The economic impact of the novel coronavirus pandemic has been disproportionally affecting female service workers. In addressing the crisis, policymakers need to take gender questions into account argues sociologist Patcharin Lapanun from Khon Kaen University’s Faculty of Humanities and Social Science.
Banjong Boonkit recalls the time when she worked as a “rented wife” for American soldiers at the US airbase in Udon Thani.
Attapon Buapat, one of the prominent faces of the rallies and an organizer with the “Khon Kaen’s Had Enough” group talks about the birth of the movement, funding of the protests, the growing harassment by the authorities, and his hopes for change.
Suwit Kulapwong, head of the Human Rights and Environment Association, warns the state of emergency limits the public’s ability to check the powers of the government.
Niran Pitakwatchara, a former human rights commissioner, talks about the implications of the violence in 2010 for the country’s democracy and calls for “the perpetrators to be brought to justice, so as to deter repeat offenders.”
Political scientist Chaiyan Rajchagool reflects on how the ruling class have constructed a politico-military complex, and co-opted state institutions in a bid to keep democracy at bay.
The bloody crackdown on protesters in 2010 is seared into the mind of Thanat Thammakaew. For the writer, known by his pen name Phu Kradat, the traumatic events became a political awakening and a source of inspiration for his writing.
“There has never been a time, no other era, where the ordinary villager has cursed the ruling class so much as now. There’s a fire burning down below and the military coup has only poured fuel onto that fire.” Teerapol Anmai speaks about the aftermath of the 2010 protests and the state’s violent response.
Duanwad Pimwana, one of the most prominent voices in contemporary Thai literature, talks about the challenges Thai literature faces in dealing with the trauma of the April-May 2010 violence.
