woman on its current weekly issue (Issue no.138, May 26-Jun 1, 2012).
23 May 2012
Last week I blogged about questions raised in the UK Parliament by the Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kerry McCarthy MP (Bristol East, Labour Party) regarding Thailand’s use of its infamous lese majeste laws and the treatment/death of Ampon Tangnoppakul aka Ah Kong (a Thai political prisoner who died on May 8, 2012). My original posting, with Kerry McCarthy MP’s questions, can be found here.

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