EDITORIAL:
A bad omen for human rights - The
Nation, December 10, 2004
[The Nation laments another four years of Thaksin...]
...Extra-judicial killings are all right as long as the government
says they are necessary, like they were in the “war against
drugs”. It is okay to violate the human rights of drug suspects
because they are not part of mainstream society. Not surprisingly,
this methodology spread fast to the southern provinces...
The continuing crisis in the South inspired the government to
try to introduce new decrees to increase state power, notably
for the police to arrest, detain and question anyone suspected
of involvement with terrorism. Given the government’s dismal
history of abuse of power, only the insane would continue to accept
this kind of behaviour.
On the occasion of Constitution Day and Human Rights Day, it is
important to recall the lawyer Somchai Neelaphaijit, who was kidnapped
in March and is still unaccounted for. It is widely believed that
he was killed shortly after being kidnapped by men in uniform.
His case serves as a barometer of the sorrowful state of human
rights and the rule of law in Thailand. Somchai was courageous
and outspoken when it came to publicising allegations of police
violations made by his clients, who had been arrested on charges
of having links to the regional terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah...
Corruption now
'worst in century' - Bangkok Post, December 10, 2004
[While corruption is prevalent and has taken on new forms under
Thaksin's tenure, it is certainly political hyperbole to claim
it is the worst or most serious in a century.]
Corruption is now the "most serious in a century"
under the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, with complex policy-related
graft and equal benefit sharing among business groups owned by
10 families, a local anti-corruption network alleged yesterday.
The allegations were made at a seminar organised by the network
yesterday at Thammasat University to mark International Anti-Corruption
Day.
Network members claimed there were irregularities in the granting
of a 270-billion-baht Laem Chabang port concession to a private
firm, the Board of Investment's tax exemption for a satellite
operator partially owned by the Shinawatra family's Shin Corp,
and the Export-Import Bank's granting of a 600-million-baht soft
loan to Burma's telephone and internet projects which later went
to a supplier from Shin Corp...
It all began with the monopolisation of political, financial and
state powers by the "Thaksin regime", which allowed
business groups owned by 10 families to win all state bids and
projects, he alleged...
Cold
public response to India-ASEAN rallyists in Thailand - PTI
news, December 9, 2004
The exotic locations and a party atmosphere may have made Thailand
the first choice of many Indian tourists, but the participants
of the first India-ASEAN car rally were surely disappointed by
the "cold" response given by the people here.
The rallyist, who received vociforous applause wherever they traveled
in their endeavour to build poeple-to-people contact, could hardly
find anyone acknowledging their second arrival in this fast-paced
country...
Thai
senators and exiles discuss Burma - The
Irrawaddy, December 9, 2004
Several Thai senators and Burmese dissidents in exile discussed
political developments in Burma and the plight of detained opposition
leader Aung San Suu Kyi at a meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday.
The meeting was intended to send a message to Thai Prime Minister
Thaksin Shinawatra on the eve of his visit to Rangoon on Thursday
to attend the World Buddhist Summit...
EDITORIAL: A bad omen for human rights
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