On 20th January (or in just 8 working days) the end of the “permission to stay and work in Thailand for one year, pending deportation” for 61, 543 Burmese, Cambodian and Laotian migrants who “illegally” entered the country will arrive. As the first migrant work permit renewal deadline of the year it is somewhat different to past deadlines however. For if any of these workers refuse to go through the Royal Thai Government’s (RTG) Nationality Verification (NV) process, policy announcements suggest they will be deported. Whether deportation starts then or on 28th February (the “final” deadline to agree to NV or be deported for the other million or so registered migrants whose work permits expire on that day) remains unclear. 

In recent days police in Thailand arrested and charged another person over causing a decline in the stock market by spreading rumours through the Internet about the king's health. 

In response to Awzar Thi's criticism of human rights advocates in Thailand, Danthong Breen, chairman of the Union for Civil Liberty, a leading human rights organization based in Bangkok, has sent an email to a group of activists.  Prachatai sees this as a valuable contribution to the debate on the roles of human rights activists in Thailand, and has translated and published his email on Prachatai (Thai version) with the kind permission of Mr Breen.  Here is his email and a response from Thongchai Winichakul, Thai academic at the University of Wisconsin in the US.

According to the Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC), the case of Kiettisak Thitboonkrong was sent to the Criminal Court in Bangkok in September 2009. Six police officers have been accused of premeditated murder and of concealing Kiettisak's corpse to hide the cause of death. The first trial will be opened on 19 October 2009 in the Criminal Court, Bangkok, Thailand. The AHRC asks supporters in Bangkok to attend the trial as observers. 

Dear Princess Bajrakitiyabha

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) listened with close attention to your speech on 14 September 2009 to the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, and is aware of your work for the rights of women prisoners in Thailand through the Kamlangjai Project, as well as with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime and your role as a UNIFEM Goodwill Ambassador.

In an interview posted on the website of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of Thailand, the commission's new chairwoman, Amara Pongsapich, has effectively promised to make the national rights institution meaningless and irrelevant, other than as an obstacle to human rights.

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) is writing to you following the inquest findings of a court in Thailand issued on 29 May 2009 that the deaths of 78 men in Narathiwat in October 2004 was a result of suffocation while being carried in vehicles. The findings clear the way for prosecutions of the persons responsible for this heinous crime, which attracted and continues to attract global attention and bring Thailand into international disrepute.

On 10 June 2007 the military-appointed interim prime minister of Thailand signed into effect a new law on computer-related offences. The Computer Crime Act BE 2550 (2007), which was published in the government gazette just over a week later, is ostensibly intended to prevent violations of computer privacy and block the spread of pornography through the Internet.

(Hong Kong, July 23, 2007) An online petition has been launched in support of a Thai lecturer who has been accused of insulting the monarchy through the questions asked in a university examination paper.