News
Apr 12, 2024
Members of the general public and political figures gathered on Ratchadamnoen Road in memory of those who died during the 2010 crackdown on Red Shirt protests. Fourteen years on, the victims have yet to receive justice.
Apr 11, 2024
The Election Commission of Thailand (ECT) is filing a petition with the Constitutional Court seeking the disqualification of former Move Forward Party (MFP) MP Nakornchai Khunnarong on the grounds that he ran in the 2023 general election knowing that he was ineligible.
Apr 6, 2024
In an act of civil disobedience, student activist and conscientious objector Netiwit Chotiphatphaisal went to a military conscription centre in Samut Prakan’s Bang Pu District and announced that he will not participate in the conscription process.
Highlight
12 Apr 2023
A series of photographs and essay by Real Frame photographer Yostorn Triyos explores life in communities on the banks of the Salween River after the Covid-19 pandemic and the February 2021 Myanmar coup, such as Sop Moei and Mae Sam Laep where people continues to live in uncertainty amidst the war. Meanwhile, the Thai and Myanmar government's project to build 6 dams across the Salween River has been put on hold due to the pandemic and the war.
11 Mar 2023
Following the February 2021 coup in Myanmar and subsequent violence against protesters, a large number of people from Myanmar came to Thailand seeking safety and are now living as refugees in urban areas. Some came with valid visas, while some are undocumented, but all are unrecognised as refugees and unprotected under Thai law.
11 Mar 2023
During the pandemic, Thai musicians and workers in the music industry faced unemployment as bars and entertainment venues were ordered to close. Many had to sell their instruments to keep themselves afloat, or make a living doing whatever else they could, while some left the industry altogether.
In "Unplugged: Music in Crisis," Thai musicians talk about their lives during and after the pandemic, and the future of creative economy in Thailand.
Feature
Apr 9, 2024
Under the 2007 Empowerment of Persons Disability Act, each holder of a Disability Card is entitled to receive 40,000 baht from the government for home renovation. But in the country's rural areas, like Surin's Rattanaburi and Kap Choeng districts, people are having issues accessing their welfare. Families who do not have the land deed to their houses are not paid for renovation, while others may have to wait at least 3 months for the budget to be approved.
Apr 8, 2024
Last May, the Malaysian police seized 172 rainbow watches from 11 Swatch shops across the country. The Malaysian Home Minister said that the brand's Pride collection are "detrimental to morality" and threatened anyone caught wearing one of the watches with fine and jail time. Although noone has yet to be jailed for wearing rainbow and a variety of gay venues in Kuala Lumpur, LGBTQ people are facing more repression due to rising Islamic fundamentalism.
Apr 8, 2024
Due to unseasonal water level fluctuation in the Mekong River, a result of upstream dams, many species of migratory birds that use to lay eggs along the riverbank in Bueng Kan City are disappearing. Meanwhile, tourism and riverbank development is also causing traditional lifestyles and natural habitats to disappear.
Round Up
Dec 17, 2022
A monarchy supporter with a large online following was arrested on Saturday, hours after he claimed to have raised nearly 700,000 baht to cover the cost of what he described as a ritual to extend the life of King Vajiralongkorn’s eldest child.
Nov 17, 2022
Thailand is currently hosting the APEC Economic Leaders’ Week, taking place between 14 – 19 November at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Centre (QSNCC), with the 29th APEC Economic Leaders’ Meeting on 18-19 November. Meanwhile, activist groups and civil society organizations are planning series of protests over the week against what they see as an attempt by the government to boost its legitimacy and greenwash the country’s major polluters.
Oct 15, 2022
A week has passed since the Northeastern massacre that left 37 dead. In the wake of the heartbreaking carnage, authorities and the media have begun to reflect on past errors and look for a way forward.
Interview
Mar 19, 2024
Left without answers following the disappearance of her husband, human rights lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit, Angkhana Neelapaijit has not only spearheaded the search for him but also campaigned for the criminalization of enforced disappearance in Thailand. Today, 20 years later, Angkhana is a member of the UN Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances. We speak to Angkhana 20 years after Somchai’s disappearance about her life since her husband went missing and her hope for Thailand after the enforcement of the new anti-torture and enforced disappearance law.
Jun 28, 2023
Having spent a decade of her life promoting gender diversity. Natakamon “Priest” Siwasilp, an intersex person and a co-founder of Intersex Thailand, discovered that being intersex is a natural variation of being human. Now, she uses her voice to expand awareness about intersex people, striving for a future where intersex people are wholeheartedly accepted and granted the rights to live the lives they truly desire.
Opinion
Mar 5, 2024
Yukti Mukdawijitra, associate professor of anthropology at Thammasat University, writes about his experience in the arraignment room at the South Bangkok Criminal Court after he was indicted on a royal defamation charge filed against him over a tweet from two years ago.
Feb 7, 2024
Our resident satirist Harrison George returns with another piece on the UK government's plan to deport refugees to Rwanda, and Thailand's need to boost its human rights image.
Pick to Post
RSF representative deported from Hong Kong on attempt to monitor Jimmy Lai’s national security trial
Apr 11, 2024
A representative of Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has been detained for six hours and deported on arrival from Hong Kong to monitor the trial of publisher Jimmy Lai, who is currently facing possible life imprisonment for "endangering national security," and meet with local journalists. RSF noted that this action by the Hong Kong authorities is unprecedented for its representatives and marks a new decline in press freedom in Hong Kong.
Apr 11, 2024
Following the Thai government's decision not to deport 19 children from Myanmar who were taken from Wat Sawang Arom School in Lopburi and brought without their parents to the Thai-Myanmar border in Chiang Rai, Human Rights Watch (HRW) called on the Thai government to allow all Myanmar refugees to remain in Thailand as long as the human rights situation in Myanmar remains dire. Thailand should also provide protection and support to all refugees, including by permitting UNHCR to undertake refugee status determination.
Apr 10, 2024
The Thai Constitutional Court will rule on a petition that could result in the dissolution of the Move Forward Party, which won the largest number of seats in the May 2023 general election, and the disqualification of its leaders. Human Rights Watch (HRW) says that dissolving the party would violate its members' rights to freedom of expression, association, peaceful assembly, and democratic participation, and would undermine Thailand's effort to restore democratic rule after years of military dictatorship. it would also affect Thailand's standing as a "generally rights-respecting" country and concerned governments should withdraw support for Thailand's bid for the UN Human Rights Council if the party is dissolved.
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