Four questions have been asked of the UK government by Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs, Kerry McCarthy MP (Britsol East, Labour Party) regarding the death of political prisoner Ampon Tangnoppakul  AKA Ah Kong and the on-going situation vis a vis the use of lese majeste laws in Thailand.

Over the last couple of weeks there has been a deluge of opeds in the English language Thai media and blogosphere on Thaksin Shinawatra. The Bangkok Post, the Nation and even Asian Correspondent’s very own Bangkok Pundit have repeatedly poured over every varied aspect of Thaksin's possible return in what only could be described, in a nod to film theory, as the “New Wave of Thaksin Fever”.

To anyone interested in Thailand’s recent history and politics Dr. Thongchai Winichakul needs little introduction. A famed academic and historian, now resident in Singapore and the USA, Dr. Thongchai was a student leader during the terrible Thammasat Massacre of 1976 and spent time in prison following those events.