Photos by Suphaphorn Tumprakon Early this morning at about 4:30 a.m., a group of around 500 crowd-control officers with shields and body armor broke up a group of about 1,000 protesters demonstrating on the street next to Government House. It took the police just one hour to take control of the area where they also […]
A Khon Kaen man was admitted against his will at a mental hospital after he posted online photos of himself in a shirt with the slogan “I lost faith in the institution of the monarchy.” Questioning the legal grounds for the forced admission, activists and civil rights groups are calling for his immediate release.
He was a Red Shirt teenager. In May 2010, he threw a molotov cocktail, contributing to the burning down the Udon Thani provincial hall. He served six years for his crime. Though disappointed with the movement, he still believes democracy is worth fighting for.
Somsak Prasansap is one of many who say they were wrongfully convicted for the burning of provincial halls in Isaan in May 2010. Since his release, the 59-year-old is struggling to stitch his life back together.
For over nine years Teerapon Anmai and his academic friends who set up a fund to help the families of political prisoners have been receiving letters from prisoners detailing their hardships and sharing their thoughts.
What happened to those persecuted for the burnings of provincial halls in Isaan in May 2010? We talked to Somsak Prasansap whose life fell apart after he was arrested and charged with arson of the Udon Thani provincial hall.
“I can still remember that heavy smell of blood wafting through the air, as the dead bodies of the protesters were being piled together up on the UDD stage, together with the weapons they managed to prise from the hands of soldiers. I can’t forget it,” writes a news reporter who covered the bloody events of April-May 2010.
Ten years have passed since the killings of Bloody May, yet those responsible are still walking free and blameless in the eyes of the law. Out of the 94 killed, 26 were from Isaan. Today, justice is still waiting to be served, writes Wirawat Somnuek.
The short story “The Northeast” by Isaan writer Tee Anmai links memories of war with the deadly crackdown on protesters in April-May 2010.
