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BENARNEWS- Thai fishermen whose boats have been grounded for months by government rules targeting illegal fishing are growing desperate, with some resorting to suicide, people in Thailand's seafood industry told BenarNews.

"I am so sad at everything that is happening. Early this month, one of my neighbors fed poison to all three of his children, killing them all before taking his own life in the same way," said Somnuk Noosen, who operates a fishing vessel out of southern Nakhon Sri Thammarat province.

"His wife was the only one to survive. Fortunately, she happened to be out at the market at the time, or she would have met the same fate. I believe there is a lot more death to come," he added.

Somnuk spoke to BenarNews while attending the Oct. 1 funeral for a friend, another fisherman who allegedly committed suicide out of economic desperation that grew out of new restrictions on fishing boats and nets.

Thousands of Thai fishermen have been affected by the regulations, which went into effect July 1. 

Surapong Wongkrut, the skipper of a trawler based in Pattani province, hanged himself from a mango tree in front of his home on Sept. 24.  His funeral took place a week later at the Hua Talaat Temple in Muang Pattani district.

"I never expected my husband to decide to solve his problems by taking his own life. He was the type of man who didn't normally discuss work problems with his family," Phrai Wongkrut, Surapong's widow, told BenarNews.

Pattani is one of Thailand's three provinces that form a Malay-speaking region known as the Deep South, where a Muslim separatist insurgency has raged for years and where fishing is a mainstay of the struggling local economy.

"We suffered such hardship because he couldn't go out to sea. It was unbearable. Everybody was completely stressed, but none of us ever imagined he would choose this way out," Phrai said. 

Yellow card

The Thai government began to implement new regulations in July, following a "yellow card" warning given to Thailand by the European Union. The EU, a major market for products from Thai fisheries, gave Bangkok six months to implement measures targeting illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing practices (IUU), or face a potential European ban on seafood imports from Thailand. 

The yellow card is set to expire on Oct. 21. While it remains in effect, more than 4,000 fishing boats deemed to be illegal have been ordered to stay at port until their owners register them. Under the new rules, which are aimed at meeting EU fishing standards, other vessels have been ordered to switch out their equipment for more costly but less environmentally destructive nets.

The regulations, nonetheless, have disrupted the way of life and source of livelihood for fishermen across Thailand, people in the multi-billion dollar seafood industry say. Those based in the Deep South have staged protests demanding that the government lift or ease the restrictions.

On Tuesday, about 150 trawlers staged a protest by forming a chain blocking the Pattani River. 

"Even after the government introduced its new regulations for the fishing industry, they have gradually announced a number of strict new measures that have led many out-of-work fishermen to take their own lives," Phubet Chanthanimi, president of the National Fisheries Association of Thailand (NFAT), told BenarNews.

"I would like the government to show some sympathy for this segment of society. We can rest assured that the problems we are seeing now are only going to escalate and get a lot worse if the cries for help from fishermen continue to go unheeded," he added. 

'Left us to die'

Tanawat Laotong, owner of the Choke Patcharee 2, the trawler skippered by the late Surapong, was among those who turned out for his cremation ceremony.

"Mr. Surapong captained the Choke Patcharee 2 for more than ten years. He got really stressed after his vessel was no longer to go out to sea, which meant he had no source of income for over four months ...," Tanawat told BenarNews. "As the stress continued to mount, he could find no other way out."

The owner said he loaned some money to Surapong and other members of crews of boats that he owns to help them make ends meet. He was now trying to help out the captain of another boat whose wife has been hospitalized and needs surgery, Tanawat said.

"Last month, a friend in Rayong [province], who also captained an illegal fishing boat, also took his own life," the boat owner added. 

Four of the seven boats that he owns have been grounded.

"Before, all the members of our group operated legally under the law. Now the government has made us illegal and left us to die. There is going to a lot more suffering and death if the government does nothing to help them," he said.

Selling off prized roosters

Like his colleagues in the industry, Somnuk Noosen, who travelled to Pattani to mourn his friend's death, has also been reeling from the regulations. 

"As soon as I heard the news about Big Brother Surapong's death, I knew I had to be here. So I sold three of my fighting cocks to raise some money, then put the entire family on the next train to Pattani."

As a result of his hardship, Somnuk said he has had to pull his son out of school.  

"I am sad because I can no longer study like my friends," the boy, Sanya Noosen, told BenarNews.

"I feel sorry for my dad because he doesn't have any money. I really want to study so that I will be better able to take care of him. He is old already. But, for now, I have to stop studying," he said.

'Remain calm'

Responding to the anger and frustration expressed by provincial fishermen, Pattani Dep. Gov. Taekingsak Yoksiri said the government was aware of the problems facing so many idle fishermen and their families. 

"There has been some progress on the fisheries issue. The latest development is that the state has established measures to help business operators and fishermen. In the first stage, we will help them change their fishing equipment. A provincial working committee is in the process of collecting information about all of those who have been affected," the deputy governor said.

On Wednesday, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon announced that he would ask the Thai government to agree to a financial aid package to 4,800 affected fishing boats worth 228.5 million baht (U.S. $6.3 million). The money would go to helping boat operators and owners meet the government's deadline for obtaining fishing permits and switching over to authorized gear, the Bangkok Post reported. 

"In the meantime, we ask fishermen to be remain calm. The government already has some assistance measures in place and understands the hardships you face," Taekingsak said. 


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BENARNEWS- Thai information technology (IT) experts and netizens on Wednesday questioned Thailand's plan to monitor and censor internet content through a so-called "single gateway" as impractical and intrusive.
At least two panelists who took part in a discussion at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand in Bangkok raised concerns about how a single gateway could impinge on the privacy and freedoms of Thai internet users.
"How can companies know that when they send emails, they are not tapped by the government? That is what people worry about," said Prasong Ruangsirikulchai, senior director of NTT Communications Co. and executive director of the Telecommunications Association of Thailand.
Earlier this month, according to AFP, a Thai programmer spotted and circulated on social media a cabinet statement ordering the Ministry of Information Communications and Technology to "set up a single gateway in order to use it as a tool to control inappropriate websites and information flows from other countries via the Internet."
If carried out, this would mean consolidating the multiple points at which Thai networks connect to the worldwide web, AFP said.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said the government had made no decision about the concept but was considering the idea for security reasons and to shield children from inappropriate content.
"Stop talking about it. I didn't give a go ahead yet, so don't ask me to stop it; it didn't come to pass yet. If we can do, we will, but if we can't we won't," local media quoted him as saying.
He also reassured the public that "if it is unlawful and violates human rights," the government wouldn't implement the plan.
A host of potential problems
Since the junta came to power in May 2014, Thai authorities have banned public gatherings of more than five people, summoned journalists for "attitude adjustment" and increased the number of arrests under the country's lese-majeste law that bars defaming its royals.
Yingcheep Achanot, a panelist and project manager of the Internet Dialogue on Law Reform (iLaw), a Thai online freedom advocacy group, told the audience he had grave concerns about potential civil liberty abuses under a single-gateway system.
"We've seen many lese-majeste cases. We've seen thousands of URLs blocked. But I've seen at least four cases of lese-majeste where police made arrests without clear evidence because website administrators, including Facebook and YouTube, didn't cooperate with the Thai government to make an arrest on lese-majeste," Yingcheep said.
Prinya Hom-anek, who advises the ministries of Justice, Defense, and Information and Communications Technology (MICT) on cybersecurity, said the gateway concept was impractical.
"I don't support that. There are many gateways, 17 to 20, and over 100 interlinks among the gateways. It is impossible to have only one gateway to the outside world," Prinya told the gathering.
Government declines to participate
Pansak Siriruchatapong, an official from the MICT, was slated to join Wednesday's panel but the ministry pulled its representative out of the discussion when it found out that the single gateway was to be the main topic, the Foreign Correspondents' Club announced Tuesday.
"The FCCT is disappointed that the government feels unable to talk about an important and controversial policy," said the club.


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BENARNEWS- In Thailand, you can go to jail for saying or writing anything negative about the king or other members of the royal family.
Even casual comments about the monarchy made between cabbies and passengers can land people in trouble under lese-majeste, a royal defamation law that has been on the books for years, says Thai journalist Mutita Chuachang.
Such cases have become more frequent since Thailand's junta seized power in May 2014, according to Chuachang, 33, a reporter for the Thai news website Prachatai.
Under Article 112 of the country's criminal code, a person convicted on one count of royal defamation can be jailed for 15 years.
Because of the topic's sensitivity and pitfalls associated with covering lese-majeste cases, many Thai journalists steer clear of reporting on them.
Mutita is among the few who cover that beat regularly. For this, Agence-France Presse has just named her winner of its Kate Webb Prize for 2015, an award given to a journalist in Asia who excels under adverse conditions, according to AFP.
When Mutita writes about royal defamation cases, "she often cannot repeat the alleged offenses without risking falling foul of the law herself," AFP said in naming her as the winner of this year's award.
In an interview with BenarNews, she talks about receiving the honor and the challenges of covering the beat.
BN: What does this award mean to you?
Mutita: I feel happy and think it might raise awareness about the human rights issues involved, both among Thais and people abroad.
Because this issue is quite sensitive, it is easy for those of us reporting on this matter to get labeled as threats to national security by conservative-minded people. This is why, in the past, a lot of the reporting on these issues has been published with no reporters' names provided.
Reporters tend to want to keep a low profile or even remain anonymous so that they won't have problems dealing with bureaucrats in the future. After doing this kind of reporting, I don't know whether I will be able to maintain access to suspects in prison, or deal with the courts as easily as I could in the past.
BN: What is the most difficult or challenging aspect of your work?
Mutita: The challenge is establishing a dialogue with state officials: the police, the military, public prosecutors.
I want to learn how they think and investigate their operations. For example, I would like to know what criteria the police use when considering cases lodged under Article 112 of the Criminal Code; how many lese-majeste cases there are in total and how many of those are actually prosecuted.
An investigation into the mechanisms involved would help increase transparency and help the various state agencies develop in a way that increases respect for human rights and personal freedom.
BN: Has the government pressured you over your reporting on lese-majeste?
Mutita: Not yet, at least not directly. I just feel afraid because there is a lot of rumor-mongering.
Since the coup, I feel I am being watched much more closely by correctional officers whenever I go to interview suspects who have been incarcerated.
New rules now in place also greatly limit visitation times and greatly restrict outsiders' right of access to inmates. 
BN: Is the lese-majeste law overly enforced?
Mutita: Yes. We can see this from statistics gathered by groups like iLaw .... There were a number of lese-majeste suspects charged under the previous civilian government as well.
Many of them are denied the right to post bail and thus remain incarcerated while their cases are being heard. This makes it very difficult for them to build a solid legal defense because they have limited access to their lawyers and limited ability to collect evidence or find defense witnesses.
In addition, they lack the ability to fight cases on material issues because the courts generally reflect the prevailing conventional wisdom of society at-large.
After the coup, there was a large increase in the number of [lese-majeste] cases and these are now tried in the military court system, with no right of appeal and no Supreme Court. The rulings are handed down in secret, with no public observation possible.
Use of this law has been overextended and applied to some strange cases.
Examples include an older sibling charging a younger one in court over something he said at home; people recording conversations between taxi drivers and passengers and using the recording to file charges; even people sharing Facebook links to radio news reports.
There are still suspects in jail in all these cases.
BN: Can a balance exist between constructive criticism and protection of the monarchy?
Mutita: I think it is possible, but we need a more concrete process, one in which the penalties are more proportionate with the alleged offenses.
The currently penalties are too severe, which makes people even more opposed and does nothing to really solve underlying problems. Suppose they changed the penalties to just be a fine, suspended sentence or some kind of community service? I think that would ease some of the stress over issues relating to the monarchy and inject more common sense into the debate.
From my conversations with suspects who have been charged with using very obscene language, many of them are just normal people who are really engaged in political affairs – what we could call really "active citizens." They are just venting their anger, sounding off recklessly over perceived political or social injustices. We see this time and time again.
Another factor here is the role of ultra-royalist groups that tolerate no criticism of the monarchy whatsoever and are quick to file charges and conduct "witch-hunts" against perceived offenders.
Their actions not only fail to help stabilize the monarchy, but also ratchet up feelings of resentment. They shut down every forum for discussion, making it easy for those on the other side to explode under the increasing pressure – and they have harsh penalties ready at hand when they do.
If these groups could somehow be restricted to engaging in a civil debate with opposing groups – leaving the legal punishment role to the state – the social climate would improve.
More leniency on this matter and providing more forums for debate on the issues involved would ease tensions on both sides. Development of a civil society debate is the creative way forward, one that could lead to greater justice and equality for all citizens and increase security for the royal institution at the same time.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's military government, which took power in May last year, expects to hold its first official talks with Muslim rebels from the country's insurgency-battered Deep South next month, a senior military officer said, despite skepticism over the peace process by a rebel faction.
"The peace talks will go on and I expect to have an official round of talks by mid-November," Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong told BenarNews.
Nakrob is the secretary of a Thai negotiating team that has met informally this year in neighboring Malaysia with representatives of various southern rebel groups in a series of closed-door sessions aimed at persuading the insurgents to formally re-open peace talks.
The elected government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra, who was overthrown in a military coup last year, had held peace talks with the rebels in 2013 but they were suspended that year due to political tensions in Bangkok.
Nakrob said several rounds of informal talks might be held before the official meeting with rebels.
"Prior to this we may have small rounds of talks. Everything is on the table."
Nakrob also dismissed a four-page statement by a rebel group claiming to represent the Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (the Patani Malay National Revolutionary Front, or BRN).
The statement, issued by the group's information department, is just part of a "PR" strategy, he said.
"BRN representatives in MARA Patani confirmed that the talks will continue. We had back-door communication on this," Nakrob said.
'Patani-Malay nation must be recognized'
The statement, dated Oct. 12 and obtained by BenarNews, appears to have been issued by a faction of the BRN that has not agreed to be part of MARA Patani, an umbrella group representing various insurgent groups from Thailand's Deep South region.
At least three of MARA's seven-member negotiating are members of BRN, including the umbrella group's chairman, Awang Jabat.
The Deep South is a predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region made up of Narathiwat, Pattani, Yala provinces and four districts in Songkhla province. Since 2004, at least 6,000 people have died in violence related to the separatist insurgency.
"BRN is prepared to achieve peace through peaceful means, however such a peace process must be dignified and sincere in its pursuit of peace," the statement said.
"Not a peace process used as a form of political subterfuge in order to deceive and undermine the strategy of the Patani-Malay people's advancement..." it added.
The statement goes on to demand that international mediators be brought in to move the peace process along, and it also appears to touch on another demand that led to the last round of formal peace talks stalling in December 2013: that Thailand recognize the sovereignty of "Patani."
"Negotiations should be conducted formally in accordance with international standards and norms, which included the engagement of a mediator and observers from other states," the statement said.
"Because the Patani problem concerns the colonization of one nation over another nation, the position and existence of the Patani-Malay nation must be recognized."
'Highest objective'
These were also among a set of demands made by BRN negotiators who led the rebel side in the last round of official talks in 2013. But those negotiators, including Hassan Bin Toyib and Abdul Karim Khalib, are not part of MARA Patani.
On Sept. 7, Khalib, who identified himself as the spokesman for BRN appeared in a six-minute video posted on YouTube. In it, he read out a declaration stating that "independence for Patani" remained BRN's "highest objective."
This statement was very similar to one made by MARA Patani when its representatives introduced themselves to reporters in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 27, two days after the umbrella group met with the Thai delegation led by Gen. Aksara Kerdpol.
MARA Patani officials could not be immediately reached for comment on the statement from the BRN faction.


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BENARNEWS- An apparent rift within one of southern Thailand's main rebel groups won't stop an umbrella body of different insurgent organizations from pursuing peace talks with the government, a senior rebel leader told BenarNews on Wednesday.
"MARA Patani will continue with the negotiations and MARA Patani will make sure that the talks become official in the near future," Col. Kasturi Mahkota, a leader of the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO) rebel group, said in answering questions sent by email.

He was referring to the umbrella group that has met informally with Thai officials in Malaysia several times this year in an effort to restart formal peace talks for the first time since 2013, and which would aim to end a long-running separatist conflict in Thailand's Deep South.

Kasturi is a spokesman for MARA Patani.

The talks will go ahead, he said, despite criticism of the current peace process from a faction of Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (BRN). The rebel group is represented on MARA Patani by three of its senior leaders: Awang Jabat, Sukree Haree and Ahmat Chuwol.

None of the three could be reached for comment Wednesday.

"Personally, what happened within BRN – those who are for and against the peace-talk process – is normal," Kasturi told BenarNews. "Inshallah [God willing], it will be resolved in the near future and it will not affect any ongoing of peace talks."

MARA Patani's seven representatives and their respective organizations "have a high commitment" to the current peace efforts, he said.

The umbrella group was formed in May so various groups could negotiate in a united front with the government to settle the conflict in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region. The war and associated violence have killed more than 6,000 people since 2004.

MARA Patani, which introduced itself to the public in Kuala Lumpur on Aug. 27, brings together representatives of the BRN, Gerakan Mujahideen Islami Patani (GMIP) and Barisan Islam Pembebasan Patani (BIPP) rebel groups, as well as two factions of PULO. A third PULO faction, PULO P4, withdrew from the umbrella body after participating in its earlier secret negotiations with Thai officials.

'On the table'

The Thai government, however, has not notified MARA Patani about the possibility of formal peace talks resuming next month, Kasturi said.

On Monday, Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, secretary of the Thai junta's negotiation team, told BenarNews that peace talks would go on and he expected "an official round of talks by mid-November."

"Prior to this we may have small rounds of talks. Everything is on the table," he said.

Both Kasturi and Nakrob were commenting on skepticism about the process voiced earlier this week by a BRN faction.
Seeking a 'dignified peace'
On Oct. 12, a four-page statement issued on BRN letterhead by BRN's "information department" appeared to voice disagreement with the new peace process, but without naming MARA Patani.
In its statement, the faction demanded that the peace process involve international mediators and that Thailand recognize the sovereignty of the "Patani."
This last demand was made two years ago by Hassan Bin Toyb and Adbul Karim Khalib, BRN leaders who were part of the rebel delegation during the last round of peace talks. Those stalled after their demand was conveyed in a YouTube video in December 2013. The two men are not with MARA Patani.
"BRN is prepared to achieve peace through peaceful means, however such a peace process must be dignified and sincere in its pursuit of peace," the faction said.
"Not a peace process used as a form of political subterfuge in order to deceive and undermine the strategy of the Patani-Malay people's advancement...," it added.


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BENARNEWS- Eleven years after 85 protesters died in the Tak Bai incident that helped re-ignite an insurgency in Thailand's Deep South, relatives of victims say Thai authorities often urge them to forget about it – and ask if they have done so.
"For those unaffected by the incident, it is easy to say dead is dead and it is over. But for their families, no matter how long it is, they cannot forget," said Yaena Salaemae, the mother of a man detained during the incident in Narathiwat province's Tak Bai district on Oct. 25, 2004.
"If anyone tries to address the issue again, the military asks them what doubts they still have as the case should be over," she told BenarNews during an interview there on Thursday.
Sunday marks the 11th anniversary of a protest outside a police station in Tak Bai, which turned into a tragedy that remains seared in the minds of residents of the predominantly Muslim, Malay-speaking region.
Even today, the Thai military asks suspected rebels who have been captured whether they were involved in the incident 11 years ago, Yaena said.
"In every arrest, there will be a question about whether they took part in the Tak Bai incident. And if one is found with a record, their detention will be extended from seven days to a month," she said.
A pivotal year

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Demonstrators lie on the pavement after their arrest oustide Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat province, Thailand, Oct. 25, 2004. AFP

Demonstrators lie on the pavement after their arrest oustide Tak Bai police station in Narathiwat province, Thailand, Oct. 25, 2004. [AFP]
On that day in October 2004, some 2,000 people gathered at a playground opposite the police station to protest the detention of six local volunteer security guards, who were accused of supplying southern rebels with stolen government-issued weapons.
According to accounts, seven demonstrators were killed when authorities opened fire on the crowd. Then, after police and soldiers rounded up and arrested scores of other protestors, another 78 died of suffocation while being taken away in trucks to a military camp 150 km (93.2 miles) away in Pattani province, according to official autopsies.
The incident occurred six months after 32 suspected insurgents were killed when Thai security forces stormed the Krue Se Mosque in Pattani, where rebels were hiding out.
These two events re-ignited a separatist insurgency that started in the 1960s but had simmered down. Since 2004, more than 6,000 people have been killed in violence associated with the insurgency.
Eleven years on, there is no end in sight to the conflict although Thailand's military-controlled government has been trying to persuade southern rebel groups to re-open formal peace talks.
Not pursuing perpetrators
For Deep South residents, the scars of Tak Bai endure.
"Some officials keep asking villagers about how they still feel about the incident, which, in turn, reminds them of their grief. They keep asking if anyone still don't forget it yet," Yaena Salaemae said.
"But I think they'd better not ask at all, if they want this incident to be forgotten for good. They should stop accusing the residents of being bad elements. They rallied to only demand the release of the village defense volunteers, and they did not mean to hurt anyone," Yaena said.
Yaena, who owns a grocery store in Tak Bai, led relatives of the 85 dead in negotiating a financial package with the government to compensate them for the loss of their loved ones. The families of the dead each got 7.5 million baht (U.S.$210,000).
The injured were paid one to 7.5 million baht (U.S.$28,209 - $210,000) while those detained received 30,000 baht ($846) in compensation. Fifty-eight detainees were released two years later.
"My life now is better," Marigi Doloh, who was injured in the incident, told BenarNews. "And I live my life according to religious teachings. I listen to sermons and go fishing if I have time."
"I want to forget it," he added.
None of the police officers or soldiers who were involved in the shootings and arrests were ever charged or prosecuted for the 85 deaths. But Yaena and relatives of victims believe it isn't worth the time and effort to try to bring to justice those who were responsible, she said.
"Everyone doesn't want to sue the government due to length of the court procedures, the language barrier and the traveling. Everything is over now," she said.
'It was well planned'
A Thai official who has spent 25 years in the Deep South said local people were convinced police had framed the six volunteers, and could not be persuaded otherwise.
"They didn't listen to our explanation but accused us of distorting facts," said the official, who asked not to be named.
The Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (BRN), one of the main rebel groups, played a role in exacerbating tensions that day by enlisting students from Islamic schools in the area to join the protest outside the police station, he went on to say.
"It was not a coincidence but it was well planned. I doubt if a man like Sapae-ing Basoh, who knew this well, would come out to tell the truth," the official added, referring to a former principal of Thammawittaya Foundation School, who now lives in exile in Malaysia and is believed to be the BRN's de facto leader.
Every year during Tak Bai commemorations, the official said, locals "only point the finger at the government" rather than educating people to stay away from violence and prevent such a tragedy from happening again.
"No one wanted this mishap to take place," he said.


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BENARNEWS- A stiff new Thai law aimed at staving off a European Union (EU) ban on Thailand's lucrative seafood industry mandates for the first time that its fisheries workforce be legalized.
Under this law, fishing boat operators can face jail time or other penalties if they fail to employ legally documented crewmembers, as well as register their vessels, equip them with less environmentally destructive nets, and report boat arrivals and departures from port, among other requirements.
"Most laborers in the fishing sector are foreigners, more than fifty thousand. Our task is to see how we can legalize all of them, to give them work permits," Suwit Sumala, a permanent secretary at Thailand's Labor Ministry said on a TV program broadcast earlier this week.
"If they are registered, we will know where they are, whom they are with and how to take care of them," he added.
The Thai cabinet this week approved a decree instituting the law, and it will take effect once Thailand's king endorses it.
According to a draft version of the new law obtained by BenarNews on Wednesday, violators can have their boats seized or licenses pulled, as well as face two-year prison terms or fines of up to 6 million baht (U.S. $168,800), depending on the infraction.
Red card looms
The government passed the new law in urgently trying to avoid a possible EU ban on Thai seafood products, after the European Commission gave Thailand six months to implement measures targeting illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing practices (IUU).
The "yellow card" period expired on Oct. 21, yet the EU has yet to publicize a deadline for when Thailand might receive a "red card," which would trigger a European ban.
"Only if we came to the conclusion that there was no significant improvement of the situation, the Commission might decide to give a 'red card' to Thailand, which means the banning of all fish products, including canned fish," Enrico Brivio, an EU spokesperson for Maritime Affairs, Fisheries, Environment, Health and Food Safety, told BenarNews in an email on Tuesday.
"[A] pre-identified country has 6 months to negotiate with the Commission and address its problems. This period for Thailand just came to an end at the end October. So now the Commission will assess the overall progress made and consider the way forward," he said, noting that such a decision would "not be immediate."
An EU delegation recently visited Thailand to get a clearer picture of Thai efforts to comply with the European standards, Brivio added.
Although EU officials gave no timeframe for possible future action, Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defense Minister Gen. Prawit Wongsuwan last week told reporters that the EU had given Thailand till the end of December before it would make a decision.
Guarantee
Since receiving the yellow card warning in April, Thailand has made significant progress in raising its standards to meet the European ones, Prawit said.
The new law replaces the Fisheries Act, which the government adopted on April 28 in requiring commercial fishermen and fishing boat operators to meet the EU's standards.
Wimol Chantarothai, the director-general of the Fisheries Department, who appeared alongside Suwit Sumala on the TV program that aired on Monday, said his agency faced two major tasks in implementing the new law.
"In order to manage fishing, we will control the number of fishing boats and frequency with which they are allowed to fish. We will address the overfishing issue, in which we need to limit the harvest as to avoid [doing damage to] resources," Wimol said.
In addition, to demonstrate that Thailand does not sell seafood produced through exploitative labor, his department will ensure the traceability of the catches, Wimol said, referring to reported allegations that Thai seafood companies have employed foreign workers in slave-like conditions aboard fishing boats.
"From the catch to consumers, it is necessary for us to guarantee that the products are not harvested through illegal fishing," he added.
Harsh
Since the yellow card took effect on April 21, the government has grounded thousands of fishing boats that are unlicensed or outfitted with equipment that does not meet EU standards.
Crew members whose livelihoods depend on fishing have staged protests, particularly in Thailand's restive Deep South, where fishing is a pillar of the local economy. Out of desperation, some have committed suicide.
In Pattani, one of the provinces in the region, as many as 3,000 fishing boats remained docked at local ports as a result of the government measures.
Provisions of the new law are too harsh, especially for fishermen who are not well versed in matters of law, Phubet Chanthanimi, president of the Fisheries Association of Thailand, told BenarNews.
"Ironically, if the government wants to live up to the EU standards, the law should not carry jail terms or mandate boat seizures," he said.


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BENARNEWS- The second of three Thai suspects charged recently with royal defamation died at a hospital after being found unconscious in a military prison, but officials said Monday that there was no need to change procedures for guarding prisoners.
Suriyan Sucharitpholwong, a fortune teller better known as Mor Yong, died Saturday night, hours after he was found unconscious in his cell at a temporary prison at the 11th Military Circle in Bangkok.
Authorities said Monday that he had died of blood poisoning, according to media reports.
Justice Minister Paiboon Kumchaya, a former general, played down the soothsayer's death, saying there was no need to change protocol.
"Sometimes prisoners die in prison," he told reporters Monday, according to Agence France-Presse.
Suriyan, his secretary Jirawong Wattanathewasilp and Police Maj. Prakrom Warunprapa were last seen in public on Oct. 21 as they were taken to military courthouse to be charged with lese majeste and other charges. In Thailand, people can go to jail for saying or writing anything negative about the king or other members of the royal family.
The Bangkok Post reported that the trio had allegedly extorted money from businessmen by citing the monarchy. Suriyan, who had served as an aide to Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn, allegedly tried to exploit the prince's name in those extortion efforts.
Authorities announced that Prakrom hanged himself while in custody on Oct. 24, and they declared his death a suicide.
Thailand has one of the toughest royal defamation laws, and prosecutions have shot up since a military coup in May 2014 followed a court order forcing then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office, according to AFP. Because lese majeste is a national security offense, those charged are tried by a military court.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who as a general led the Thai Army coup, has vowed to get rid of critics of the monarchy and has called for stronger prosecution of cases involving royal defamation, media reported.
On Monday, authorities confirmed that a colonel in the military was being investigated as part of the same probe. Reuters reported that a Bangkok military court issued an arrest warrant for Col. Khachachart Boondee, commander of the army's first artillery regiment on lese majeste and other charges.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 87, is in frail health and is convalescing at a Bangkok hospital as uncertainty grows over a succession plan. The lese majeste law prevents open discussion of succession, according to Reuters.


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BENARNEWS- A Thai police officer who led a probe into a human trafficking case that scandalized Thailand earlier this year has resigned after being notified of his transfer to a new post in the country's restive Deep South, according to reports.
Police Maj. Gen. Paween Pongsirin told a local newspaper that he quit out of fear he might be targeted for reprisals in the region, which is infamous as a transit route for human trafficking into neighboring Malaysia.
From the southern city of Hat Yai, Paween oversaw an investigation that resulted in scores of suspected members of an alleged people-smuggling ring being arrested, including a Thai army general and other military and police officers.
"My concern for safety is not about insurgent attacks, which I am not afraid of, but I am concerned about the threats that would come out of my investigation into the Rohingya trafficking case – especially when many suspects are influential persons who have connections with men everywhere. I fear I am in danger from these people," he told The Nation newspaper over the weekend.
"I submitted the letter of resignation on Nov. 5 because my family has concerns for my safety," he added.
His resignation, however, could only take effect Dec. 6 because he was required to give 30 days' notice, he said.
Paween's transfer raises questions about the government's seriousness and commitment in halting human trafficking, Angkhana Neelapaijit, a member of Thailand's National Human Rights Commission, told BenarNews.
"At the beginning, the government seemed to be really serious about the case and had no fear of the gangsters," she said in a phone interview.
"There seems to be something wrong now – the person in charge was transferred."
Police chief: 'He can ask for protection'
In May, graves of Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi migrants who had been trafficked into Thailand were discovered in the jungle near the Malaysian border, precipitating a Thai governmental crackdown on human trafficking rings.
Thailand launched a simultaneous blockade to prevent more migrants from landing by sea, forcing loads of human smuggling boats to sail farther south. Thousands of desperate Rohingyas and Bangladeshis ended up coming ashore in Aceh, Indonesia and in Malaysia.
The police investigation that Paween headed netted 91 arrests of suspects and warrants for 62 others wanted for human trafficking. Among those taken into custody were an army lieutenant general, Manas Kongpaen, and an army captain, Wisut Bunnag. Three other military officers named in the investigation are on the run. A mayor and deputy mayor in Songkhla province, where the graves were discovered, and at least four policemen were also implicated.
At press time it remained unclear why Paween was transferred to the Deep South, but National Police Chief Chaktip Chaichinda told reporters in Bangkok that Paween could always file a grievance with the police or an administrative court, if he felt that he was being moved unfairly. The police had received no orders from politicians or the military to send Paween to a different post, Chaktip said.
"As far as I know, he cited a personal reason to quit the job to have time to take care of his parents and family. For the claim about the threat which also aimed at his family, he can ask for protection from police," Chaktip said Monday.


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BENARNEWS- Eighty-eight suspected members of a human trafficking ring, including a three-star Thai general, pleaded not guilty to related charges during a court hearing in Bangkok on Tuesday.
Army Lt. Gen. Manas Kongpaen and 87 co-defendants were bused in for the first day of a four-day pre-trial hearing into a criminal case that has rocked Thailand and implicated scores of others, including more military officers, local government officials and police.
A seven-judge panel Tuesday read out the charges against the 88 defendants, who were indicted under Thailand's human trafficking and transnational crime laws. Each of them could face four to 10 years in prison for human trafficking and four to 15 years if convicted of crimes that took place across national borders, according to the country's penal code.
The attorney-general's office produced 15 boxes of evidence, which contained documentation of alleged money wire transfers and telephone logs. Reporters were barred from the courtroom, but were allowed to monitor Tuesday's deliberations via closed-circuit television.
The trial could take at least two years and involve testimony from hundreds of witnesses, according to a report by Reuters.
"There are 500 witnesses in this case. Altogether it will take around 200 meetings to review witnesses which means examination will take two years," the British news agency quoted a court official as telling reporters in Bangkok.
The trial will start next week, BBC News reported.
62 on the run
The case stems from the discovery in May of 30 graves in southern Songkhla province, thought to contain the remains of illegal migrants smuggled into Thailand, authorities said.
The scandal triggered a Thai crackdown on human trafficking, which led to a maritime blockade that forced boatloads of Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi migrants to sail farther south, resulting in a regional humanitarian crisis.
Since the investigation began, 91 suspects have been arrested and 62 remain at-large. Three of the 91 suspects in custody were arrested later and would be produced before the court at a future date, Police Maj. Gen. Paween Pongsirin, who led the investigation, told reporters at the courthouse.
Paween just announced his resignation, saying he refused to accept a transfer to Thailand's restive Deep South out of fear that connections to the human trafficking ring he had been investigating would target him and other members of his team.
"I cannot say if my job is done, but I will try to do my best. It is the job of the new investigation team to try to catch 62 suspects who managed to escape," Paween said.


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BENARNEWS- Since the Thai military seized power in a coup 18 months ago, the junta's obsession with peace and order has led the ruling generals to suppress Thailand's media under their "reign of terror," Reporters Without Borders (RSF) says in a new report.
The Paris-based press freedom watchdog on Thursday released a 44-page report, "Media hounded by junta since 2014 coup," which examines the record and policies of Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha's regime toward journalists and news organizations. RSF has also ranked Thailand 134th out of 180 nations on its 2015 World Press Freedom Index.
The "junta has been persecuting the media for the past 18 months, imposing a reign of terror that has included interrogations, arbitrary arrests, a spate of prosecutions and barely veiled threats," the report states.
The junta's obsessiveness with peace and order – "or its use as a pretext," as RSF puts it – "has stripped journalists and independent civil society representatives of the media freedom and freedom of information that they had won at great cost during the previous decade," the report says.
It points to the government's strategy of raids on media outlets and arrests of journalists along with mass URL blocking and surveillance of internet users.
"This theft of freedoms that are indispensable to democracy has been perpetrated by the military in full view of the international community, which has not, however, sufficiently decried it," RSF concludes.
V for victory
One of the report's chapters documents the persecution of the news website Phuketwan. Journalists Alan Morison and Chutima Sidasathian were acquitted in September on defamation charges brought against them by the Thai navy based on a 41-word excerpt from a Reuters news report, which the website published in July 2013 as part of a report on human trafficking.
"With the whole future of Thailand as a democracy up in the air, it is not a good time for the military to be suing media outlets using oppressive criminal defamation laws," RSF quoted Morison as saying.
The report's cover features a photograph of Thai journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk (pictured above) from 2014, his mouth taped shut and hand raised, flashing the victory sign.
Thai authorities took Pravit, a former reporter and columnist for The Nation, into custody again in September and released him two days later after an "attitude adjustment" session. To regain his freedom, Pravit, a frequent critic of the military-led government, had to sign a document in which he agreed not to lead, participate or assist in any anti-coup activities.
The report's conclusion goes so far as to compare Prime Minister Prayuth, a former general whom RSF describes as "capricious," to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"Like Pyongyang's dictator, Gen. Prayut[h] has cast himself as the nation's savior, he appears in his own weekly TV program, and he orders severe sanctions for those who dare to question his legitimacy or criticize his policies."


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BENARNEWS- Moves by Thailand's military-led government to revive peace talks with southern insurgents are unlikely to succeed, as the main rebel group has abandoned back-door efforts aimed at reopening formal negotiations, analysts say.
They believe the rebels see little to be gained at the negotiating table from the military government, with no possibility for devolution of political or economic power.
"For the moment, the Thai government's commitment to dialogue is largely rhetorical," Matt Wheeler, Southeast Asia analyst for the International Crisis Group, a Brussels-based organization that conducts field research into conflicts across the globe, told BenarNews on Tuesday.
"The NCPO's ethos is one of unity and Thai nationalism," he said in an email, using an acronym for the Thai junta's official name, the National Council for Peace and Order. "They are not disposed to making any concessions that they see as leading to a loss of national sovereignty."
Barisan Revolusi Nasional Melayu Patani (BRN), the most powerful and heavily armed of the southern insurgent groups and factions, "is well aware of this, and so disputes Bangkok's sincerity," Wheeler added. "So neither side is revealing a readiness for compromise."
More than 6,000 people have died over the past 11 years in the separatist conflict in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region.
'Nothing on offer'
Since March, Thai officials have engaged insurgents from Thailand's Deep South in back-channel, Malaysia-brokered meetings aimed at re-opening peace talks for the first time since December 2013, when a civilian-led government in Bangkok was in power.
Various rebel groups and factions have formed an umbrella group, MARA Patani, to negotiate with the government. The seven-member panel included three BRN representatives when it gave a press conference in Kuala Lumpur in late August.
Since then, BRN has pulled out of the peace process, according to Wheeler and Zachary Abuza, another expert on the Deep South, although the group itself has not made this explicitly clear.
"They just said there is nothing that is being offered to us that makes us even willing to show up," Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington D.C., told BenarNews in a phone interview.
He expressed even deeper pessimism about the prospects of peace talks, although he suggested that different stakeholders – including the Thai and Malaysian governments, and smaller Deep South insurgent groups – were likely to push ahead with them.
"The government keeps trotting out statements saying they're committed to the talks, that they want to restart them. But there is nothing on offer to get the different insurgent groups to the table," he said.
"I just don't believe the government is serious. What the Thai government wants is for the insurgents to come to the table and surrender. There's nothing that they are ready to negotiate right now," Abuza added.
In or out?
On Oct. 12, the BRN issued a four-page statement in English in which it voiced strong disagreement with the new peace process.
"Statements by BRN's Information Department have been unambiguous that the group is not participating in the current process," Wheeler said.
"It remains an open question whether the presence in MARA Patani of individuals claiming to represent BRN may be explained by factionalism, or by BRN's desire to keep tabs on MARA Patani."
MARA Patani members who identified themselves as BRN members have declined to answer questions from BenarNews about whether BRN has, in fact, pulled out of the peace process.
There may be debate within BRN about whether to be involved, Abuza said.
"You have many BRN people that say peace talks are a waste of time and then there are other people who say, listen, the talks are going to happen because Malaysia and Thailand will make them happen, so we might as well be there."
In predominantly Muslim Malaysia, the talks have bipartisan support, amid concern over the plight of the Muslim Malay Thais of the Deep South. Malaysia has been facilitating the peace efforts.
Smaller groups that are part of MARA Patani – Gerakan Mujahideen Islami Patani (GMIP), Barisan Islam Pembebasan Patani (BIPP) and Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO) – are looking to reap political gain from the talks, as Abuza put it.
"The latter groups really control very few militants on the ground. And so they are trying to leverage something from these peace talks, out of nothing," he said.
Soon after BRN issued its statement, Col. Kasturi Mahkota, a spokesman for MARA Patani who belongs to PULO, told BenarNews that the peace process remained on track.
"MARA Patani will continue with the negotiations and MARA Patani will make sure that the talks become official in the near future," he said then, adding. "Personally, what happened within BRN – those who are for and against the peace-talk process – is normal."
Local support
The Thai government, meanwhile, says the talks will forge ahead.
In October, Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, secretary of the Thai negotiating team, told BenarNews that formal peace talks would open this month.
More recently, chief negotiator Gen. Aksara Kerdpol said the next round of pre-talks would take place sometime in December.
Srisompob Jitpiromsri, who directs Deep South Watch, a peace monitoring and advocacy group based in southern Pattani province, disagreed with assessments that peace efforts are faltering.
"Since MARA Patani's debut, it made its image clear and locals understand its goal and approach, so there should not be any problem with the talks continuing," Srisompob told BenarNews.
"In regard with the current Thai government's sincerity, we can see there is documentation that supports its policy of honoring peace talks and there are peace-supporting projects," he added.


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BENARNEWS- Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Thursday condemned Thailand's deportation of two Chinese dissidents who had been granted refugee status by the U.N. and accepted for settlement in Canada.
But Thailand defended its action, saying Dong Guangping and Jiang Yefei had entered the country illegally.
The office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) this week protested to Bangkok over their forced repatriation last weekend, as rights groups expressed concern that the duo would be severely punished upon returning home.
"[T]his refoulement was a deliberate, pre-mediated rights violation, and highlights your government's total disregard for fundamental human rights," Sophie Richardson, China director for Human Rights Watch, said in a letter addressed to Thai junta chief Prayuth Chan-o-cha.
Richardson said the Thai government should have considered whether Dong, a democracy activist from Zhengzhou City in Henan province, and Jiang, a democracy activist and political cartoonist from Chengdu in Sichuan province, would be in danger of being subjected to torture, cruel, and inhuman or degrading treatment if deported.
"Individuals who are known to have been involved in issues considered politically sensitive or from ethnic or religious groups who are forcibly returned to China have faced precisely such treatment," she wrote.
Jiang had lived in Thailand since 2008 and Dong had arrived there this past September. The two were arrested in October on charges of illegal immigration. They pleaded guilty and were fined.
Thai officials said the men were deported because they had violated the kingdom's immigration laws, Reuters reported Thursday.
"We have taken every step in accordance with the Thai laws," Gen. Thawip Netniyom, secretary-general of the country's National Security Council, told the news agency. "All we know is that they appear to be dissidents of the Chinese government. We don't know about their other offences."
The Chinese foreign ministry said the issue was being handled in accordance with the law, according to Reuters.
'Of no use at all'
But UNHCR called Jiang and Dong legitimate refugees, who should not have been sent back to China.
"This action by Thailand is clearly a serious disappointment, and underscores the longstanding gap in Thai domestic law concerning ensuring appropriate treatment of persons with international protection needs," the UNHCR said.
Jiang and Dong had "protection letters" from UNHCR that are issued to those who apply for political asylum while their applications for resettlement are underway. The process can take years.
Vivian Tan, regional spokeswoman for UNHCR, told Reuters: "These people are recognized refugees, meaning they were interviewed and their claim of persecution was found to be legitimate."

"They should not be sent back to a place where their lives can be put in danger," she added.
However, Beijing enacted a national security law on July 1 that allows for the principle that Chinese law is enforceable in other countries, according to rights activist Cao Jinbo.
"A protection letter is of no use at all," Cao said. "Dong and Jiang had already been granted refugee status, but (UNHCR) was unable to guarantee their safety."
'They are safe now'
On Wednesday, Dong's and Jiang's families left Thailand for the safety of Canada.
Jiang's wife Chu Ling, Dong's wife Gu Shuhua and his daughter Dong Xuerui flew to Toronto from Bangkok.
"They are safe now ... but they are feeling very sad, because they were unable to travel with their loved ones," democracy activist Li Xiaolong said.


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BENARNEWS- Representatives of Thailand's junta and southern Thai rebels groups met in Kuala Lumpur this month for another round of closed-door meetings aimed at reopening formal peace talks, officials from both sides confirmed Monday.
News of the meeting in the Malaysian capital on Nov. 11 and 12 surfaced in the past several days, when Thai news outlets reported that so-called "safe zones," or ceasefire zones, had been created in Narathiwat – one of the southern border provinces that make up Thailand's restive Deep South – as a result of those informal talks.
But a member of the government's negotiating team and a negotiator for MARA Patani, an umbrella group representing Deep South rebel groups and factions in pre-peace talk meetings, both denied that the two sides had agreed to establish any safe zones in Narathiwat.
"We have not discussed safety zones and we agreed that we would not release information on this," Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, the secretary of the Thai negotiating team in southern peace efforts, told BenarNews on Monday.
Col. Kasturi Mahkota, a spokesman for MARA Patani and a leader of the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), one of the rebel groups, confirmed to BenarNews that the latest pre-peace talk meeting took place.
On Sunday, MARA Patani posted a statement on the website of Deep South Watch (DSW) denying the implementation of safe zones. DSW is an organization based in Narathiwat that monitors violence in the predominantly Muslim region and efforts to settle the separatist conflict, which has claimed more than 6,000 lives since 2004.
"MARA Patani would like to inform the parties that now the talks are still in the process of building mutual trust. It also is not officially talking, so there should be no substantial discussion, including [about] the safety zones," Sukree Haree, the chief negotiator for MARA Patani said in the statement.
Both Nakrob and Mahkota told BenarNews that the two sides agreed to set up a panel to iron out details needed to clear the way for the opening of formal peace talks. But neither specified those details.
The last round of formal peace talks took place in 2013, when a civilian-led government ruled Thailand. But while the junta and MARA has come out with statements in recent months expressing confidence in saying that they were on track to open formal peace talks, experts on the conflict in the Deep South last week told BenarNews that these efforts were unlikely to succeed because, they said, Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the largest and most heavily armed of the southern rebel groups – had abandoned the current peace process.
"They just said there is nothing that is being offered to us that makes us even willing to show up," Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington D.C. and an expert on conflicts in Southeast Asia, told BenarNews, referring to the BRN.
Meanwhile, Thai and MARA Patani officials have yet to say whether the BRN has abandoned this effort outright or whether there is a split within the group's ranks. Haree Sukree and at least two other men who sit on the seven-member MARA Patani team identify themselves as senior BRN leaders.
When BenarNews asked Sukree and the two others about the apparent rift, they declined to say anything about it.


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BENARNEWS- An official at Chiang Mai International Airport in northern Thailand said Tuesday that both domestic and international airlines have canceled or rescheduled flights during peak hours of a three day lantern-flying festival, to avoid possible damage to the planes.
Chiang Mai in northern Thailand, famed for the rich cultural heritage of its Lanna Kingdom (1292-1775), is celebrating the Yipeng Lantern Festival, Nov. 24 to 26, in conjunction with the nationwide Loy Kratong Festival.
Loy Kratong is scheduled on the full moon night of the 12th month of the traditional Thai lunar calendar (usually November). The festival falls on Nov. 25 this year. Thais float small boats made of banana leaves, laden with candles and incense, in rivers to pay homage to the goddess of water and cleanse their sins.
Chiang Mai has added a tradition of setting lanterns afloat in the evening air to worship Lord Buddha. The lantern festival starts a day earlier and ends a day later.
Chiang Mai airport official Apinya Mahathaiwan told BenarNews on Tuesday that 11 domestic and international airlines had cancelled 102 flights out of fear of possible accidents.
She added that 12 airlines had rescheduled 67 inbound and 67 outbound fights to avoid peak lantern time.
Cooking gas tank powers lanterns
The Chiang Mai province administration has announced that five districts adjacent to the airport are lantern-free zones.
People do not realize the danger posed by flying lanterns because no planes have crashed, but there have been many incidents of lanterns damaging planes that fly into the airport, an airline pilot who asked not to be named told BenarNews.
"I learned of some incidents involving lanterns with light frames hitting a few planes of other airlines, but luckily they didn't get into the engine to cause engine failure," he said.
"I witnessed sizeable, rigid-frame lanterns powered by small picnic gas tanks as I fly by. That can cause a plane crash," he said.
In the old days, lanterns were made from bamboo frames and lit with a small kerosene candle.
Chiang Mai resident Bussaba Sivasomboon said many lanterns are released after 6 p.m. She said that flying lanterns are not only a danger to planes in flight, but also have started fires.
"A few years ago a lantern landed near my home and it burned a tree," she said.


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BENARNEWS- A gaping white space on the front page of the International New York Times greeted readers in Thailand as they picked up Tuesday's print edition.
The newspaper's Thai printer declined to publish an article that painted a dismal picture of Thailand's economy and politics under its military-led government.
"The article in this space was removed by our printer in Thailand. The International New York Times and its editorial staff had no role in its removal," read a notice in the middle of the white space beneath the main front page photo.
A second blank space appeared on an inside page where the article was to have spilled over, according to news reports out of Thailand.
The article, headlined "Thai Economy and Spirits Are Sagging," had been published on Nov. 29 in online versions of the International New York Times, the global version of the award-winning American newspaper.
The piece, among other things, described a climate of fear in Thailand after the generals seized power from a civilian-led government in May 2014. It also touched on the junta's restrictions on press freedoms and an escalation in royal defamation cases under Thailand's lese-majeste law.
"It's sensitive," an official with the Eastern Printing Co., which publishes the International New York Times in Thailand, told the Associated Press.
"The printing company has the right to deny printing articles that touch upon inappropriate issues, according to the contract," the official said.
There was nothing to indicate that the government was involved in the decision to pull the story, AP reported.
Later, the New York Times issued a statement on the missing article, saying it had been notified about the redaction.
"We understand the pressures local publishers sometimes face, but we regret any censorship of our journalism," a spokesperson for the paper said, when reached by BenarNews for comment.
The article was the second New York Times story on Thailand to be censored in recent months. On Sept. 22, a local printer blocked the release of an edition that featured an article on the royal succession, according to the Atlantic magazine.
Last month, the Times also announced that it would stop printing its international editions in Thailand at the end of the year.
"Our decision to stop printing in Thailand was primarily a business one, made because of the rising cost of our print operation in the country," the paper's spokesperson said.


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BENARNEWS- Supporters of the Islamic State in Thailand have posted propaganda videos on the internet -- the first such videos produced by the militant group with Thai subtitles, a senior Thai security official told BenarNews. 

The videos are the latest effort of a Thai group that has been promoting IS ideology for several months on social media accounts, which have gained "thousands of followers" before being shut down, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The Thai propaganda activity indicates that IS has spread its tentacles into Thailand, he said.  IS already has active supporters in neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia.

"As far as I see, the original video is produced by the IS and the Thai subtitles – for the first time, we see such Thai subtitles – were done by the Thailand-based Pulse of the Islamic World," the official said.

"The translator's language proficiency showed he is well-educated in both religion and general knowledge, given his translation from Arabic to Thai. There are links between IS sympathizers inside and out of Thailand," he added.

Nevertheless, there is no evidence that Thai citizens have traveled to Syria or Iraq to join the jihadist group, but authorities are monitoring the movements of IS sympathizers, the source said.

Two videos

One of the videos, a four-minute clip titled "No Respite" with an Arabic voice-over, was posted on YouTube on Nov. 28. It features fast-changing images of IS fighters praying in their combat fatigues or holding up weapons in the war zone in Syria and Iraq, among many other photos. 

"We are true Muslim men who are honored to operate under 'one' flag and are loyal to our mighty God, and here we triumph," an excerpt from the narration says. The video also shows images of world leaders, including U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin, as well as photos of Western forces in the Middle East. 

That video was blocked a day after being posted on YouTube but reappeared on Nov. 30 on a Thai-language Facebook page with the English headline "The Flames of War" – a phrase that also appears on the website of Al Hayat, the media wing of IS.

"From Inside Halab," another Al Hayat-produced propaganda video, appeared on the same Facebook page with Thai subtitles.

It was not immediately clear when IS originally disseminated the videos, and whether these were also produced in other languages.

IS in Southeast Asia

Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country, but has a majority Muslim population in its Deep South region, where a separatist insurgency has raged for at least a decade.

While Thai officials have played down the threat of an IS presence in the country, officials in neighboring Malaysia and Indonesia have been warning about the group's growing influence in recruiting local youths on home soil. 

Pro-IS videos have surfaced online that are clearly targeted toward audiences in those countries. IS has its own Malay-speaking combat unit made up of Indonesian and Malaysian fighters.

IS also publishes propaganda geared for a Malay-speaking audience. In March, the media unit released a video that showed young Southeast Asian boys being trained to use weapons.

And, on Nov. 15, the Straits Times of Singapore reported that some Malaysian militants hiding in the Philippines were looking to start a Southeast Asian chapter of IS, by merging terrorist groups in Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Skepticism

In Thailand, officials and observers voiced skepticism about IS being deeply implanted in the kingdom, compared with the neighboring countries.
"There is no report of Deep South natives joining ISIS," Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, a senior army official, told BenarNews, using another acronym for the group.
Srisompob Jitpiromsri, who directs Deep South Watch, a group that advocates for and monitors peace-building efforts in the southern region, expressed doubt that many Thai Muslims had embraced IS's ideology.
"It reflects the agreement, support and acceptance of IS by Muslim Thais but should be less than five percent of the Muslim population," he told BenarNews, commenting on the "No Respite" video.
"And in this five percent, there are those who live in the Deep South, but, again, they are a small faction and they don't have the clout to lead the thoughts of people, especially those Muslims who don't agree with the IS," Srisompob added.
Doloh Musem, a native of Yala, a province in the Deep South, said he had witnessed a friend talking by phone with a Thai Muslim who was an IS sympathizer based in Bangkok.
"The person talked to my friend with the speaker-phone on, so I could hear how he preached to my friend about IS," Doloh told BenarNews, adding, "You can't deny that there are IS supporters in Thailand."


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BENARNEWS- Signs of Islamic State influence are emerging in Thailand, according to Southeast Asia security experts, amid reports that 10 Syrians linked to the group had entered the kingdom.
"There is a lot of concern about ISIL's presence in Southern Thailand, including by many Thai security officials," Zachary Abuza, a professor at the National War College in Washington D.C. told BenarNews, using another acronym for IS.
While there was no hard evidence that IS has a presence in the country's Muslim majority Deep South, "What I and some colleagues have been seeing, however, is a lot more sharing in social media amongst the Malay of southern Thailand of ISIL propaganda and videos," he added.
Versions of slick IS propaganda videos with Thai subtitles began cropping up on social media earlier this week, and a senior Thai security official confirmed to BenarNews that IS videos with Thai subtitles were unprecedented – and likely had been produced in Thailand.
"By subtitling an IS propaganda video with Thai subtitles, the IS strategy is to influence the Malay community in Thailand, especially in the south of Thailand," said Rohan Gunaratna, who directs the International Center for Political Violence and Terrorism Research at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies in Singapore.
"A tiny minority of Muslims in the south has built an ideological relationship with IS," he added.
According to Thai officials, there is no evidence of Thais having gone to Syria or Iraq to join IS's combat ranks, and there have been no arrests of local supporters of IS.
Threat against Russians in Thailand?
On Friday, however, Thai police confirmed that Russia had warned Thailand that 10 Syrians with links to IS had infiltrated the kingdom sometime between Oct. 15 and 31.
A leaked top secret Thai police document said the 10 named by Russia had traveled to Bangkok or the resort towns of Pattaya and Phuket, according to news reports.
"The document that everyone is asking about is real," Royal Thai Police Gen. Chakthip Chaijinda told reporters, adding that it was routine to submit a follow-up document after receiving a warning.
According to news reports, the Syrians were plotting attacks on Russian interests in Thailand. Russia weeks ago launched an aerial campaign bombing IS targets and rebel forces in Syria.
But police seemed uncertain about whether the IS-linked foreign suspects were still in the country.
"We have no proof if they are here or not," Deputy National Police spokesman Songpol Wattanachai said Friday, according to Agence France-Presse.
Nonetheless, the police department's special branch was to increase security around the embassies of Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Belgium, Germany, Sweden and Australia.
Security specialist: jihadist attack not likely
Late Thursday, at a panel discussion in Bangkok on IS in Southeast Asia, IHS Jane's Defense Weekly security specialist Anthony Davis said the possibility of a jihadist attack in Bangkok was "extremely low" in the foreseeable future.
But, he said, Thailand's standing as a top international destination had transformed it into a "target-rich" magnet for terrorism.
"Basically, the world is here. Tourists from the west, from Russia, from China, from Japan –everybody is here, along with foreign businesses and international organizations," Davis told the gathering at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT).
"Terrorism in Thailand is no longer an abstract issue."
On Aug. 17, 20 people were killed and another 120 wounded in the bombing of the Erawan Shrine – a Bangkok landmark and popular tourist destination – in Thailand's deadliest terrorist act to date.
Southern competition
Security specialists have long watched to see whether a long-simmering insurgency in the Muslim-majority Deep South might be exploited by international terrorist networks.
For years, the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the main separatist group fighting the Thai government in the Deep South – has blocked the spread of transnational jihadist ideology in the region, experts said.
"It is more in the nature of BRN as acting as a bulwark," Davis told the FCCT event.
"BRN, paradoxically, when it comes to jihadist terrorism, is on exactly the same side as the Thai state. Jihadists, for BRN, represent a serious threat to their whole agenda – everything they have been fighting for for decades," he added.
The BRN, according to Abuza, is "the strongest antidote against ISIL."
But he described its aggressive and sophisticated use of social media as a threat to BRN.
"The insurgents are very shadowy and have no social media or public information campaign. Indeed, when they speak to the press or issue a video statement ... they are wooden and dour," he said.
IS propaganda, by contrast, is "incredibly slick, well produced and tailored to the target audience," he said.
"The government thinks it can have it both ways: it can keep out ISIL without making any political concessions to the BRN," he added, alluding to recent efforts by Thailand's junta to reopen formal peace talks with various southern rebel groups and factions.
Gunaratna agreed that IS's appeal in the Deep South is limited because the southern insurgency is rooted in a nationalist cause.
But a growing ideological attraction to the group "may grow into an operational relationship" unless Thailand acts decisively to engage and integrate Malay Muslims into Thailand, he warned.


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BENARNEWS- Recent comments by the new U.S. ambassador at a foreign press club event in Bangkok, during which he challenged lengthy sentences for people convicted of violating Lese-Majeste – Thailand's royal defamation law – have led to a Thai police investigation against him.
The Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand said in a statement Wednesday that it was cooperating with police investigating comments by Ambassador Glyn T. Davies during a speech at the FCCT on Nov. 25.Two days later, Thai citizens protested against Davies outside the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok.
In September, Davies took up his appointment as the envoy from the U.S., one of Thailand's most important allies but that is competing now with geopolitical rival China for influence in Southeast Asia.
Davies told the event at the FCCT last month, "We are also concerned by the lengthy and unprecedented prison sentences handed down by Thai military courts against civilians for violating the Lese-Majeste law," which apparently led to the investigation.
"We believe no one should be jailed for peacefully expressing their views and we strongly support the ability of individuals and independent organizations to research and to report on important issues without fear of retaliation," Glyn said, according to a recording of his speech posted on YouTube.
Davies also praised Thailand's 88-year-old monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej, who is reported to be in frail health and convalescing at a Bangkok hospital.
Diplomatic shield
On Wednesday, the Associated Press quoted police spokesman Maj. Gen. Piyaphan Pingmuang as saying officers were investigating the ambassador's Nov. 25 speech, because they had received a complaint that it violated Lese Majeste.
"Somebody reported it, so they have to check," Piyaphan said, adding police were aware that nothing more could be done against Davies because of diplomatic immunity, according to AP.
Agence France-Presse reported that the police investigation arose from a document detailing a complaint made by a member of the public, which was apparently based on mistranslated quotes of Davies' English speech.
According to the erroneous document, Davies told the audience that Washington would help independent organizations research Lese Majeste "so that they are not afraid."
Nonetheless, the government should not be investigating Davies, Bangkok-based journalist Shawn Crispin told BenarNews.
"The entire tone of the speech was very upbeat and complimentary to the monarchy," said Crispin, Southeast Asia columnist for The Diplomat.
"What happened was a division among the junta who are engaged to the U.S. and those to China by amplifying the Lese-Majeste issue. They have been able to short-circuit the U.S. Ambassador's charm offensive before it began to gain traction."
"The fact that the royalists attached themselves to one statement in the 90-minute presentation that aimed to repair relationship showed how absurd the charges are," Crispin said.
Prosecutions of Thailand's tough royal defamation laws have shot up since a military coup in May 2014 followed a court order forcing then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office. Because Lese Majeste is considered a national security offense, those charged are tried by a military court.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who as a general led the Royal Thai Army coup, has vowed to get rid of critics of the monarchy and has called for stronger prosecution of cases involving royal defamation.
News of the probe into Davies' speech surprised embassy officials.
"We have received a number of inquiries on this topic and are preparing a response in consultation with colleagues in D.C. – the State Department spokesperson was asked about this as well," Melissa Sweeney, the information officer at the embassy in Bangkok, told BenarNews


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BENARNEWS- A former policeman who was in charge of investigating one of Thailand's biggest human trafficking scandals has fled the country to Australia with his family in search of asylum, saying he fears for his life back home.
"I worked in the trafficking area to help human beings who were in trouble," former Thai Police Maj. Gen. Paween Pongsirin told a reporter with the Australian Broadcasting Corp. (ABC).
"I wasn't thinking of a personal benefit, but now it is me who is in trouble. I believe there should be some safe place for me, somewhere on this earth to help me."
Paween told reporters in Australia that influential people in the government, military and police had ordered a stop to the investigation he was heading up.
"Some influential figures were not happy" about warrants issued for the arrests of suspected members of a human trafficking ring, Paween told BBC News.
Nonetheless, some 90 suspected members of a trans-national human trafficking ring, were arrested and charged in the case, including a three-star army general.
The scandal was exposed during a Thai governmental crackdown on illegal immigration that was triggered in May, when the bodies of 32 suspected illegal migrants were discovered at traffickers' camps abandoned in the jungle in Songkhla, near Thailand's border with Malaysia. Southern Thailand has long been a transit point for Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladeshi migrants trying to make it to Malaysia by sea and land.
Thailand launched a simultaneous blockade to prevent more migrants from landing by sea. That action forced loads of human-smuggling boats to sail farther south. Thousands of desperate Rohingyas and Bangladeshis ended up coming ashore in Aceh, Indonesia and Malaysia.
On Dec. 4, Thailand hosted a special meeting in Bangkok on irregular migration in the Indian Ocean. At the meeting, the government called on its Southeast Asian neighbors and Bangladesh to cooperate in preventing such a humanitarian crisis from recurring, now that the rainy season in the region was over and the sailing season was underway again in the ocean and Andaman Sea.
Paween, team charged 153 suspects
Paween was tasked by Thailand's military junta-led government to lead an investigation from a police station in Hat Yai, another district in Songkhla. His team filed charges against 153 suspects, including military officials, police, local government officials and influential businessmen in southern Thailand.
Lt. Gen. Manas Kongpaen, then an adviser to the Royal Thai Army, was one of about 90 who were taken into custody.
Paween told AFP that the arrests were made after his investigation found regular payments of up to $380,000 to accounts of key officials. Manas is accused of being a linchpin, using his local influence to funnel migrants through the south, though he has denied the charges.
Manas' alleged involvement has proven to be an embarrassment to the Thai junta, which seized power last year and declared itself the only institution capable of running a graft-free country, AFP reported.
On Nov. 10, a Bangkok criminal court called for an examination and verification of witnesses and evidence to prepare for an official trial of 88 suspects, the first batch of 91 who will be prosecuted. Paween told the court he was willing to testify even though he had resigned from the police force, effective Dec. 6.
He quit after the National Police Bureau ordered him transferred to a police operations center in Yala province, an area rife with southern insurgents linked to suspects in the trafficking investigation. Fearing retaliation, Paween submitted a letter of resignation on Nov. 5 that was effective earlier this week because he was required to give 30 days' notice.
Paween told reporters that, while in Thailand, family members received intimidating phone calls from government officials.
Now, he is casting doubt about whether other investigators would testify against military officials and influential figures.
"I think the people there now will not be brave enough to continue," he told ABC in Australia. "How can the witnesses believe that they will be protected for any period now?"
A Thai criminal court will examine witnesses and evidence this month and February, as the judicial process continues. The official trial is expected to begin in March and could reach a verdict before the end of 2016, according to a judge.


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BENARNEWS- Kurosamoh Tuwaebersa believes that her husband Abdullayi Dorloh, a suspected insurgent from Thailand's Deep South, was killed while in military custody.
"I am certain he did not die a normal death; that someone caused him to die," the newly widowed Kurosamoh told BenarNews before a military-requested autopsy was done on her husband's body earlier this week.
Abdullayi was found dead in a detention cell at the Inkayuth Army Base in Nong Chik district, Pattani province, where he had been held since Nov. 11.
"The thing I need now is to ask all sides to give us justice. I want to ask that a special investigation panel be set up to find out what really happened, a panel that can be trusted," Kurosamoh said.
The autopsy's results were inconclusive but revealed no signs of physical trauma in Abdullayi's death, military officials said.
"From initial questioning, he awoke for morning prayers at 5:30 a.m. After that, officials saw his body on the ground with a copy of the Quran beside him. That's what we saw," Inkayuth Camp Deputy Commander Col. Theera Daewa told BenarNews.
Abdullayi was arrested on Nov. 11 in Kolor Tanyong, a sub-district of Nong Chik, by two special operations units.
Authorities suspected that Abdullayi, 42, was a "kompi" unit commander in the region's long-running armed separatist movement.
Pattani is one of several provinces in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region. Since 2004, more than 6,000 people have died in the conflict.
Officials said that Abdullayi confessed to having taken a religious oath to the separatist cause. He also was wanted in connection with the killing of a local Muslim cleric, the Thai website Khaosod English reported.
Under martial law, which is in force in the Deep South, government forces can arrest and detain suspects for up to seven days without a warrant. With an emergency decree in effect in much of the region, suspects can be held for up to 30 days without one.
Abdullayi died during his 23rd day in custody.
Inconclusive
The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4 issued a statement announcing Abdullayi's death and inviting his family, representatives of the Pattani Provincial Islamic Council, NGOs and other groups to view his body.
Despite the Islamic tradition of burying a dead person's remains as soon as possible, Abdullayi's 34-year-old widow consented to an autopsy ordered by ISOC at Songklanagarind Hospital in neighboring Songkhla province.
The autopsy's results were released Tuesday but it did not pinpoint a cause of death.
The autopsy found no sign of physical trauma that could have caused death, ISOC spokesman Col. Pramote Promin told reporters.
A 10-point summary of the initial findings showed a lack of blood clotting that would indicate a heart attack. Pupil dilation was inconsistent with poisoning, though it would take a week for the full analysis of blood samples to be completed, Pramote said.
Tiny bloodstains on Abdullayi's chest were to be tested for DNA to determine their origin. Those tests take about a month to complete.
Pramote also said there were no physical indications that Abdullayi had been strangled or assaulted, nor did X-ray images reveal any broken bones. Skin abrasions on the left elbow were likely caused by medical staff while they were transporting his body to Songklanagarind Hospital.
Sleep-deprived prisoners
Kurosamoh told BenarNews that she had received the summary from Songklanagarind Hospital.
"The results follow the military's prediction that he died of natural causes, with no further opinion given," she said.
Previously, she told BenarNews that her husband was arrested at 3 a.m. on Nov. 11.
"He said someone had turned on him, identified him as a suspect. After that, I went to visit him every day.
"My husband told me 'I am so tired I can't take it anymore. I am scared.' I stretched my arm to open his shirt, but he whisked my hand away."
She said her husband told her that officials had many documents. "He said they kept trying to get him to sign them, but he would not."
While her husband did not complain of any direct assault, he said that all detainees were severely deprived of sleep.
"He told me that the officials would call on him late at night for interrogation, with some sessions starting at 1 a.m. and continuing into the following morning. On other days they would start at midnight and last until 10 a.m.," she said.
"They would never finish. None of the people held there ever got to sleep, he said. They were constantly called on to make statements, answer questions. It was the same for everyone held there," she added.
Five in-custody deaths since '07
According to the Cross-Cultural Foundation, a non-governmental organization that monitors incidents related to unrest in the region, Abdullayi was the fifth suspect to die while in custody since 2007.
The others were Ashari Sama-ae, who died in July 2007; Yapa Kaseng, who died in April 2008; Sulaiman Naesa, who died by hanging in May 2010; and army Pvt. Wichian Phuaksom, who died in April 2011.
All were Malay Muslims with the exception of Wichian, a 26-year-old conscript and former Buddhist monk who died of injuries after allegedly being beaten for insubordination during a military training exercise in nearby Narathiwat province.
Abdullayi's case has helped keep a global spotlight on human rights issues in Thailand.
"His relatives came to file a complaint with the Human Rights Commission, saying that authorities had held him for a long time and requesting an investigation at ISOC 4 to clarify what was going on ...," Thai National Human Rights Commissioner Angkhana Neelapaijit told BenarNews.
"I see they are forming a fact-finding committee to try to find out what really happened. ... Whoever has information or evidence should present it to this panel," she said.
Angkhana suggested that safety protocols should be implemented to protect the safety of long-term detainees.
"For those in detention more than 20 days, have they had regular health checkups," she asked.
"When they are in custody, are they continuing to eat or not? If they say they are sick or say they cannot take it anymore, they should have the right to see a doctor – and it should be a doctor they can trust."


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BENARNEWS- Some 300 Buddhist and Muslim residents of Yala's Maung district in the Deep South of Thailand joined with government officials on Monday to pray for peace and denounce violence one day after a bomb hidden in a grave killed a paramilitary ranger.
Ranger Sai Jaedomoh, 38, had joined his father, Aceh Jaedomoh, 63, to pray for the ranger's mother, who died Friday and was buried the same day at Baan Bo Jed Luk mosque's cemetery.
"We just finished chanting the Quran and the bomb went off," Aceh Jaedomoh told BenarNews Monday.
Sai, a member of the 43rd Paramilitary Task Force, was killed instantly.
"My son was at the grave 10 meters away from me. I was sent flying and fell down four meters away. I called Allah's name three times and my son's name three times," he told BenarNews.
"When folks came to my help, I told them to help carry me to check my son, but he had died."
Paramilitary forces are local units armed and trained by the Thai military to defend their communities. An armed insurgency has plagued the Deep South region for more than ten years and claimed more than 6,000 lives.
Out of place
Aceh Jaedomoh said his daughter saw dirt out of place around her mother's tomb on Saturday, so she bought a shovel to clean up around the grave on Sunday.
"Someone planted a bomb at the tomb of Sai's mother's grave and remotely triggered the bomb," he told Benar News.
He blamed Muslims for the attack, but didn't say why.
"I never thought Muslims would choose a sacred place like a cemetery to perpetuate violence. I believe they have no religion. It is impossible the bomb was carried out by Buddhists, it must have been by Muslims," Aceh said.
Sai Jaedomoh's widow Sunsani, a 40-year-old mother of four, said she heard an explosion but thought it was from an intersection nearby, not from where her husband was praying.
"I was shocked, trying to compose myself," she said. "I then rushed to the scene to see my husband's body."
She said she now has to find a job to raise her four children, ages 3 to 19.
Her 10-year-old daughter, Thanchanok, said she would follow her father's dreams for her.
"I love my father. I will be a good person and I will study dentistry as my dad wanted me," she said.
The residents who gathered for prayer on Monday flew a banner that read, "Yala people love each other. Different thoughts are welcome, but not violence."
Clerics led prayers. Also present was Col. Terdsak Ngamsanong, deputy commander of the Yala Task Force.
"Thank everyone for mourning the dead and condolences to the family. And thank you for denouncing violence," he told the crowd.
"We are not here to fight anyone, we have no foes. We are here to protect people. The late paramilitary ranger was also here to perform his duty of protecting people."


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BENARNEWS- The Thai junta chief voiced agreement about the importance of restoring Thailand to civilian-led democratic rule, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State Daniel Russel said Wednesday after meeting in Bangkok with Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha.
Russel paid a courtesy call to Prayuth before participating in the first U.S.-Thai strategic talks since 2012, and the fifth such bilateral meeting between the long-standing allies.
"He created an opportunity ... for me to engage and share directly with him our hopes, our goals and our concerns with regard to the political situation in Thailand and the prospect of rolling U.S.-Thai cooperation," Russel, the assistant secretary of state for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, told a news conference.
He was referring to the prime minister and retired army general who heads the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – the junta's official name.
"There are a number of issues that we may not come to agreement on," he said during a joint news conference with Thai Permanent Secretary Apichart Chinwanno, which followed their six-hour meeting on bilateral relations.
But, Russel added, "One thing that we do agree on is the importance of the Thai people charting a path to a stable, secure future [that] leads to civilian-led democratic government."
Old friends
Relations between the two countries date back 182 years, but have been tested since the Thai military seized power from the civilian-led government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in May 2014.
The junta initially promised to restore civilian rule through elections within 18 months, but has since twice announced that it was postponing elections. Now, a general election can take place in mid-2017 at the earliest.
The junta, meanwhile, has cracked down on free speech and ratcheted up arrests of people from all walks of life who are accused of violating the country's strict royal defamation law known as Lese-Majeste. The latest case involves a Thai accused of insulting the king's dog through a Facebook posting, according to news reports.
For Russel, the visit was his second since the junta took power. In January, the top American diplomat in the region roiled Thai officials by meeting with the deposed Yingluck and expressing his government's concerns "about the significant restraints on freedoms since the coup."
"The human rights that the United States and others advocate for are not Thai specific. They are not American specific. They are universal rights. These are freedoms all people seek and all people deserve," Russel told reporters Wednesday.
"And that is our ... wish, that the wishes and rights of the citizens of the kingdom of Thailand are ultimately realized in a combination of stable, democratic, civilian-led government," he added.
Geopolitical stakes
During the fifth U.S.-Thai strategic dialogue, Russel and his Thai counterpart Apichart discussed a broad range of bilateral issues, including health, science technology, economic, military, and the issue of over-flight rights above the South China Sea.
The meeting unfolded amid efforts by the U.S. to reassert its diplomatic and military sway in the region through a so-called strategic pivot. Yet Washington finds itself vying with Beijing for influence in Southeast Asia, and tensions have arisen between China and other countries in the region over its maritime and territorial claims in the South China Sea, according to reports.
"The United States is a friend of Thailand. We stand with the Thai people. We stand with the Thai nation. We want to see Thailand unified, stable, secured, prospered and influential. Thailand has important roles both in the region and on international stage," Russel said.
Apichart agreed.
"As the oldest U.S. ally in Asia, Thailand has an important role to play in upholding and building regional peace, security and stability. And the U.S.-Thai alliance is a key pillar in doing that," Apichart told the news conference.


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BENARNEWS- The family of a fugitive insurgent suspect plans to appeal a court ruling that their school and land be seized based on confessions that the facility had been used to conduct weapons training for militants.
Doonloh Wae-mano, the school's former headmaster, fled to neighboring Malaysia 10 years ago when officials suspected that the school conducted weapons training for young insurgents. He was also the deputy leader of a military training unit for the Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the most active separatist group in Thailand's Muslim-majority Deep South region.
Yawahee Wae-mano, wife of the fugitive, told BenarNews about her plan to challenge the court ruling.
She said it was unfair because her husband never owned the seized land. It had belonged to her father who started the school in 1968 to educate poor Muslims in the area. He transferred the land rights to his children as he aged.
Following their marriage, her husband served as headmaster and oversaw school activities, she said.
"Now that my father has passed away, the land should pass on to the rightful heirs. These are, namely, myself, Faridah Jehma, Hameeya Salehman, Adernan Jehasae and AbDoonloh Jehasae, all of whom are sisters and brothers and whose names are listed on the title deed for the land," she said. Her husband has no claim.
"I still have more than 20 days to file an appeal. Now I am consulting with my fellow family members to decide what we should do next," she added.
On Dec. 15, the court ordered that a deed for more than 5.5 acres of land be voided and the property reverted to state ownership. The court ruled that the school had been active in the anti-government unrest since early 2004 and cited the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 1999, which stipulates that property used to support terrorism be returned to the state.
After the verdict, the court referred the case back to the public prosecutor's office for consideration as required under the law.
"After such a ruling, there is likely to be a backlash from insurgents. I expect they are planning some violent reprisals as a response. For this reason, security forces in the southern provinces should be on high alert at this time," a source in a local state intelligence unit told BenarNews.
The complaint filed by the public prosecutor in 2013 claimed that two men arrested in 2004 who confessed to being BRN commandos said they were sent to the school for military training as part of Runda Kumpulan Kecil (RKK) cells.
The pair also identified Ismaair "Ji-Ae" Maseng as a training supervisor and Wae-mano, also known as "Pohsuloh," as the school headmaster.
Banyan Wae-mano, a son, said: "Before this happened, I always sat and wondered what I would do if they really did seize our land. Since I got the news two days ago, I haven't been able to sleep.
"I feel sorry for my maternal grandmother," Banyan Wae-mano said. "She fell sick as soon as she heard the news."
Charges filed against 36 in network
On March 16, sources in the Thai intelligence community revealed to BenarNews that Wae-mano, 60, was the deputy leader of the BRN's military training branch known as the Dewan Pimpinan Parti (DPP).
At that time, he was known to be living in exile in Kelantan, the Malaysian state that borders the southern Thai province of Narathiwat. He fled Thailand in May 2005, after government forces surrounded the Jihad Witaya School and closed it down.
He continued to maintain operational control over active separatist units in the area that struck at economic targets in the region, the source said at that time.
Between March 4, 2004 and March 4, 2008, the state filed charges of instigating unrest against Wae-mano and 35 members of his network.  The public prosecutor forwarded all cases to Pattani Provincial Court, where they are under consideration.
In addition, the Department of Special Investigations has charged Wae-mano and 10 others with conspiracy to stage a rebellion for incidents that took place in Narathiwat, Yala and Pattani from Jan. 4, 2004, to Jan. 30, 2006.


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BENARNEWS- Human rights advocates on Wednesday condemned a Thai Supreme Court decision upholding a webmaster's conviction for failing to remove online comments seen as offensive to Thailand's royals quickly enough.
London-based Amnesty International called on the court to reverse its ruling in the case of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, web editor of the Thai news portal Prachatai, who now faces eight months in prison.
A lower court convicted Chiranuch in 2012 under Thailand's Computer Crimes Act. The Supreme Court's failure to overturn that ruling is the latest blow to freedom of speech in the junta-ruled kingdom, Amnesty said.
"This is a chilling verdict that clearly shows the authorities' fear of allowing free speech online, and their desire to scare the media from both airing and facilitating political opinions," Philip Luther, Amnesty International's acting senior research director, said in a statement.
"Chiranuch should never have had to face trial at all– the 'offending' comments responsible should not be prohibited in the first place, let alone when they are posted by someone else," he added.
The Supreme Court upheld Chiranuch's eight-month prison sentence – which had been suspended for a year – and a fine of 20,000 baht (U.S. $555), the Associated Press reported.
Watch what you say
Although the Prachatai webmaster was convicted in 2012 for computer crimes, Thailand has seen a sharp rise in royal defamation cases prosecuted under its infamous Lese-Majeste law since the military seized power in May 2014.
People from all walks of society have been charged and prosecuted for speech deemed as insulting to the Thai monarchy.
On Dec. 14, a Thai man, Thanakorn Siripaiboon, was charged under Lese-Majeste for posting images and comments on Facebook that were seen as mocking the king's dog.
The junta has also cracked down on its critics in the media by detaining journalists and activists for so-called "attitude adjustment" sessions that can last up to a week.
After being subjected to one of these sessions in September, which lasted a few days, Thai journalist Pravit Rojanaphruk resigned from his job as senior reporter and columnist for The Nation newspaper.
'Chokehold'
Sunai Phasuk, a Bangkok-based researcher for Human Rights Watch, described Chiranuch's conviction as "tightening a chokehold on freedom of expression."
"More and more web moderators and Internet service providers will censor discussions about the monarchy out of fear they too may be prosecuted for other people's comments," Sunai told Agence-France Presse.
According to AP, Chiranuch had faced as many as 20 years in prison under the computer crimes law for failing to remove 10 comments posted by readers on the Prachatai site. She was convicted in May 2012 for one comment that stayed online for 20 days.
The lower court found that Chiranuch had not personally violated Lese-Majeste, because a third party had posted the online comment. But it convicted for taking 20 days to remove that one comment, according to AFP.
"I am disappointed with the verdict and I think the interpretation of the law has pushed a burden onto service operations," Chiranuch, who was awarded the Courage in Journalism Award in 2011 by the International Women's Media Foundation, told AFP.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's top two leaders said Monday they lacked the authority to sway a Thai court's ruling that sentenced two migrant workers from Myanmar to death for murdering a pair of British backpackers on a southern island in September 2014.
Responding to demands from Myanmar officials that the case be reviewed, Thailand's prime minister and deputy prime minister both defended the court's decision, saying the government would respect the Thai judiciary and the ruling.
The Dec. 24 sentencing by the Koh Samui provincial court in the highly charged case has sparked demonstrations in neighboring Myanmar. Protestors say the investigation against defendants Zaw Lin and Win Zaw Htun (also known as Wai Phyo) was flawed and they did not receive a fair trial.
Both men were convicted of killing Briton David Miller, 24, as well as raping and killing compatriot Hannah Witheridge, 23, last year on Koh Tao island, a popular Thai tourist destination. The victims' bludgeoned bodies were found on a local beach, reports said.
"Myanmar requested a fair trial in line with the judicial system. But to answer whether we can cancel the trial, why don't you media just tell them [it is impossible?]," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told reporters.
"They have the right to appeal, right? Laws all over the world have this. Or should Thai law not have this? Is it the case that we should release all people when pressured?" Agence France-Presse quoted Prayuth as saying.
Separately, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan, told reporters that the two defendants had the right to appeal their sentences.
"The verdict was read and I wonder how we can review the case. There will be an appeal process and fresh evidence can be submitted for consideration," Prawit said.
"Why do they need a review [of the] case? Doing so just means that our judicial system is incompetent," he added.
The prime minister and deputy PM came out with their comments a day after Min Aung Hliang, supreme commander of Myanmar's military, called on Thailand to review the double-murder case.
"The commander expressed his respect for Thailand's judicial process while stressing the need to avoid a situation in which the innocent ... were wrongly punished," the state-run Global New Light of Myanmar reported on Sunday.
Evidence questioned
Meanwhile, lawyer Nakhon Chomphuchat, who led a seven-member defense team, said they planned to appeal the verdict and sentence for both Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo within 30 days.
"We are preparing an appeal and will file it as soon as we are ready," he told BenarNews in a phone interview.
There were flaws in the process that led to his clients' trial and conviction, Nakhon said.
He cited as examples alleged confessions made by the suspects without any of their lawyers being present and problems with how police collected DNA from Witheridge's body.
The DNA from the slain woman did not match the suspects' DNA, Nakhon said.
"The court overruled the defendants' torture claim," he said, adding, "The collection of DNA was not in line with international standards either."
Young backpackers assailed
According to police, the two migrants from Myanmar who worked on Koh Tao, used a garden hoe to attack Miller. They drowned him before raping and killing Witheridge, former National Police Chief Gen. Somyos Poompanmuang said in October 2014.
Police identified Zaw Lin and Wai Phyo from images captured on a closed-circuit camera at a bar nearby the murder scene.
According to reports, Wai Phyo confessed to his alleged part in killing the Britons, but later recanted his statement saying that police extracted a confession from him through torture.
David Miller's family members say they are convinced that the Koh Samui Provincial Court convicted the right men.
"I've listened carefully to all the evidence, and despite what their lawyer says, this is our opinion that the evidence against Wai Phyo and Zaw Lin is absolutely overwhelming," Miller's brother, Michael, said on Thursday, after the court delivered the verdict and sentence.
"They raped to satisfy their selfish desire and murdered to cover up that fact, they showed no remorse during the trial," he added. "We believed the correct verdict has been reached."


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a lower court's acquittal of five police officers on charges related to the disappearance in Bangkok of a lawyer from the restive Deep South region 11 years ago.
The evidence presented in the case of the March 2004 disappearance of attorney Somchai Neelapaijit was not credible enough to convict the five defendants, the supreme court ruled.
"I felt [it was] unjust," Angkhana Neelapaijit, Somchai's wife told BenarNews after the ruling, criticizing police for submitting "weak evidence to the courts."
"As a relative of the victim, we felt hopeless in the Thai judiciary," she said.
In June 2004, a criminal court indicted the five men, who worked for Royal Thai Police's crime suppression division, on charges of robbing and assaulting the lawyer, instead of kidnapping him.
One defendant was sentenced in 2006. Police Maj. Ngern Thongsuk later disappeared in a stream in Pitsanuloke province while out on bail, according to relatives who filed a formal police report.
In March 2011, an appeals court acquitted all five defendants, including Ngern, citing unreliable and conflicting testimony from witnesses.
The chief evidence that the Supreme Court considered on Tuesday were records of 75 mobile phone calls made between police officers from the morning till the evening of March 12, 2004, the day Somchai vanished.
The callers were alleged to have coordinated efforts to stalk and kidnap Somchai.
"The evidence was not credible. Even with the logs showing 75 phone calls, the plaintiffs cannot confirm there was a stalking. It is unfounded claim," the verdict stated.
"The forensics on lawyer Somchai's car showed no palm prints, hair or blood trace (of suspects), the court is in disagreement with the plaintiffs and upholds the appeal court ruling," the judges found.
Last seen on Bangkok street
A former chairman of the Muslim Attorney Center Foundation, Somchai had been handling a lawsuit against police on behalf of five Muslim suspects in a criminal case that originated in the predominantly Muslim Deep South in 2004.
Those suspects were charged with secession, treason and looting a military barracks in Narathiwat province in January 2004. The incident was a turning point in a decades-long insurgency by southern separatists in which more than 6,000 people have been killed since 2004.
Somchai's clients claimed that interrogators had tortured them to confess while they were in police custody in Bangkok.
Somchai was last seen on Ramkhamhaeng Road on the evening of March 12, 2004, and is presumed dead. His body was never found.
Witnesses said they saw two cars on a street side and spotted four to five men forcing a man, who screamed for help, into one of the vehicles before they drove off. Somchai's car was left at a bus terminal in Bangkok.
Long quest for justice
Angkhana, who has sought justice for more than 11 years, believes her husband was kidnapped and murdered.
She and her four daughters helped push for an appeal of the acquittal, but this was dismissed by the appellate court, and later by the supreme court. The courts ruled that the plaintiffs had no proof that Somchai was injured or dead, and could not act on his own to lodge an appeal.
"I feel sorry and disappointed. I didn't think the court did not consider the obvious facts," Angkhana told reporters. "We didn't have a medical certificate or death certificate to show the court, but it is an obvious fact."
Sam Zarifi, director of the Asia-Pacific section of the International Commission of Jurists, who was in the courtroom on Tuesday, backed Angkhana's argument.
"Several Thai prime ministers and Thai officials have already said ... they believed that Somchai Neelapaijit was murdered," he said.
Angkhana, who recently joined the National Human Rights Commission, said the case of Somchai, among others, was an example of an enforced disappearance.
In March, she sought a separate investigation by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) but it has made little or no progress in the case, she said.
"The DSI is taking care of the case, but it focuses too much on trying to find the body and it cannot find it. The DSI should investigate the case as a murder case," she told BenarNews.


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BENARNEWS- Anusorn Unno is a Thai academic on a mission to protect the sanctity of the university as a place where young people and intellectuals can thrive in a climate of free speech and free thought.
Anusorn and some of his fellow academics are trying to do this against a backdrop of fear in the nation after the Thai military toppled a civilian-led government last year.
People from all walks of life now are afraid to speak their minds. Since it seized power in May 2014, the National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO), as the junta is known, has clamped down on free speech and gone after journalists and critics of its rule, among others.
In April, the junta declared absolute power for itself by invoking Article 44 of the interim constitution. That gives the military the power to enforce sweeping powers over civilians, human rights groups have warned.
The authorities now have the power to arrest groups of five or more people who take part in anti-government protests. Students have been arrested under Article 44 for taking part in such activities.
Anusorn and his colleagues hope to change that. The assistant professor of anthropology at Bangkok's Thammasat University and dean of its Faculty of Sociology and Anthropology coordinates a group of fellow academics – or ajarn, as they are known in Thai – that calls itself the Thai Academics for Civil Rights.
Its mission, he says, is to champion the right of students and academics in Thailand to express themselves freely. In an interview with BenarNews, conducted via email, he elaborated on how academic freedom has come under threat since the generals took over his country's leadership.
BN: What is the aim of the Academic Network for Detained Students?
Anusorn: The group was "officially" formed on June 30, 2015 ... to provide help and support for students detained for "political gatherings" under the military regime.
[Our] first statement demanded that the students be released immediately and unconditionally.
BN: You recently led an effort among university lecturers for a petition asking the government to end suppression of academic freedom and independence. What has been the impact of this?
Anusorn: There was no change in the government's policy regarding this. [Thai Prime Minister] Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha gave an interview ... and said he could not guarantee safety for university lecturers if someone disagreed with them and shot or bombed them. ...
BN: Why is the military government concerned about what goes on at universities, in your view?
Anusorn: It is primarily because "university" is a place that the military government is unable to put under control totally.
Or, to put it in Althusser's words, the university is not a place that the military government can use as an ideological state apparatus like schools and other institutions.
On the contrary, it is a place where resistance takes place. On the one hand, the university is a place where thinking and criticism are encouraged. Hence, a threat to any attempt to monopolize truth.
On the other hand, it is a place where people (in this case students) get together and do activities other than study (without being specifically recruited and organized). It is almost impossible for the government to monitor all activities at universities.
BN: Has the junta's challenge to academic freedom been widely implemented or focused on only a few universities?  Which universities have been targeted, and why?
Anusorn: The challenge has taken place nationwide. The difference is that small universities in the provinces are more likely to be threatened than the major ones in Bangkok.
This is about power relations; major universities in Bangkok – given their size, histories, and being in the spotlight – have more bargaining power than small ones in the provinces.
BN: Has the government sent people to sit in on any classes, asked for any classes to be shut down, or have ajarn been asked to alter their teaching?
Anusorn: So far, the government has not sent its people to sit in on regular classes.
Soldiers and policemen came when students and academics held seminars and activities deemed politically dangerous. In addition, they demanded that the organizers get their permission first.
However, there has been an attempt to intervene in the curriculum by adding some courses such as "the military and development" to general education courses in some universities.
BN: Will ajarn censor themselves, and will that affect the quality of teaching at Thai universities? Do you think that ajarn will have to start to publishing their work abroad?
Anusorn: Yes, many academics will censor themselves to some extent when it comes to politics, and this will definitely affect the quality of teaching in Thai universities, especially in social sciences and humanities.
However, what is worse is that many – or perhaps more than half of university lecturers – still believe in and trust the military government in its protection of the nation, especially the monarchy.
But this is not a major cause for Thai academics to publish their work abroad; an additional one maybe.
BN: What is next in your efforts on behalf of academic freedom and detained students?
Anusorn: ... We changed the group's name from Academic Network for Detained Students to Thai Academics For Civil Rights to be in line with changing situations and our missions.
In other words, it is not only academic freedom that we protect but also freedom of expression in general.
Also, it is not only detained students that we provide help and support for, but also Thai citizens in general who face legal charges for expressing political viewpoints and launching political actions.


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BENARNEWS- Fadia Sulong is too young to remember her father.
"I never knew my father at all. My grand-mom sometimes shows me pictures of him," the 8-year-old girl from the restive southern Thai province of Yala told BenarNews.
"She says he died because he was shot when I was 13 days old. He went out to buy some beef for my mother to eat, but he got shot," Fadia said of her father who was killed in January 2008.
He is one of 6,543 people who lost their lives in violence related to a separatist insurgency, which has raged in Yala and other parts of Thailand's predominantly Muslim far south since 2004, according to Deep South Watch, a local NGO.
Indiscriminate violence from the conflict and the death toll have also left some 6,000 children orphaned and 3,000 women widowed, according to the Southern Women's Peace Network to Stop Violence, another NGO in the region.
Monday marked the 12th anniversary of a rebel attack on a Thai army depot that is widely seen as a watershed moment in the long-running conflict.
"The unrest that has taken place in the southern border provinces for more than a decade has affected the lives of everyone in the region. No party or group has been spared, regardless of religious or traditional beliefs, gender, age, occupation, social standing or education levels," Network chairwoman Rosida Pusu told BenarNews.
"A worrying aspect is how women and children are falling victim to the violence and unrest, directly so in many cases. It is also causing both women and orphaned children to face isolation in society because there is insufficient foster care," Pusu added.
'I sometimes get to see my mother'
In the case of Fadia and her 11-year-old brother, Fadel, their father's killing had an even bigger impact on the family. It forced their mother to leave them in their grandmother's care in order to find work outside their village.
The siblings hardly see their mother, Yamae-ah Manahing.
"I sometimes get to see my mother when she comes home for a visit," Fadia said.
"My grand-mom tells us that my mom can't stay with us because she has to go away and work to make money so we can go to school and buy food. As soon as she saves up a lot of money, she will come back to live with us, but until that day we must be patient," the little girl said.
The children live with their grandmother, Waemeenoh Samoh, in a wood-and-concrete dwelling in Yaha, a district of Yala.
The children's father was working as an oxen breeder under contract with the army's 42nd Mobile Development Unit in Yaha, when he was shot on Jan. 9, 2008, Samoh told BenarNews.
After he was killed, her daughter had no choice but to seek employment elsewhere, Samoh said. She now works in a dangerous area that makes it hard for her to commute to or from work, or visit Fadia and Fadel often.
"She is still deeply saddened," Samoh, 73, said of her granddaughter. "She misses her mother who has had to leave her to go off and find work and who can only come back to visit her family once in a long while."
The family, however, has benefited from financial help from the Thai government, which grants subsidies to families who have lost members to the violence in the Deep South.
The subsidies are part of an estimated 206 billion baht (U.S. $5.7 billion) spent by the government in the region, according to Deep South Watch.
"Our family was given more than 500,000 baht (U.S. $13,800) in compensation," Samoh said. "The children's mom used this to build a house and to pay for both children's education over the past six years since their father died."
Samoh helps her grandchildren with their homework, and feeds and dresses them.
"I think we are at least fortunate that we can provide a stable home for them. At least we have a roof over our heads to protect us when the rains come, unlike some people who have it a lot worse than we do," she told BenarNews.
'We can still provide for her'
Many other children have lost both parents to the violence in the Deep South.
One of the orphans, Sripassorn "Wanmai" Chuaysen, lost her father and mother when she was just two months old.
Her parents were killed on Oct. 8, 2012, when gunmen opened fire on the local branch of the Office of the Rubber Replanting Aid Fund in Khok Pho district, Pattani province.
Wanmai, whose nickname means "New Day," now lives with her maternal grandfather, Uthit Saengthong, in the provincial capital.
"After the incident, Wanmai was sent to the Child and Family Shelter in Pattani for more than two weeks, because there was nobody left to take care of her after her parents died. After that, relatives on her father's side took her in for two years," Uthit told BenarNews.
"But later, when I saw the state she was in, I felt terrible and decided to take care of her myself. Even though my family is poor, we can still provide for her," he said.


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BENARNEWS- In demanding that Thailand outlaw so-called "enforced disappearances" and fully probe the cases of 82 missing people, the U.N.'s human rights chief Wednesday highlighted the case of a lawyer from the country's restive Deep South who vanished 12 years ago.
U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein called on the Thai government to pass a law that would prohibit such disappearances, as well as undertake "decisive and sustained efforts" in investigating the cases of the 82 who disappeared nationwide since 1980.
"All of the families of those who have disappeared have the right to know the truth regarding the disappearance of their kin, as well as any progress and the results of investigations," Zeid said in a statement issued from his office in Geneva.
The high commissioner in particular criticized the Thai Supreme Court's acquittal on Dec. 29, 2015, of five police officers who had been implicated in the abduction of lawyer Somchai Neelapaijit from a Bangkok street on March 12, 2004. The court ruled that the evidence against the defendants was too weak.
Somchai was never seen again. He was representing five Muslim men from the Deep South who had been arrested under martial law and who alleged that their military interrogators had tortured them.  The five were accused of being separatists who had looted a military barracks.
In commenting on the outcome in that case, Zeid said the Thai judiciary had failed to consider a civil court's declaration that Somchai had gone missing and important evidence had also not been examined, according to a press release from the high commissioner's office.
"The judiciary's role is not only to interpret laws and procedures but also to protect and defend their citizens' rights. The Supreme Court of Thailand missed an opportunity to protect the rights of the victims to truth, justice and redress in cases of involuntary and enforced disappearance," Zeid said.
Although Thai officials have vowed to do something about alleged human rights violations, enforced disappearances in Thailand are still a serious problem, his office said.
"The Thai authorities have a responsibility to ensure victims get all the help they need in finding their loved ones, to ensure the fair prosecution and punishment of perpetrators, and to commit to stamping out the deplorable act of enforced disappearances," Zeid added.
No law
Because Thailand's has no law criminalizing enforced disappearances, the five men implicated in Somchai's abduction were tried in 2004 for robbery and assault.
In 2006, the U.N. General Assembly adopted the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance, which went into effect in 2010.
So far, 51 countries have ratified the convention. Thailand signed it in January 2012, but has yet to ratify it.
Police Maj. Ngern Thongsuk, one of the men charged with robbing and assaulting Somchai, was sentenced in 2006. Ngern later disappeared in a stream in Pitsanuloke province while out on bail, according to relatives who filed a formal police report.
In March 2011, an appeals court acquitted all five defendants, including Ngern, citing unreliable and conflicting testimony from witnesses.
Angkhana Neelapaijit, Somchai's wife, told BenarNews on Wednesday that she had petitioned the Department of Special Investigation, to reinvestigate her husband's case in March 2015.
"DSI officials said they would contact witnesses for clue and would discuss with me when they could establish sufficient evidence," said Angkhana, a member of Thailand's National Human Rights Commission.


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BENARNEWS- The death toll from the insurgency in Thailand's Deep South last year was at its lowest since 2004, but the killings won't end unless the government is serious about pursuing peace talks, says the head of an NGO that published those numbers.
"The government's long-term efforts to solve the problem must include a serious push for a peace dialogue," Deep South Watch Director Srisompob Jitpiromsri told BenarNews. "At the same time, it must make justice prevail in the Deep South. It must guarantee fair justice in order to regain peace."
"Though the situation gets better, there still are problems of rights abuse and torture," he added. "The government must prevent those from happening to solve the problems for good."
On Monday, Deep South Watch published statistics showing that the death toll fell to 246 in 2015, an all-time low during the previous 11 years of the separatist conflict in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region. The number of people injured in related violence, 544, also represented a record-low since 2004.
According to DSW, 6,543 people have been killed and 11,919 injured since Jan. 4, 2004, a date that marked a watershed moment in the Deep South's long-running conflict.
For violence in the region to cease altogether, Thailand's military-controlled government must listen carefully to demands made by MARA Patani, Srisompob said.
MARA is an umbrella group that has been representing various southern rebel groups and factions as a united front in back-door negotiations with Thai officials since last year. The efforts have been aimed at resuming formal peace talks with Thailand for the first time since December 2013, when a civilian-led government was in power in Bangkok.
According to Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, the secretary of Thailand's negotiating team, the Thai side has considered all of the rebels demands, including placing the issue of peace talks on the national agenda and guaranteeing immunity from prosecution for members of the MARA Patani delegation.
"We need to look at the pros and cons and consequences if we agree to certain conditions," Nakrob told BenarNews.
The junta has also implemented policies to improve the criminal justice system in the far south, he said.
"We have revised the judicial system in the south to make it more efficient and to allow all to have access to it. We did this in line with the peace-talk process because we know it is a significant issue," Nakrob said in a phone interview.
"Justice for all is part of our three proposals. If they accept this, we can work together. At the moment, they haven't accepted ours – the proposal on justice for all," he said of MARA Patani.
Education will help curb violence: academic
The number of fatalities and injuries from regional violence were relatively low in 2015 because of a combination of efforts by and cooperation among governmental agencies, civil society groups and religious figures, according to Sombat Yothathip, an assistant professor at Yala Rajabhat University.
"Everyone involved felt that the longer the problem exists, the more it would hurt education, social issues, economy and religion. Therefore, all parties joined hands to denounce violence, and those responsible for violence would be shunned," he told BenarNews.
"Everyone in Deep South wants peace. And the solution to the problem is giving individuals education. When they are educated, they will have logic and reasoning. Problems will subside and peaceful Deep South is not out of reach," he added. "The trend will be better."
'Not peaceful yet'
Some residents of the Deep South, however, were not impressed by the statistics.
Despite the reduction in violence, life is still a hardship for people in the region, said Yala province resident Isma-ae Awae-lo.
"If you genuinely ask locals like me, I would sincerely say that the situation is not peaceful yet," he told BenarNews. "Peace in locals' definition is not only about subsided violence, but it means we can live a normal life."


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BENARNEWS- Thailand is facing rising discontent among rubber farmers devastated by a plunge in the price of the commodity, one of the kingdom's top exports.
Rubbers farmers in 17 provinces in the south – the major base for the country's production of natural rubber –plan to rally on Tuesday to demand more action and a swifter response to their plight from the Thai government.
Farmers are growing desperate.
At least two of them have taken their own lives, according to reports. On Thursday, a photo of a farmer who had hanged himself circulated on social media and Thai news reports.
"How many people have died already because of the slump? The government doesn't care about how many die," Roya Sela, a rubber farmer in Pattani province, told BenarNews.
But Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, who earlier pledged financial assistance to rubber farmers and tappers spread out across 56 of Thailand's 77 provinces, says the government has done plenty to help them.
Last week, he threatened legal action against farmers who joined the upcoming rallies.
"Come on out. Come on out and be sued but I continue to perform my duty," Prayuth told a news conference in Bangkok, referring to Tuesday's planned protests by rubber farmers.
"We have officials to talk with them. There is no need to rally because they won't get what they seek," Prayuth said in rejecting farmers' demands for more governmental subsidies needed to offset low prices for rubber.
Meanwhile, Thai Federation of Rubber Farmers president Boonsong Nubthong told BenarNews that it had applied for a permit to rally on Tuesday at the Hat Yai rubber market in Songkhla province, a southern hub for rubber production in Thailand, but was still waiting for a reply.
The federation intends at the rally to call on authorities to intervene urgently to prevent prices from dropping farther and speed up the process of compensating farmers financially, among other demands, Boonsong said.
Farmers have complained that compensation payments have been slow to reach them or that these have been delayed by complex bureaucratic steps requiring that claimants meet stringent criteria, such as proof of land deeds, according to sources.
On Saturday, The Nation newspaper reported that political office holders in affected provinces were backing away from taking an active role in organizing the rallies, because of the prime minister's warning about possible legal consequences.
Under Article 44 of Thailand's interim constitution, which the junta invoked last year, authorities can arrest citizens taking part in demonstrations or public gatherings that number five people or more.
Under a dollar per kilo
Thailand is the world's No. 1 exporter of natural rubber, but prices for Thai rubber have dropped sharply on the international market in recent years. The industry employs two million people in the kingdom, including many migrant workers, according to the Rubber Research Institute of Thailand.
A bloated oversupply of natural rubber produced in Thailand and increased demand for petroleum-based synthetic rubber have contributed along with other factors to falling prices.
The price for natural rubber from Thailand has plummeted since 2011. Five years ago, sheets of ribbed rubber sold for 174 baht (U.S. $4.78) per kilo. Now they sell for 34 baht (93 cents) a kilo, according to statistics from the institute.
In November, the government approved a 12.75-billion baht (U.S. $350.6 million-) package of subsidies for rubber farmers to compensate them for lost income. Last month, the Thai junta also agreed to provide the struggling farmers with 5.05 billion baht (U.S. $139 million) in loans.
"I will give sustainable assistance, which means they need to cooperate with me to reform the rubber farming," Prayuth told reporters on Thursday.
The subsidy package approved in November breaks down to payments to farmers of 1,500 baht (U.S. $41) per rai, a Thai land measurement unit, and the payments are capped at 15 rai for every farmer or landowner who puts in a claim. One acre equals 2.53 rai.
At the news conference, the prime minister said the government could only limit its compensation for farmers at that rate.
"The money used to compensate is tax payers' money. If we spend it on a certain group of citizens, others will ask for this and that too," Prayuth said, adding, "The remedy of 1,500 baht per rai is the right solution."
The prime minister addressed the media only a week after traveling to Surat Thani province in the south, where he handed out compensation payments to some 20 rubber farmers.
From there, he traveled on to Hat Yai where he inaugurated the first phase of Rubber City, an industrial estate being built to promote investment in the southern rubber sector.
Cutting down, selling trees to get by
Hat Yai lies just outside Thailand's restive borderland region known as the Deep South.
The largely Malay-speaking and Muslim region encompasses four districts of Songkhla and the provinces of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala, where a separatist conflict has claimed the lives of at least 6,000 people since 2004.
The Deep South is impoverished and the rubber industry is a pillar of its economy. But the security threat from insurgent activity compounds the economic woes of local rubber farmers.
Rubber farming normally is done at night, when cooler temperatures are optimal for tapping sap from rubber trees.
Fears of night-time insurgent activity, however, have scared many farmers into tapping for sap in daylight. The end result, farmers say, is a rubber of poorer quality that won't sell as well.
Farmer Goseng Wae-kaseng, a father of five, owns a small rubber plantation in Yala province that occupies 5 rai (1.9 acres).
As a result of low prices for his product, his daily income is down to 400 baht (U.S. $11), he said.
The hardship has caused his two oldest children, sons aged 17 and 20, to migrate to neighboring Malaysia in search of jobs.
"Three children remain in school. Don't ask me if I earn enough for them," he told BenarNews.
"If I cannot find money on certain days, I have to cut down rubber trees and sell them to make do. I have cut down trees seven times already – five trees each time to make a thousand baht [U.S. $27.50]," he added.
"I want to find additional job, but there is none."


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BENARNEWS- The Thai junta chief on Tuesday briefed the visiting head of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) about government efforts to bring peace to Thailand's Deep South, but warned that rebel groups should be sincere about pursuing talks to settle the conflict.
"Listen to us some. If they are sincere and help solve the problem with progress, they will get all of their demands," Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told a news conference in Bangkok before meeting OIC Secretary-General Iyad Ameen Madani.
Prayuth was referring to MARA Patani, an umbrella body that has been representing southern insurgency groups and factions in recent back-door efforts aimed at reopening formal peace talks with Thailand, which stalled in December 2013 when a civilian-led government was in power.
"We haven't accepted any proposals. Everything is sensitive," said Prayuth, who rarely has spoken in public about the junta's efforts to get the rebels from the predominantly Muslim Deep South to the negotiations table, as he responded to a question from a BenarNews reporter.
After the prime minister's meeting with Madani, a spokesman for the junta issued a statement saying Prayuth told the OIC secretary-general that Thailand had adopted a two-pronged approach toward the Deep South, through promoting sustainable development in the region and pursuing peace talks with the separatist rebel groups.
According to Maj. Gen. Weerachon Sukhontapatipak, the government's deputy spokesman, Prayuth also explained to the OIC head how the government was approaching the peace efforts through three steps.
As Weerachon summarized, the steps consist of building trust with MARA Patani; agreeing with the rebels on a code of conduct designed to lower tensions in the south and reduce the number of armed confrontations; agreeing with them on solutions for a regional peace and adopting a mutual roadmap for implementing a settlement of the long-running conflict that has claimed more than 6,000 lives since 2004.
On their side, the rebels have set three demands in pursuing the prospective peace talks, including that the government recognize and accept MARA as a dialog partner, that the government list the southern peace efforts as an issue on its national agenda, and that it guarantees immunity from prosecution for the members of MARA Patani.
"The secretary-general of OIC expressed appreciation to the Thai government for its attempts and sincerity in solving the Deep South problem," Weerachon's statement said, noting that the OIC chief advised Thailand to adopt a political and negotiated solution the insurgency.
The OIC later issued a news release confirming that the leaders of Thailand and the world Muslim body had met in Bangkok, but it did not specifically mention their discussion about the Deep South.
"During the meeting, the Prime Minister and Secretary General discussed regional developments, issues of mutual concern and ways of enhancing relations," the OIC said.
Thailand is an observer at the OIC, whose membership is made up of 57 Muslim member-states, including neighboring Malaysia.
Madani arrived in Bangkok on Sunday evening after visiting in Kuala Lumpur, where he met earlier in the day with MARA Patani officials.
They had asked to meet with the OIC head to brief him about MARA's peace efforts and request that the OIC work closely with Thailand and Malaysia – which has been facilitating a series of pre-peace talk meetings between the Thai government and rebels since last year – in support of the peace process.


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BENARNEWS- An association of southern Thai rubber farmers says it wants the government to subsidize them directly to offset low prices instead of buying large quantities of their product, as the prime minister announced this week.
The Rubber and Palm Oil Farmers' Network has asked the governor of Surat Thani province to relay a letter to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha calling on the government  to scrap the plan for purchasing rubber from them, Dendech  Dechduang, the group's secretary-general, told BenarNews on Wednesday.
"The government should sanction the market to boost the latex price to 55 baht (U.S. $1.51) per kilo and that of cup-slump rubber to 30-32 baht (U.S. 82-88 cents) per kilo," Dendech said by phone.
"Then the prices at of all kinds of rubber to be purchased by central rubber markets will be higher," he added.
On Tuesday, Prayuth said the government would buy 100,000 tons of rubber from farmers struggling with plummeting rubber prices in Thailand – the world's top exporter of natural rubber. The sector employs 2 million people nationwide.
But the PM did not tell reporters in Bangkok which price the government intended to set for the purchase, but that it would pay farmers a higher rate than the market price.
"You asked me to fix the price, how much money do I have? How much budget do we have? We will buy rubber to help them make do before the farming [season] pauses for three months," Prayuth told a news conference in the Thai capital.
"The government bodies will consider the prices on rubber sheets and rubber latex that they can purchase for further production," he added.
"You must understand that, if the government increases the prices aimlessly, there will be an over stockpile and the situation repeat itself," Prayuth said, referring to a stockpile of 360,000 tons of rubber being kept in government warehouses.
On Wednesday, Prayuth announced that he had appointed a retired general, former Army Chief of Staff Chatchalerm Chalermsuk, as president of the Rubber Authority of Thailand to oversee the government's response to the price crisis, the Associated Press reported.
The price, pushed down by declining international demand for Thai natural rubber and a large domestic stockpile of unsold rubber, among other factors, has hit a seven-year low on the market.
As of Wednesday, latex rubber and ribbed rubber were selling for 33 baht (U.S. 90 cents) and 35.19 baht (U.S. 96 cents) per kilo (2.2 pounds), respectively, at the market in Hat Yai, Songkhla province – a southern hub for rubber production.
'Don't make us sweat again'
Meanwhile, farmers who called off protests that were expected in 17 provinces on Tuesday after the government announced its new plan to help them out, demanded that they get between 55 and 60 baht ($1.51 and $1.65 ) per kilo in the buy-back scheme.
The Networks of Southern Rubber Farmers and its counterparts in the country's three other rubber-producing regions met in Trang province on Tuesday, and demanded that the government guarantee farmers a minimum price of 60 baht ($1.65) a kilo.
The networks gave the government one month to agree to this, saying they might plan future protests if officials failed to meet their demand.
"It is a long enough time for the government to boost rubber prices to return happiness to the people. And we believe we can do it if everyone joined together," Sunthorn Rakthong, a network member told a news conference that was aired Tuesday on TNN, a Thai TV station.
"Don't make us sweat again," he said.
Boosting domestic demand
Under the program outlined by Prayuth on Tuesday, eight ministries would purchase 100,000 tons of natural rubber and use it for projects such as road construction, the manufacturing of medical gloves, pillows and mattresses, among other things.
The goal, Prayuth said, was to build up domestic demand for rubber and wean Thailand's rubber industry off its reliance on foreign markets.
"When we buy [from the farmers] we will not push the [rubber] on to the market, but we will process it into products. There are hundreds of R&D projects for processing rubber, but they have never been practiced," Prayuth told reporters.


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BENARNEWS- Developers of a Buddhist park and local officials should ask Muslim residents for input before going ahead with the project in a historically sensitive area of the Deep South, an Islamic leader and academic said.
A sketch of the proposed Buddha Monthon Pattani Park, to be located in Pattani province, shows a Buddha statue at least three stories tall as its central feature.
"For Muslims, building a big Buddha image is an important issue. Muslims cannot accept a construction of big Buddha image" in this area, Waedue-ramae Mamingji, chairman of the Islamic Committee of Pattani, told BenarNews.
"There are a lot of things that we will co-develop to bring about prosperity, peace, happiness to the Deep South. Therefore I call on agencies or parties involved to review the plan for the sake of peace," he said.
Private developers envision building a 160 million baht ($4.6 million USD) Buddha Park on 40 acres on a scenic cape in Pattani.
In a meeting on Jan. 17, developers and provincial officials discussed the park design along with plans to establish a project committee and a fund-raising scheme.
Multiple cultures
Pattani province has a mixed population of ethnic Chinese, Thai and Malay-Patani people, and 87 percent of its almost 720,000 residents are Muslim.
Malay-Patani claim they owned the kingdom of Patani Darussalam, comprising what is now Pattani, Yala, Narathiwat and four districts of Songkla province, for hundreds of years before it was annexed by the then-Kingdom of Siam in 1902.
A separatist insurgency waged by different armed groups and factions has wracked the region for years, claiming at least 6,500 lives since January 2004.
Waedue-ramae said residents were not bothered by temples constructed in Tambon Naruesamilae, which is the heart of what had been Darrussalam. But the huge Buddha and park will not be accepted as easily, he said.
"In the past, we were like brothers. We respected each other on this land of multiple cultures. But to build a big Buddha image is inappropriate because we have Muslims around and we shouldn't create hard feeling among Buddhist Thais and Muslim Thais," Waedue-ramae said.
[https://www]Worravit Baru, who represented Pattani in the Senate, said the province should ask for opinions from local Muslims before allowing the Buddha Park.
"I would like to ask the developers, building this for what reason, and how important it is. There are quite a number of ways to promote Buddhism rather than adhering to religious symbol which may cause a religious rift," he said.
"Don't think when people do not protest, it means they agree. We shouldn't push them to align with the other side. We are reconciling for peace. All of us should realize this point," he said.
Questioned by reporters in Bangkok on Tuesday, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha recommended the province avoid any possible religious conflict.
"This project must be lodged through the ministry of interior, this is the ministry's responsibility," Prayuth told reporters at the Government House. "Whatever can be done to create [mutual understanding], please find a way to make it happen," Prayuth said. "I just want to make sure there will not be conflicts between two religions."
A flyer features an artist's sketch of the Buddha Monthon Pattani Park project on a 40-acre land plot.
Local voices
Pattani Buddhist Sarawuth Srisong, 47, said the project should not cause disharmony.
"The construction of Buddha Monthon Park should not cause any problems. Thais of two faiths are friends. We help each other whenever we have religious ceremonies," he said.
"But the province must promote understanding of the project to Muslim community and that the park may be used for public purposes for both religions."
However, Pattani Muslim Hasuena Wae-doloh, 45, said she is uncomfortable with a huge Buddha image at the park.
"But if this project was to be built elsewhere that would be fine," she said.
A developer who asked not to be named told BenarNews that he may need to change the proposed name of the project because Buddha Monthon Pattani Park can be translated as a Buddha's precinct of Pattani.
"I admit the naming of Buddha Monthon Pattani sounds gigantic and intruding. But if people feel offended and as I talked to the province, we can rename the project Stupa of All Thai Hearts, the project with a big Buddha image and a quiet place for people who seek tranquility," he said.


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BENARNEWS-  Thailand prolonged its crackdown against dissidents, arresting five students Wednesday night and Thursday – just hours after a man was sentenced to six years in prison over Facebook posts ruled to have violated Lese-Majeste, the nation's strict royal defamation law.
Four of the student activists, including their alleged leader, Siriwit Sereethiwat, were freed Thursday when a court ordered police to release them, but a fifth student was still in custody.
Siriwit was taken into custody Wednesday night outside Thammasat University in Bangkok. After spending the night in military custody, he was charged Thursday with violating a ban on protests and political gatherings, Pawinee Chumsri, of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Three students who visited Siriwit – Cholthicha Jaengrew, Chanoknant Ruamsub and Korakoch Saengyenpant – were charged with the same offenses. A fourth student, Abhisit Napapant, was arrested and expected to remain in custody overnight.
The five are among seven members of the New Democracy Movement who allegedly defied a government order banning political gatherings. A Bangkok military court on Jan. 13 approved arrest warrants against the seven after they defied police summons.
They allegedly boarded a train on Dec. 7, 2015, intending to protest at Rajabhakti Park in southern Prachuab Province, a multi-million dollar project built by the military, but were stopped in Raja Buri province.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha defended the arrests.
"I maintained that everyone must obey the laws and arrests can be done in many fashions," Prayuth told reporters.
According to Prayuth, Siriwit "broke many laws" by going to the park and through other violations of the public gathering law.
Under Article 44 of the country's interim constitution, which the Thai junta invoked last year, after declaring an end to martial law, groups of five or more people who stage public demonstrations can be arrested.
"If we let them go, that will mean they breach another [law] because they would illegally gather in another place one more time," Prayuth said.
After being freed from custody, Siriwit appeared in an online video in which he alleged that the people who arrested him roughed him up.
"When I was forced to board a car, I was covered with a scarf and the eyes [blindfolded] so I could not see ... I was later forced into a brush and forced to sit down," Siriwit recounted in the video clip.
"They kicked me to lie on the ground, hit my head, my back and kicked me ...," he added.
Lese-Majeste crackdown
Meanwhile, Piya Julkittiphan, 46, was convicted in Bangkok Criminal Court on Wednesday for posting two pictures with messages in 2013 that were deemed "disrespectful or unfaithful" to the monarchy, AFP reported.
"The judge sentenced him to nine years but he has given useful testimony during the investigation so the court commuted one third of that sentence to six years imprisonment," the court said in its verdict.
Details of the posts were not provided as is commonplace in such convictions. Even when details are known, journalists must censor themselves to avoid violating the same law, according to AFP.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights described Piya as a former stockbroker who was arrested in December 2014 and has been in custody ever since.
Prosecutions of Thailand's tough royal defamation laws have shot up since a military coup in May 2014 followed a court order forcing then Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra from office. Because Lese-Majeste is considered a national security offense, those charged are tried by a military court.
The prime minister, who as a general led the coup by the Royal Thai Army, has vowed to get rid of critics of the monarchy and has called for stronger prosecution of cases involving royal defamation.


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BENARNEWS- A rights activist from China went missing more than 10 days ago after boarding a train in Thailand, en route to Laos and eventually western countries where he planned to seek political asylum, his wife said Thursday.
Li Xin, a columnist for the Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper of Guangdong, China, was last heard from on Jan. 10, his wife He Fangxian said in an interview.
She said she suddenly lost contact with him a day after he boarded a train bound for Nong Khai, a town on Thailand's northeastern border, where he planned to enter Laos.
A friend tried to report the case to the Thai police, but the report was rejected, she said.
"They asked, 'Why you didn't you report this to the Chinese embassy,'" said He, who remains in China.
"But I am not in Thailand, so there is no way to get to the Chinese embassy," she said. "After all, I cannot leave, so I have no choice."
Pressured
Li had tried to defect to India four months ago, but lost his bid for asylum there. He fled to New Delhi in October after being recruited by China's state security police to spy on other activists, with the threat of espionage charges hanging over him.
A formerly active campaigner for democratic reform and human rights in China, Li said earlier that authorities had pressured him to become an informant after he posted comments online in support of blind Shandong rights activist Chen Guangcheng.
After arriving in India, Li made public confidential documents from his time at the newspaper, which included a secret list of topics and sources off limits to media outlets.
Li could not be granted political asylum in India, because the country does not accept applications from Chinese nationals. He then applied for a tourist visa at the American embassy in New Delhi, but his application was rejected.
He arrived in Thailand on Jan. 1 and boarded the train for Laos nine days later, according to his wife.
Laotian authorities
If Shi cannot get any information about Li's disappearance from police in Thailand, she will try to get information from Lao authorities, she said.
"But now the situation is that Thai authorities have refused to accept Li's case, so how can I go to Laos?" He Fangxian said.
Last December, authorities in the southern Chinese province Guangdong prevented Shi and the couple's infant son from leaving the country to join Li after his attempted defection.
Border officials in Shenzhen stopped the two as they tried to cross into neighboring Hong Kong, which has maintained its own internal immigration border since its 1997 handover to Chinese rule.
At the time, Li said he believed authorities slapped the exit ban on his wife and child as a form of retaliation after he leaked information about the inner workings of the Chinese government's propaganda machine.
The journalist's vanishing is the latest in a string of disappearances of China-related activists in Southeast Asia, according to the Associated Press.
Last October, Hong Kong publisher Gui Minhai disappeared suddenly from his apartment in Pattaya, a Thai beach resort. Gui reappeared this week on Chinese state TV, where he said he had returned to China to turn himself in for an old crime, the AP said.
Four other people connected to the same Hong Kong publishing company, which sells books banned in China about Chinese politics, have disappeared.


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BENARNEWS- The number of terrorism suspects in overcrowded prisons in Thailand is growing, affecting the management and rehabilitation of inmates, an official from a government-funded institute told an international counterterrorism conference Tuesday.
Most of the suspects are believed held in Thailand's insurgency-torn south, where rebels in Muslim-majority provinces bordering Malaysia have launched bomb attacks and shootings since 2004, targeting mostly troops or police but also civilians.
The current prison population is three times larger than total capacity, Thailand's Institute of Justice (TIJ) Deputy Executive Director Nathee Chitsawang told the final day of a two-day conference on deradicalization and countering violent extremism, hosted by Malaysia.
Nathee did not provide the number of inmates in prisons in the country or in any of the southern provinces in Thailand, which he acknowledged has faced a "prison overcrowding crisis" for more than a decade.
But he said that although more than 50 percent of prisoners in Thailand are drugs-related offenders, "the situation seems to be getting worse when the number of terrorists in prison has continued growing."
"The overcrowding in correctional facilities has a major impact on the available space and limited resources to provide them with the proper treatment programs and activities," he said.
In addition, the prisoner classification process "cannot be done efficiently under the situation of mass imprisonment," he lamented.
Nathee said most prisons were not designed to hold terror suspects, adding that "the correctional settings have to be specially designed and planned for terrorist inmates."
Pre-trial prisoners
Another obstacle to rehabilitating terror suspects is that most of them have not been convicted of any offences, he said.
"About 90 percent of the terrorists are pre-trial inmates because [they] have not been sentenced yet," he said.
"The problem is that when they are still the pre-trial prisoners, they are likely to refuse to attend the treatment programs," he said, adding that only "informal dialogue" is held to "change their behaviours."
Nathee also called for harmonization in the deradicalization programs inside and outside Thai prisons.
He said the majority of prisoners in southern Thai provinces are held together with terror suspects.
"The segregation of treatment can help to prevent them from recruiting more members among the prisoners," he said.
The TIJ, which is affiliated with Thailand's Ministry of Justice, works on prison reforms and makes efforts to boost research and capacity-building in fighting crime and upholding justice.
The London-based International Centre for Prison Studies said on its website that there are 314,858 prisoners in Thailand, citing statistics as late as December 2015.
According to a former Muslim rebel leader, identified only as Ma-ae, there are over 300 rebels in jail in Thailand's Deep South and in Bangkok's maximum-security Bang Kwang prison.
Ma-ae, an ex-leader of the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO) who was released from prison last year, said in September that he believed there were 40 rebel prisoners in Yala, 40 to 50 in Narathiwat and about 80 in Pattani. Those three provinces and four districts of neighboring Songkla make up the Deep South region.
There are also a total of 150 rebel prisoners in Songkla prison and in Bang Kwang prison.
Compassion
Ministers and officials from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and the 10-member bloc's strategic partners – the United States, France, Australia, Britain, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Japan, China and Italy – attended the conference.
Nathee said that Thai prison authorities divided terror suspects into three groups – the hardcore leaders with "strong motivations and ideologies," the staff or "soldiers" and the supporters of militant groups.
He added the supporters and soldiers do not adopt any ideologies but typically joined the groups for "high pay" and are believed linked to illegal drug trafficking. Their rehabilitation is focused on equipping them with vocational skills and improving their personal attitudes for "enhancing employability after release."
He said leaders of militant groups are rehabilitated by showing "genuine" compassion, easing concerns on their family members, transferring them to correctional facilities in their hometowns and providing visitation rights and personal help.


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BENARNEWS- Some Muslim women serving with the military in Thailand's troubled Deep South say they plan to seek the government's approval to allow them to wear the hijab while in uniform.
A group of female soldiers serving in non-combat roles in the country's predominantly Muslim southern border region is planning to write to the prime minister to request a change to the military's dress code.
They want to wear the headscarf in order to abide by Islam's tenets as well as counter propaganda from insurgents. Such a move would also allow women serving in the military and paramilitary forces in the Deep South to blend in better with the local population, said a member of the group who asked not to be named.
Villagers have told this soldier that separatist insurgents have exploited the Thai military's prohibition on wearing the hijab in justifying attacks because female personnel were not respecting the religious rule.
"They (insurgents) told villagers that we who work for the government sector must follow its rules and we even expose our face, despite knowing it is sinful and we may go to hell," she told BenarNews.
"We heard them say that for quite some time, and we asked our commanders to allow us to wear hijab when going to the field, but the bosses didn't allow [this]," she said.
Since 2004, more than 6,500 people have been killed in the separatist conflict in the Malay-speaking far southern region, which is made up of Pattani, Narathiwat and Yala provinces and parts of Songkhla province.
During visits to villages, the soldier said, residents treated her and her colleagues coldly because they did not wear the traditional headscarf donned by Muslim women.
"Villagers didn't seem to be friendly to us because they wore hijab but we didn't. We were different from them and this put us and villagers at odds. Our task is to make them sense mutual friendship and that they feel we are on the same side," she added.
Out of 60,000 to 80,000 military personnel deployed in the Deep South, nine platoons, or about 360 members, are female rangers with full combat capabilities.
Letter drafted
The solider said that she and other female Muslim personnel have banded together to draft a letter to Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, which they hope to send soon.
The letter seeks his consideration to allow female Muslim personnel who perform non-combat duties such as clerical jobs and psychological operations to wear the hijab.
"We think Prime Minister General Prayuth understands the feeling of fellow soldiers, and we believe that he is aware of the obstacle we would have when villagers see us as being on the other side," she said.
Col. Pramote Prom-in, spokesman for the forward office of Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4, told BenarNews said he wasn't aware of the local campaign by some women in the military to lobby for a change to the dress code.
"Currently, the way military personnel dress in uniform, is in line with the codes of the Ministry of Defense," he told BenarNews by phone.
The officer-in-charge could consider the issue if a request is submitted, he said.
Hijab allowed elsewhere
In contrast, Thailand's Ministry of Public health has been allowing its medical personnel to wear the hijab since 2000.
A police operations center in Yala last year allowed non-combat female staff to wear the Muslim headscarf.
However, Tuan Sai Ni, a local Muslim, said she wanted to apply for a job at the center but refrained from doing so because she was not allowed to wear hijab when she sat for the exam last year.
"I was not a police officer, yet on the day of exam they didn't allow me to wear hijab. What if I became an officer? I'm afraid they may change the rules [again]," Tuan told BenarNews.


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BENARNEWS- There is no outbreak of Zika in Thailand with only one domestic case confirmed in 2016, Thai health authorities said Tuesday while downplaying reports about the country's potential exposure to the mosquito-borne virus.
"The situation in our country is not an epidemic, unlike in other areas. And, in the past, Thailand never had epidemic levels caused by the Zika virus," Amnuay Kagina, director of the Thai Department of Disease Control, told a news conference in Bangkok.
But health officials in neighboring Malaysia issued a public warning the same day, suggesting the country was vulnerable to the virus carried by Aedes mosquitoes – a species that also passes on dengue fever, a disease that afflicts Southeast Asian countries.
"There is a high chance that the virus, once it strikes, can spread swiftly and vastly in Malaysia, as we already have the fatal carrier, the Aedes mosquitoes – also responsible for our dengue problem," Malaysian  Health Minister  S. Subramaniam told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.
'Coordinated response needed': WHO
The statements from Thai and Malaysian officials came a day after the U.N.'s World Health Organization (WHO) declared Zika a "public health emergency of international concern."
Cases of Zika have exploded in South and Central America within the past year, with 1.5 million cases reported in Brazil alone since April, Agence France-Presse reported.
WHO reported pregnant women are particularly vulnerable to the virus because Zika is suspected of causing congenital malformations and neurological complications in newborns. Pregnant Brazilian women infected with the virus have given birth to babies with undersized heads, according to reports.
"A coordinated international response is needed to improve surveillance, the detection of infections, congenital malformations, and neurological complications, to intensify the control of mosquito populations, and to expedite the development of diagnostic tests and vaccines to protect people at risk, especially during pregnancy," Dr. Margaret Chan, WHO's director general, said in declaring a Zika emergency.
Such a declaration by WHO is rare.
Two years ago, the U.N. agency was widely criticized for not issuing an early warning about the Ebola virus, which spread across West Africa rapidly, reportedly killing thousands of people.
"At present, the most important protective measures are the control of mosquito populations and the prevention of mosquito bites in at-risk individuals, especially pregnant women," Chan said in issuing the emergency declaration on Zika.
No vaccine
There is no specific treatment or vaccine available for the disease, WHO said. People infected with the Zika virus develop symptoms, including a mild fever and skin rash, which can last two to seven days, the agency said.
The virus is known to circulate in the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, said WHO and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the Atlanta-based American agency, Zika outbreaks have occurred before 2015 in Africa, Southeast Asia and islands in the Pacific.
To date this year, at least two cases have been reported in Southeast Asia: the case of a Thai man diagnosed and treated for Zika from Jan. 24 to 26, according to Thai health officials; and the case of a 27-year-old Indonesian man from Sumatra Island who was infected with the virus, AFP reported. In January, Taiwan also reported a case of a man from northern Thailand who came down with Zika.
'Widespread throughout Thailand'
Several cases of Zika were reported in travelers returning from Thailand and seven cases of acute Zika infection across the country were confirmed between 2012 and 2014, according to a study published last year by the American Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.
"These endemic cases, combined with previous reports in travelers, provide evidence that ZIKV [the Zika Virus] is widespread throughout Thailand," said an abstract to the study.
"Thailand first found a Zika patient in 2012 and, after that, there have been an average of five people contracting Zika annually," Dr. Pahurat Kongmuang, another official at Thailand's Department of Disease Control, told BenarNews.
"Thailand has established a monitoring system for this sickness since 2013, and we are able to track down the disease, while some other countries in ASEAN cannot," she said in a phone interview.
Amnuay, the department's director, said that it mounted a campaign during the past two weeks to kill mosquitoes in their habitats, and that this would go on for another fortnight.
Malaysian, Bangladeshi response
In Kuala Lumpur, Health Minister S. Subramaniam announced that his ministry would circulate a set of guidelines to ministries and the public advising them on measures to protect people from being infected with Zika.
The guidelines, which were issued on Tuesday, for instance warn pregnant Malaysian women not to travel to countries where an outbreak of Zika is occurring.
The document also advises people traveling to Malaysia from South and Central America to go to the nearest hospital or health center should they develop a fever or rash.
Prime Minister Najib Razak echoed these concerns in a statement on Tuesday. He warned that Malaysia had to monitor the situation carefully because its climate was suited for the breeding of the Aedis species of mosquito.
"I have directed the health ministry to take all necessary preventive measures to protect Malaysians, especially pregnant women from the Zika virus," Najib said in a message on his official website.
"We need to prevent and eliminate sources or vectors to [control] both an outbreak and the virus. ... Do not give the slightest room for it to multiply," he said.
Meanwhile, a senior health official in Bangladesh, said the Zika virus did not exist there.
"But we are not complacent because the vector, the Aedes mosquito, is present in Bangladesh," Abul Hakir Md Shamsuzzaman, the official in charge of disease control at the Health Ministry, told BenarNews.
"It can enter into Bangladesh anytime. We will focus more on preventive measures such as destroying the habitat of the vector," he said, adding that raising public awareness about Zika was another in the strategy in preventing the virus from spreading within his country.


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BENARNEWS- A former Chinese newspaper columnist who disappeared in Southeast Asia last month after fleeing China in search of political asylum is back in his homeland, "assisting police with an investigation," his wife said.

Li Xin, who once wrote for the cutting-edge Southern Metropolis Daily newspaper in Guangzhou, fled China last July, initially traveling to New Delhi where his application for political asylum and his U.S. visa application were both turned down.

He later left India, and was last heard from on Jan. 11 after boarding a train in Thailand en route to Laos.

His wife, He Fangxian, who remained in China with the couple's only child, said she spoke with Li by phone on Wednesday from a police station near the couple's current home in the central province of Henan.

"He told me he was submitting to investigation on a voluntary basis, and that it would be concluded very soon," she said. "He told me to relax and have a happy [Chinese] New Year."

She went to a local police station to take the call.

"When Li Xin spoke to me, he didn't say where he is right now; he didn't want me to know," she said. "He just said he is back in China under investigation.

"He said it would be better for him and for me if I took it easy, and that he hoped there would be a result soon."

But Li said nothing about where he is being held, nor the reason for the investigation, she said.

"I am guessing he's probably in Xinxiang [Henan province], because the state security police who called me were from Xinxiang," He said.

Higher-ups involved

An officer who answered the phone at the Xinxiang police station declined to comment on Li's whereabouts.

"We don't know where he is ... his wife asked us to look into it, and we made enquiries with the relevant authorities," she said.

"We only know what they told us. There were several higher departments involved, and we couldn't even figure out where he is."
She said the case against Li did not originate in his hometown.
"This isn't our case. We were just helping (He Fangxian) because she reported him missing, and we were trying to find out for her."

The officer said local police had no direct dealings with Li. "Only his wife spoke with him directly."
Pressured to inform

Li Xin, a former campaigner for democratic reform and human rights, said state security police pressured him to become an informant by threatening him with criminal charges after he posted comments online in support of blind Shandong rights activist Chen Guangcheng, who is now a visiting scholar in the United States.
After arriving in New Delhi, Li also revealed some of the inner workings of the Chinese propaganda regime, including a secret list of topics and sources off limits to media organizations.

China's police recently set up a special unit to detain "fugitives" who flee the country, sparking fears that the ruling Chinese Communist Party is expanding its law enforcement activities far beyond its borders to target dissident asylum-seekers.

Li's repatriation comes amid growing concerns among rights activists and lawyers over the clandestine detention of critics of the Chinese government outside the country, several of whom have been picked up in Thailand, Laos, Myanmar and Hong Kong by means of opaque and undocumented procedures in recent months.


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BENARNEWS- Calls to deal the cards could resume at the Jomtien and Pattaya Bridge Club in Thailand after police announced Friday that they were considering dropping gambling charges against 32 members, including an 84-year-old Dutch woman, following a raid there on Wednesday.
Still, members of the club frequented by Western retirees may not be in the clear as police consider pursuing a charge of "illegally organized" card games.
All 32 members have been released on bail and police are carrying on with their investigation, Police Col. Suthat Poompanmuang, chief of Pattaya police station, told BenarNews.
"We gave them bailout and we are mulling on which charge we will pursue," Suthat said in a phone interview. All 32 posted bail, which was set at 5,000 baht ($140) each.
"When we arrested them we found card decks, so the district chief and police charged them with gambling," he said. "We likely will not go ahead with gambling charge but we will likely proceed with a charge of organizing card-playing without permission," he said.
Among the busted bridge players were 12 Britons, an Irish national, three Norwegians, three Swedes, a Dane, a German, two Australians, a New Zealander and a Canadian, according to Agence France-Presse.
Following the arrests, Chodchoy Soponpanich, president of the Contract Bridge League of Thailand and a member of one of the nation's most prominent banking families, went to Pattaya to support those arrested, according to the online newspaper Pattaya One.
According to media reports, Chodchoy said she understood the confusion over the card game, but claimed bridge was allowed under an amendment to the Gambling Law of 1960, if money did not change hands. She said the game could be played without permission from the government.
Additionally, bridge will be one of the competitions in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia and the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia.
Police claim arrests were warranted
Col. Suthat disagreed.
"It is the same case as snooker club or association (which needs license). They played sports but they played at a wrong, unlicensed place. The club was not registered. There was no license for them to establish the club at the place," Suthat argued.
He also said the club allegedly used illegal decks of cards that did not have an excise stamp – meaning the club's owner did not pay excise tax.
"That count carried a fine of hundreds of thousands baht," he said.
The 15-year-old club is on the second floor of the Altos Restaurant in South Pattaya, a report town on the Gulf of Thailand coast, and posts results from bridge matches on its website.
The Pattaya Mail newspaper said that more than 50 police and military officers were involved in Wednesday's raid.
Afterward, the club posted this notice on its website:
"CLOSED TEMPORARLY whilst we get a new license to have cards on the premises – all problems have been solved with understanding by the authorities."
A U.S. expat who asked not to be named said the police raid was a farce.
"It's ridiculous. It seemed like the police tried to kill the only part of Thailand's economy still healthy. This is the worse signal you can send to the world community and tourists," he told BenarNews.
Suthat claimed neighbors alerted police to the club.
"It was not the junta's push. We received a tip-off from people who know about the club," he said.
He was referring to a clamp-down on illicit activity launched by Thailand's junta.
Since the military seized power in May 2014, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha has vowed to crack down on social ills, including corruption and criminal networks, both foreign and domestic, according to AFP.
The government set up a corruption center where people can inform officials of alleged abuses or crimes, AFP reported.


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BENARNEWS- A Bangkok-based BBC News correspondent is being sued in Thailand over an investigative report about the alleged defrauding of two Western expats, who had invested in properties on Phuket island, according to a Thai news website.
A pretrial hearing into the case against BBC reporter Jonathan Head was scheduled for Monday at the Phuket provincial court, the website Khaosod English reported.
Head is being taken to court over allegations of criminal defamation and violating the country's Computer Crimes Act (CCA), Khaosod said, noting he could face up to nine year in prison, if convicted.
The plaintiff in the case is Phuket lawyer Pratuan Thanarak who, according to Khaosod, appears in a 10-minute BBC News segment narrated by Head, which aired in September.
The TV report itself did not identify the Thai lawyer by name, but it featured an interview at the office of a lawyer who allegedly had notarized the forged signature of one of the Western expats.
One of them, Briton Ian Rance, alleged in the BBC segment that his ex-Thai wife – who is now reportedly in a Thai jail and with whom he had three children – had colluded with others to defraud him. Rance alleged she had forged his signature on documents that authorized the transfer of properties that he owned on Phuket, a top destination for Western retirees.
In the BBC report, Head quoted the lawyer as saying that it was common practice for Thai lawyers to notarize signatures without the signer actually present.
Head, who just stepped aside as president of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand in Bangkok, declined an interview request from the Thai website.
"I will not comment at this stage because I have not yet been indicted," he told Khaosod.
The BBC also issued a statement.
"The BBC stands by the high standards of its journalism. As this is now a legal matter, there will be no further comment," the British broadcaster said, according to Khaosod.
Head was not expected to appear in the Phuket court on Monday.
'Widely respected'
The courthouse in the southern province was the site of another high-profile court case last year, in which the Royal Thai Navy sued a pair of Phuket-based journalists over similar charges, following a report that their website had published about the smuggling of Rohingya migrants from Myanmar.
The two journalists, who were editors of the now defunct Phuketwan website, were sued for reprinting an excerpt from a controversial report by the Reuters news agency on the issue of human trafficking.
In a phone interview from Australia, Phuketwan founder Alan Morison called on the Thai attorney-general's office to drop the case against Head.
"As a Phuket judge determined last year after hearing expert testimony in the Phuketwan case, the Computer Crimes Act is intended for use against computer hackers and database thieves, not journalists," Morison told BenarNews.
In September, Morison and fellow Phuketwan editor Chutima Sidasathian were acquitted of charges of defamation and violating the CCA.
"Criminal defamation should only be used against people who misuse civil defamation laws. Jonathan Head is a widely respected professional journalist and his reporting always reveals matters of public interest," Morison added.


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BENARNEWS- The recent discovery of crudely made rocket-propelled weapons in Thailand's restive Deep South signals that a smaller rebel group there is changing its combat tactics and may be trying to influence prospective peace talks, experts say.
"They may want to show off that they have propelled bombs in order to leverage negotiation power," a Thai counter-terrorism official who requested anonymity told BenarNews.
He was referring to the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), one of the rebel groups that has been fighting a separatist insurgency in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region for more than a decade.
Last year, PULO joined MARA Patani, an umbrella body representing various Deep South rebel groups in closed-door meetings in Malaysia with Thai negotiators, which have been aimed at resuming formal peace talks with Thailand for the first time since December 2013.
It is significant that PULO has been taking credit via social media for the deployment of home-made rockets in the conflict zone, noted Zachary Abuza, an expert on the Thai Deep South who is a professor at the National War College in Washington, D.C.
"They're clearly trying to stake out a greater role for themselves within MARA Patani and at the peace process," Abuza told BenarNews.
"The only way that they can do that is by staging attacks, but they have far fewer militants than the BRN.  So they have to be creative to cause a stir," he said.
The BRN, or Barisan Revolusi Nasional, is the largest and most heavily armed of the Deep South rebel groups.
Rocket-type weapons crop up
On Feb. 5, police in Narathiwat province found and disarmed a small rocket that was similar to rockets (pictured above and below) discovered last month in neighboring Pattani province.
Police Col. Patta Madawa said the most recent device, which resembled a pipe bomb with fins, fell into the living room of a house and was defused by demolition experts, according to the Associated Press.
[https://www]"PULO tried to develop a kind of rocket-powered grenade or rocket for remote attacks, but we do not have any evidence yet whether it worked," the anonymous counter-terrorist official said.
"We are interested in where they were built. The projectiles have slant noses made by way of a tube serrated, cut and welded to make a solid nose," he added.
While ballistics experts have not identified the propellant used, the bomb is described as an improvised explosive device that contains ammonium nitrate and fuel oils.
"The detonators were rigged using gun primer and a firing pin. They had some flaws and did not ignite," the official said.
On Jan. 30, officials in Pattani's Nong Chik district found two unexploded rocket-like bombs and were told that three others had been fired. The bombs in both incidents were emblazoned with the PULO flag.
An ex-PULO member, Ma-ae Sa-a, linked the bombs to his former group.
"I told the authorities that the name Nampra Army with the PULO flag is real," he said, adding that PULO was more likely to have planted the bomb than launched it as a projectile.
The Nampra Army, a faction of PULO, issued a statement warning those living near military camps in Pattani and Narathiwat to move away because it planned to attack the camps with rockets this year, hamptani.com reported.
According to Lt. Gen. Nanthadej Meksawat, a retired intelligence officer who was assigned to the Deep South, the introduction of the rockets shows that PULO is changing tactics because of its growing weakness.
"The capability of the operational militants became weaker," Nanthadej told BenarNews.
"In recent months they tried to avoid direct confrontations with security forces. Last year, we saw bomb attacks followed by gun attacks. We saw direct gun attacks and shootouts. This year, we don't see this," he added.
'Frightened'
The discovery of the new weapons, nonetheless, has alarmed locals in the Deep South, which has seen more than 6,000 people die from violence related to the insurgency since 2004.
Nimu Magaje, former chairman of the Islamic Committee in Yala province, said authorities should prevent rebels from using these rocket-type weapons in attacks.
"People are frightened and have spoken out in the community. It is a mission of authorities to prevent the violence," Magaje told reporters on Monday.
"I think that the authorities have to inspect the explosives and examine the history of any lost weapons, if any," he added. "Authorities should consider where this type of explosive had been used before."


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BENARNEWS- A group of human rights organizations is accusing Thai officials of systemic torture of suspected rebels taken prisoner in the restive Deep South, and is calling on the military-controlled government to work with them to end such abuses.
The accusation surfaced in a new report issued jointly on Wednesday by the Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF), the Duay Jai (Hearty Support) Group and the Patani Human Rights Organization (HAP). The groups released the report during a seminar at Prince of Songkla University in Pattani, a province in the Deep South.
Government officials challenged the report's findings.
The three organizations learned of alleged cases of torture from 2004 through the end of 2015, and are urging the government to use the report's findings to fix any wrongdoing, said Pornpen Khongkachonkiet, the director of the Cross-Cultural Foundation.
"We want to join with the government to help solve the problem. We want the government to set up a credible committee we can trust to jointly solve the problem," Pornpen told BenarNews.
"We are not accusing all officials, but we believe there are some officials who continue using torture. Not all officials," she said.
Somchai Hom-la-or, who directs one of Thailand's largest rights advocacy groups, the Human Rights and Development Foundation, echoed the call by the three NGOs.
Separately, he warned separately that, if allowed to go on, torture could contribute toward undermining efforts to end the southern insurgency peacefully.
"We want all security officials involved with arresting, detaining and investigating suspected individuals to halt torture at once. The government must punish the wrong-doers, give justice to victims and their families, otherwise it will severely affect the effort to solve the Deep South troubles," Somchai said in a news release.
A deputy spokesman for Internal Security Operation Command (ISOC) Region 4 in Pattani called the 49-page report inaccurate.
"I confirmed that officials never torture suspects under custody. The officials strictly adhere by the laws," Col. Yutthanam Phetmuang told BenarNews by phone.
Torture claimed
The report by the three rights organizations is based on the accounts of 54 suspected insurgents between the ages of 19 and 48 who were held by the military.
Martial law, which is in force across the heavily militarized Deep South, allows for seven days of detention in a military camp, while an emergency decree allows seven days for similar custody in any special place. With a court's consent, officials may detain a suspected person for up to 30 days.
"Although the laws granted special powers to the authorities to restrict certain freedoms and liberties of people in special circumstances, there is no law, both domestic and international, that grants authorities the power to inflict torture or cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment and punishment," the report said.
According to the report, all detainees are Muslim and Malay-speaking locals from the region. It also details cases of torture that occur upon arrest, and while the suspect is being transported and questioned.
The detainees are denied the opportunity to consult with relatives or a lawyer, and they are not allowed bail, have limited family visitation or are incarcerated in secret places, the report said.
"The detainees under special laws went through inquiry process carried out by officials who asked them whether they had a hand in violence or are involved with any insurgent groups," said the report, claiming that torture was used to coerce confessions from suspects.
The report points to three methods of torture – psychological, physical and inhumane treatment.
Physical torture includes water boarding, Chinese water torture – where cold and hot water is poured over the forehead or other body part – electrocution and sexual assault.
"While they were questioning me, they also attacked me by kicking, slapping and punching. Three out of seven officials took me to a fish pond in the Special Force Compound, then they dunked me in the pond," a detainee recalled about an incident in February 2007.
The CrCF said five detainees died while in custody since 2007. However, the most recent case of Abdullayi Dorloh, 42, who died on Dec. 4, 2015, showed no sign that he was beaten, according to a forensic doctor at Prince of Songkla University.
Prayuth: Thailand developing technology to detect perpetrators
Since 2004, more than 6,500 people have been killed and close to 12,000 injured in more than 15,000 violent incidents associated with the conflict in Thailand's southern border region.
The statistics give Thailand a bad name, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told an ISOC meeting in Bangkok on Wednesday.
"When I met foreign counterparts abroad, they believed Thailand has terrorists and is most at-risk of terror attacks in ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations)," he said.
Prayuth said insurgent attacks only took place in the Deep South.
And since the regional bloc's 10 member-states formed the ASEAN Economic Cooperation zone to allow more freedom of movement, he said the Thai government was developing adequate technology, including cameras, to prevent people suspected of being involved in terrorism from crossing borders.
"Watch out for extremists," he said, adding, "I don't want Thailand to be a part of any conflicts. We want our country to be free, to make choices of our own of what we do, but still adhere to international obligations.
"Don't think that our country is safe, because there are no safe countries," he said.


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BENARNEWS- For a couple in Thailand's Deep South, a budding interest in owning horses for recreation blossomed into an endeavor offering equine therapy to children with autism and other learning disabilities.
The husband-and-wife team Johbosu Bersa and Nisa Bersu opened the Equine Therapy Center, the first facility of its kind in Narathiwat province's Cho-airong district.
The treatments offered there, in which autistic children are given rides on horseback, have proved so popular that the local chief district officer says he will ask the provincial governor to establish 12 centers like it across Narathiwat.
"We bought our first horse just to ride around on, just to have a little fun and get some exercise," Johbosu, 39, told BenarNews.
"Later on, my wife was doing some research on problems faced by kids with autism. She learned that horseback riding has been used to treat kids with autism and other learning disabilities," he said of Nisa, a state-certified nurse specializing in the care of psychiatric patients at Cho-airong Hospital
"After that, we bought three more horses, bringing our total up to four. We invited willing autistic kids in our village to take part in the treatments. Those who have taken part have shown a lot of progress," he said.
The center was set up on about 300 square meters (3,229 square feet) of vacant land next to the couple's home in Juap subdistrict.
When friends and neighbors noticed the couple's efforts, they purchased three more horses. The community also drafted a request that the center be given official status as a treatment center for autistic children. The official status was granted in 2012.
When Nisa is not caring for patients at Cho-airong Hospital, she uses her free time to help her husband, who lifts children onto the horses and rides double-back with them. By word of mouth alone, news of their pioneering work has spread across the community and into parts of the neighboring Ra-ngae district.
The program serves 15 young patients, including children with varying levels of autism as well as some with unrelated learning disabilities.
According to official statistics, 565 children under the age of 18 in Narathiwat suffer from disabilities that are subdivided into nine categories. Of the total, about 10 percent fall somewhere on the autism spectrum or suffer from some other form cognitive impairment.
Treatment methods and outcome
While there is no known cure for autism, the couple said their horse-assisted therapy was having positive outcomes for many.
An example is Aming Jehteng, 8, one of three children who rode with Johbosu as part of the demonstration for officials who visited the center on Feb. 4. The boy is now in his fifth month of treatment. Aming sat in front while Mr Johbosu sat behind, hands firmly on the reins to create a sense of safety and prevent any possible falls.
It takes about six months before the positive results become apparent and it is imperative that a child's primary caregivers play an integral role from the outset, Johbosu said after the demonstration.
While there is little medical evidence to prove that equine therapy is effective, the physical theory behind it is that the act of riding stimulates the circulatory system, improving blood supply to the brain.
"We monitor their condition after receiving the treatment and can confirm that there is a clear improvement. Many have abnormal physical conditions when they arrive here, such as problems with drooling, for example. But these improve and clear up as a result of the treatment," Nisa told BenarNews.
"We observe their behavior from the outset and have seen that the kids who do a lot of riding have shown developmental improvements in all areas. After a year, for example, these kids can ride by themselves, without the need for someone else to control the horse," she said.
More importantly, long-term treatment also improves social skills, Nisa added. This is crucial because autism is a developmental disorder characterized by impaired social interaction and a preference for isolation and repetitive behavior.
"But as the kids' development improves, we begin to see them returning home and telling friends and family what they did that day, what the activity was and even the names of the other participants," she added.
"It is a big bonus to see these kids increase their interaction with others, especially when compared to how they were before starting the treatment. This is the clearest improvement we observe over the course of the treatment." she added.
Sangkhom left impressed.
"After learning that this treatment center has been established and is getting results, we decided to come and observe its operations with our own eyes. Having witnessed it first hand, I am of the opinion that we should send a report to the Governor asking for permission to set up similar treatment centers in all of Narathiwat's other 12 districts," he said.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's military pushed back on Thursday against a new report by three human rights organizations accusing Thai forces of torturing suspected insurgents in the country's Deep South.
The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) convened a news conference in Bangkok at which a spokesman listed concerns about the report, including questions about its factual accuracy and what authority the three groups had invoked in reviewing government documents cited in it.
ISOC Region 4 spokesman Maj. Gen. Banpot Poonpian went so far as to suggest that "by invoking international laws while forsaking domestic laws when assembling information, could possibly amount to the defamation of involved agencies."
"We are ready to inspect the facts ... but the concern is this report has been disseminated overseas," he said. "It might create a misunderstanding [of] the facts."
The Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF), the Duay Jai (Hearty Support) Group and Patani Human Rights Organization (HAP) were the rights groups that published the 49-page report, which came out Wednesday.
Among ISOC's concerns, Banpot asked which laws the groups had used in accessing and reviewing government documents used in their report.
"Have they stumbled on any government officer involved in the act of torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment?" Banpot told reporters.
Without pointing to specific facts detailed in the report, he also questioned whether it was based one one-sided accounts or old information.
"Has this information not been verified independently?" Banpot said.
'We rely on cooperation'
The report detailing allegations of torture is based on the accounts of 54 suspected insurgents, aged between 19 and 48, who were taken into custody between 2004 and the end of last year in the Deep South.
Thailand's predominantly Muslim southern border region is a heavily militarized zone, where martial law is in force and a separatist insurgency has lasted for at least 12 years.
Martial law allows for seven days of detention in a military camp, and an emergency decree allows for seven days of similar custody in any place. With a court's approval, officials may hold a suspect for up to 30 days.
Since 2004, more than 6,500 people have been killed in violence stemming from the insurgency.
But, according to ISOC's Banpot, "the number of violent incidences has markedly decreased" as the Thai junta pursues efforts to persuade southern rebels to resume peace talks for the first time since December 2013.
He also claimed that the three organizations published the report to solicit funding from international sources. He added that Thai security personnel were trained every year to respect human rights.
"We rely on cooperation from religious leaders, community leaders, kinship and credible outside organizations to bear witness to all of the processes concerning the enforcement of the law," Banpot said.
"And after any operation, should there be any doubts, the local agencies would be more than happy to help with an inquiry into their actions."


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BENARNEWS- Two Uyghur men pleaded not guilty Tuesday to the Aug. 17, 2015, bombing at a Hindu Shrine in central Bangkok that killed 20 people and injured 120 more.
Appearing in a Thai military court, Adem Karadag, 31, and Yusufu Meiraili, 28, both identified themselves as Uyghurs from Urumqi in China's Xinjiang region.
Karadag's lawyer claimed he entered Thailand on Aug. 21, days after the attack, so could not be responsible.
He also alleged that unidentified officials tortured Karadag in custody with water boarding, dog intimidation and a threat to return him to Chinese authorities.
"The said actions were aimed at forcing him to admit that he was the suspected bomber who planted the bomb seen in security camera records," lawyer Chuchart Kanpai told reporters.
Uyghur and English translators were present as Karadag and Mieraili heard the charges against them and pleaded innocent.
Mieraili challenged the court for his incarceration. "It is not the right thing to have detained a Muslim for too long," Meiraili said through an English translator.
Potential death sentences
Karadag, aka Bilal Mohammad, was arrested on Aug. 29, 2015, after police said they had found bomb-making materials at an apartment in Bangkok's suburban Nongjok district. He was charged with offenses ranging from premeditated killing and bomb possession to illegal entry into Thailand, and could face a death sentence if convicted.
Mieraili was arrested on Sept. 1, 2015, while attempting to flee to neighboring Cambodia, police allege. Investigators claim he was attempting to acquire materials to make bombs. He could face a death sentence as well if convicted.
In the days following their arrests, both men participated in police-staged reenactments of the alleged events leading to the bombing.
The attack at the Hindu shrine, popular with both Thais and foreign tourists, took place during the busy evening rush time. A security camera captured footage of a man leaving a backpack on a bench at the shrine moments before the blast.
A pipe bomb explosion the next day near Sathorn passenger pier, some five miles from the shrine, caused no injuries.
No group claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In September, then-police chief Pol. Gen. Somyos Poompanmuang told a press conference that a Uyghur group had carried out the attack to wreak revenge on Thai authorities for clamping down on them.
"We believe the motive behind this incident stemmed from government officials arresting or cracking down on a human trafficking ring," he said at the time.
In July, Thai authorities forcibly repatriated scores of Uyghurs to China, drawing criticism and protests from rights activists and Uyghur advocates who say the Muslim minority suffers harsh repression in China.
"The Ratchaprasong bombing appears to have been carried out by an international terrorist group  which involved both ethnic Uighurs from China's Xinjiang region and sympathetic Turkish citizens and was probably operating out of Turkey. The bombing was almost certainly triggered by the Thai government's rendition in early July 2015 of 109 Uighur refugees back to China," Anthony Davis, a security analyst with IHS-Jane's, told BenarNews.
The next court hearings in the Erawan case are scheduled between April 20 and 22.
Thai investigators claim as many as 15 more suspects are wanted for their roles in the attacks, including a man who hurled a bomb near the Sathorn pier.


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BENARNEWS- A press freedom watchdog's warning that a new set of Thai visa restrictions for foreign media could make it harder for reporters to cover Thailand prompted the government to issue a swift clarification on Friday.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) earlier on Friday released a statement expressing concern that Thailand's military-controlled government would have "new discretionary powers to deny visas to reporters whose work or behavior is deemed as 'constituting any disruption to public order or to the security of the kingdom.'"
The CPJ was reacting to a new visa policy for members of the foreign press, which the Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced a day earlier.
The committee said the new restriction was similar to the junta's ban "against any news that could 'undermine social stability' or 'sow political divisions' imposed on Thai media."
The CPJ also pointed out that those with category M (Media) visas must work full time for a registered news outlet or report specifically on Thailand was a change that could force long-time freelance photographers and reporters to leave the country.
Additionally, journalists must renew their M visas annually, and have face increased scrutiny of their applications since the Thai military seized power in a coup in May 2014, the CPJ said. The increased scrutiny includes mandatory interviews where reporters could be asked to state their personal opinions about the junta, monarchy and fellow foreign journalists.
Thailand's response
According to the clarification statement issued by the government, as of January 2016 more than 500 foreign journalists applied for M visas with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The ministry said that no more than 5 percent would be ruled ineligible to apply for the visas.
The government claimed that the new guidelines were developed to introduce a clear category for journalists eligible for media visas, in light of the changing nature and increase in online media.
"Journalists, correspondents and freelancers employed by a news agency registered with the competent agency of either Thai or foreign government will not be affected," the statement said.
The new guidelines are not intended to "restrict, forbid or limit the work of foreign media, as well as foreigners who work in Thailand," it added.
The government also claimed that journalists who were not eligible for M visas would be advised to apply for another appropriate category.
It gave the example of foreign photographers who would not qualify but who could be advised to apply for a non-immigrant B (business and work) visa. For freelance photographers who require a media card to work for a news agency, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will receive the application and inform Thai agencies to issue a media card, the statement said.
The guidelines were based on research of visa requirements from other nations, discussions with foreign correspondents and a meeting with executive members of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand.
CPJ challenged the government's statement that the guidelines were established in response to the changing nature of media.
"These restrictive new criteria clearly aim to hollow out the foreign media and silence critical foreign reporting on Thailand's rights-curbing military regime," said Shawn Crispin, CPJ's senior Southeast Asia representative, in a news release.
"It's a crude tactic that aims to instill fear and encourage self-censorship, and, if strictly implemented, could put Thailand in league with some of the region's most closed, authoritarian societies."


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BENARNEWS- A female orangutan is recovering at a wildlife reserve in Thailand's Phang Nga province after being discovered locked in a cage in the jungle Sunday, two days after vanishing from the Phuket Zoo.
Activists who had been pushing for the animal's release and wildlife officials went to the zoo Friday and found no trace of her, they said.
Two days later, officials at the Khao Phra Thaeo Non Hunting Zone found the orangutan, Milo, in a jungle about 35 kilometers (22 miles) north of the Phuket Zoo, in Phuket's Thalang District.
"The cage was locked. She couldn't get out," said Edwin Wiek, director of the Wildlife Friends of Thailand (WFFT).
Officers hammered off the padlock and Milo is now being housed and cared for at the Phang Nga Wildlife Breeding and Rescue Center, he said.
Police investigating
Prior to her disappearance, Milo was kept in a "dark concrete box" at the Phuket Zoo and "forced to take photos with tourists," according to a petition for her release posted on the website Change.org by animal activist Vicki Kiely in January.
Zoo officials were not available to comment on Milo's disappearance.
"We've had many requests for interviews about this case from many media outlets, so we have to ask for written requests in order to schedule interviews at times that are convenient for both sides. We are sorry for any inconvenience," an operator at the zoo told BenarNews.
An email request to the address on the zoo's website was not answered.
Police are investigating the case and collecting evidence to determine who was responsible for Milo's disappearance, according to Surapong Chaweepak of the Department of National Parks CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) Management Authority.
"If they are unable to find the responsible party within five years, the orangutan will become state property, after which time DNA tests will be conducted to determine if she is from Sumatra or Borneo. After that, we will begin the process to repatriate her," he said.
Black market value
Orangutans exist in the wild only on the islands of Sumatra and Borneo, where populations are listed as critically endangered and endangered, respectively. Sumatra is in Indonesia and Borneo is divided among Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei.
CITES lists orangutans as a protected species that cannot be kept without a license. Thailand is a signatory to the agreement.
A young orangutan like Milo has a black market value of about 250,000 to 300,000 baht ($6,990 to $8,390 U.S.) on the Thai black market, which is why it is unlikely the zoo would abandon it, Wiek said.
"If they really wanted her to disappear they could have sold her," he added.
In November 2015, Thailand returned 14 orangutans, including two born in captivity, to Indonesia after the Thai government dropped its demand to be compensated for caring for the animals, Agence France-Presse reported.
Past efforts to charge smugglers and private zoo owners with possession, sale and disposal of CITES-listed species had failed because of a loophole in Thai law. Thailand's law on the matter applies only to species native to Thailand and African elephants, according to Wiek.
Wiek said his organization is working with the Department of National Parks to draft a revised law that would give orangutans and other CITES-listed species similar protection. The WFFT has rescued more than 100 orangutans since its establishment in 2003 when it rescued 78 baby orangutans from the Safari World tourist attraction in Bangkok.


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BENARNEWS- Three years after the Thai government kicked off formal peace efforts in the violence-wracked Deep South, the two sides remain mired in the "trust-building" phase.
Those efforts stalled for longer than a year at one point, but they are still stuck in phase one even though Thailand's now-ruling junta repeatedly said that it expected to strike a peace deal with the rebels before the end of 2015 – phase two.
A member of the government's negotiating team now says that the military-led government has set a June 2016 deadline for the signing of an agreement.
Last week, Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong told reporters in Bangkok that he hoped dissidents would sign "an agreement to solve the differences" sometime during the first half of this year.
However, he did not say what would happen if both sides failed to agree to a deal by the end of June. An agreement would pave the way for the drafting of a road map to peace in the Deep South – the third phase of the process.
On Sunday, around 100 people turned out in Pattani province for a seminar marking the third anniversary of the signing of a document by Thai officials and representatives of southern rebel groups, which set the last round of formal peace talks in motion on Feb. 28, 2013.
Those Malaysia-brokered talks stalled in December 2013 under a civilian-led government, when the rebel side posted an online video listing demands that were deemed as unacceptable to the Thai side.
It wasn't until last year that the junta, which toppled Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in a May 2014 coup, resumed efforts aimed at persuading insurgent groups to return the formal negotiations table.
Since last May, the junta and representatives of rebel groups have held a series of back-channel meetings aimed at jump-starting formal talks.
"After the latest [off-the-record] talks in Penang earlier in February, we are near to clinching a conclusion of a term of reference – an agreement to solve the differences," Nakrob said Thursday at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand, but without giving a specific date.
He said the peace process was still in phase one because it has support of only 50 percent from the rebel side. Fifteen percent to 20 percent of rebels strongly opposed the process while another 30 percent are neutral on the issue, Nakrob conceded.
Peace 'not impossible to realize': rebel negotiator
A peace agreement would aim to end an insurgency in the predominantly Muslim, Malay-speaking Deep South in which more than 6,000 people have died in related violence since January 2004. On Saturday, a car bombing outside a police station in Pattani injured at least seven people, Agence France-Presse reported.
The next day, during Sunday's seminar at the Pattani campus of Prince of Songkla University, the Thai army's top commander in the region said the military fully endorsed the peace efforts.
"Security agencies accept the peace talks. They never objected to it because peace talks [represent] a universal approach," Maj. Gen. Shinawatra Mandesh told the seminar.
If the military could contain violence in the region and both sides finally could reach an agreement to solve their difference, "the saga will end," he said.
The seminar also featured the screening of videotaped message from Awang Jabat, the head of MARA Patani, an umbrella group representing various rebel groups and factions in informal negotiations with the junta.
"MARA Patani will be a friend as well as an opponent at the negotiation table," Awang said in the 18-minute video.
"Establishing peace in Patani is not impossible to realize. Peace can be achieved with commitment and sacrifice, when both sides acknowledged failures and mistakes in the past through dialogue and negotiation process," he added.
Awang also acknowledged that the setting up of so-called "safe zones," or ceasefire zones that are among the confidence-building measures included for phase one, have been hard to achieve.
"We have already noted that the local people have voiced their demand to set up safe zones. ... Setting up safety zones in a conflict area has never been easy and it could not be announced by just one side as we had heard. No one has ever done so," Awang added, alluding to the army Fourth Regional command, which Maj. Gen. Maj. Gen. Shinawatra leads.
'No side should try to be an only victor'
Sunday's seminar was organized by Deep South Watch, a local NGO that monitors the conflict and serves as a platform for discussing ways to end it.
Professor Srisompob Jitpiromsri, the director of Deep South Watch, said it was time for both sides to jump-start the peace process.
"We want to see peace talk get going forward," he told BenarNews.
"Both sides must offer reasonable conditions. No side should try to be an only victor. Each of them must make concessions and don't corner the other, or violence will come back," Srisompob warned


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BENARNEWS- With Thailand under international pressure to improve labor conditions in its lucrative seafood industry, a Thai tuna cannery has taken the unusual step of negotiating with hundreds of foreign workers over unpaid wages and benefits.
Talks with some its other workers were still under way but, as of Wednesday, the Golden Prize Canning Co. had agreed to pay out an estimated 80 million baht (U.S. $2.25 million) as compensation to 1,450 workers, a labor activist told BenarNews. Many of these workers are migrants from Myanmar.
Separately, around 150 so-called piecemeal workers, full-time contractors who normally don't receive medical insurance, vacation leave or other benefits, were demanding that the company compensate them like regular workers. They were planning to file a petition on Thursday with the local welfare and labor protection office in to order to spur Golden Prize to compensate them, the activist said.
"The employer agreed to pay 65 percent of the outstanding wages and fringe benefits in the amount of roughly more than 80 million baht," Suthasinee Kaewleklai, a staffer at the Migrant Worker Rights Network (MWRN), which provides legal assistance and translation service to migrants from Myanmar, told BenarNews.
She said the two sides agreed on Monday to set a two-year retroactive ceiling for unpaid back wages, in accordance with Thailand's labor code.
"It is a payback of wages, overtime on public holidays and redemptions of deductions. When they took sick leave without showing medical certification, the employer deducted their wages," Suthasinee said.
She said the Thai government in 2013 set a minimum daily wage of 300 baht per worker (U.S. $8.43), but employees on the factory floor at Golden Prize had only been paid 240 baht (U.S. $6.75) daily, and without public holidays or overtime.
'Unprecedented'
The labor dispute at the factory in Samut Sakhon province, near Bangkok, which employs some 1,800 people, began in July. Last Thursday, managers at Golden Prize began to listen to their demands when workers staged a strike at the factory about 60 km (37 miles) from Bangkok.
Company representatives could not be reached for comment.
Andy Hall, a British labor rights activist involved in campaigns to eliminate exploitation of Southeast Asians in the workplace, hailed the results of the negotiations so far at the plant.
"Only because workers and MWRN applied pressure [through the] media and strike did we get the result. Official systems for dispute negotiations failed and only because military and senior officials applied pressure did we get such an unprecedented result," Hall told BenarNews.
Last week's work-stoppage led to an intervention by the provincial governor, Thai labor officials, and a Navy-run agency whose mission is to combat illegal fishing in Thailand.
"We sent in a team to help mediate negotiations because this issue has been lingering for a long time. We acted like a referee," Vice Admiral Jumpol Lumpikanon, a spokesman for the Command Center for Combatting Illegal Fishing (CCCIF), told BenarNews by phone.
Golden Prize began to pay out factory workers on Monday and Tuesday, said the head of the province's welfare and labor protection office.
"The factory ran out of cash so it took [a long time] to pay [them]," Boonlue Sartpetch told BenarNews by phone from Samut Sakhon.
'No deadline'
Thailand's multi-billion seafood industry is an important sector in its economy. The country is the world's third largest exporter of seafood products, but last year's exposure in the press of allegations of the slave-like exploitation of foreign workers has caused repercussions in two huge foreign markets.
The United States, for one, was moving late last month to ban imports of products made by children or slave labor. Last April, the European Union handed Thailand a "yellow card" warning that the EU might ban Thai seafood imports if the country did not improve industry standards and align them with European standards on illegal, unregulated and unreported fishing practices (IUU).
The yellow card's six-month deadline was to have expired in October but, according to Vice Adm. Jumpol, the EU has yet to set a new date for Thailand to meet the IUU, or face a ban.
Instead, as of January 2016, the European Union asked Thailand to add the elimination of exploitative workplace conditions and fair labor practices to its IUU obligations, as well as have fisheries experts consult with Bangkok for the next two years on how to implement and enforce IUU-related measures, Jumpol said.
"There was no deadline, but measures to follow up over the span of two years," he said.


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BENARNEWS- Four people including at least two civilians were killed in separate shootings within a 24-hour span in Thailand's restive Deep South, local police said Thursday.
The four killings brought to 16 the number of people killed across the Deep South in shootings and bombings by suspected insurgents since Feb. 10, when Thai security forces raided a rebel hideout in Pattani province. Thirty-one other people were injured in 14 bombings and 18 shootings since then, officials said.
The recent spate of violence has taken place after a period of relative calm in the Deep South and while the Thai government has been negotiating with southern rebel groups to persuade them to reopen formal peace talks for the first time since 2013. Last year, the number of violent incidents in the region hit a record low since 2004.
Last month's raid appears to have triggered a series of retaliatory attacks by rebels, a security source told BenarNews on condition of anonymity.
"Since Feb. 10, there have been shootings more often. They seem like a vendetta," the source told BenarNews.
The latest killings began Wednesday night with the slaying of a paramilitary officer in Yala province, and culminated with three more deadly shootings the next day in Yala and neighboring Pattani.
Two of the victims were shot dead and set on fire, according to police.
One of the two, identified as rubber tapper Chatchai Saethong, 55, was gunned down and his body burned at around dawn on Thursday as he rode his motorcycle in Baan Sesehnai, a village in Yaha, a sub-district of Yala.
"Chatchai was shot dead with a handgun while riding a motorcycle on the way to work in a rubber plantation," Lt. Capt. Pol. Prachaya Hedhark told reporters.
Later Thursday, police in Yala's Muang district found the body of Arnus Muso, 26, an intelligence officer with the 41st paramilitary regiment in nearby Raman district. Police said they suspect insurgents killed him Wednesday night.
Meanwhile, electrician Suthas Kraiwan, 44, was shot while working on a utility pole Thursday afternoon in Pattani, police Lt. Col. Wichain Khamsao told reporters.
And at dusk, a retired policeman Ong-art Boonma, 82, was shot dead and burned while riding his bike, according to a police investigator in Pattani's Yarang district.
After receiving word of the four killings, the chief of the Thai Army's 4th regional command called a meeting to discuss how to thwart more attacks.
Safe zones not yet achieved
The killings came a few days after the third anniversary, on Feb. 28, of the launching of efforts by the previous Thai government to negotiate an end to the separatist insurgency in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region. More than 6,000 people have died in related violence since 2004, when the insurgency flared up again in the Deep South.
Those Malaysia-mediated peace talks faltered in December 2013. But the Thai junta, which toppled the government of Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra in May 2014, last year initiated efforts to revive formal peace talks through a series of closed-door meetings with representatives of MARA Patani, an umbrella body representing rebel groups and factions in negotiations with Thailand.
The ongoing efforts have yet to achieve "safe-zones," or ceasefire zones, which were one of the pre-conditions for formal talks established by the government, MARA Patani Chairman Awang Jabat acknowledged in a videotaped message that was screened at a seminar in Pattani on Sunday.
"We have already noted that the local people have voiced their demand to set up safe zones," Jabat said.
"Setting up safety zones in a conflict area has never been easy, and it could not be announced by just one side as we had heard. No one has ever done so," he added.


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BENARNEWS- Thai officials on Monday rejected allegations by the World Uyghur Congress (WUC) that six Uyghur men were beaten and denied medical treatment at a detention facility in Bangkok.
"In this case, we can confirm that it was not true. Because in the past, besides arresting them [Uyghurs] for illegal entry, we focused on giving [them] humanitarian assistance," Deputy governmental spokesman Maj.Gen. Weerachon Sukhontapatipak told BenarNews.
"If there is no evidence, they cannot make a blank accusation," he said.
Weerachon was among Thai officials responding to questions about a statement issued Friday by the Munich-based WUC, which expressed alarm "at the continued mistreatment of Uyghur refugees in Thai detention facilities" and alleged that six Uyghurs were "badly beaten" by police at a facility in Bangkok on Feb. 29.
"We are also deeply concerned that Thai authorities have not allowed for proper access to medical treatment for their injuries," said the organization that advocates rights for ethnic Uyghurs, a Turkic-speaking Muslim minority that faces repression in northwestern China's Xinjiang region.
Police Lt. Gen. Nathathorn Prosunthorn, who heads the Immigration Bureau that oversees detention facilities for undocumented immigrants nationwide, labeled the WUC's allegations as false.
"There is no such thing," Nathathorn told BenarNews. "We have only handful of Uyghurs in Bangkok. Most of them are in the south."
"The claimed content on the [WUC's] website was false. Uyghur [detainees] didn't even cause police problems at all," he added.
Nathathorn was referring to a specific allegation from the WUC about the six Uyghur men being beaten up by police after getting into a heated exchange with some officers at the Central Bangkok detention facility.
"The group [of Uyghur men] took exception to the fact that Thai officials at the facility had been watching an erotic film in the presence of the detainees, which then led to an argument between the two groups," the WUC said.
"Thai police were subsequently called in to calm the situation and reportedly beat the men, one of [whom] sustained serious head injuries," the statement in English added.
It noted that the six men and another 50 Uyghurs had been held at facilities in Bangkok for at least two years after being discovered at a human trafficking camp in southern Thailand.
"We remain rightly concerned that this mistreatment and lack of proper access to medical treatment will continue until the group is finally released from these facilities," the WUC went on to say.
"It is now the obligation of the Thai government to ensure that the remaining group of Uyghur refugees [is] freed from detention in a timely manner and that they are provided adequate care."
In July 2015, the World Uyghur Congress and rights groups criticized Thailand for forcibly repatriating nearly 100 Uyghurs to China – a move that sparked protests in Turkey, which is home to one of the largest Uyghur communities outside Xinjiang.
The WUC also said then it had obtained "direct information from a source on the ground in Thailand who indicated that at least 25 men were also killed trying to resist boarding the plane" – an allegation that Bangkok also rejected. But the WUC appeared to have taken down the statement hours after publishing it on its website.


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BENARNEWS- The situation for reporters in Thailand is "dire," a senior journalist told diplomats in Bangkok, citing military "attitude adjustments" for the local press corps and new visa restrictions for foreign media.
Press and internet freedom have eroded steadily under the Thai junta since the generals seized power in May 2014, Shawn Crispin, senior Southeast Asia representative for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), told a group of ambassadors this week.
Yet in his 17 years as a Bangkok-based reporter, "the situation for reporters, apart from when bullets are flying in the national capital during political protests, has never been more dire," Crispin said.
Since the coup on May 22, 2014, the government led by former Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha has cracked down on members of media and vowed to eradicate any reporting seen as offensive to the monarchy, according to Crispin.
Thai reporters have faced stricter scrutiny of their work over the last two years, and they "operate in a climate of fear and uncertainty, never sure exactly where the line between permissible and off-limits reporting lies," Crispin said.
"Local journalists who have crossed that vague line have suffered increasingly harsh reprisals, including so-called 'attitude adjustment' sessions in military custody," according to a transcript of his remarks that were posted on CPJ's website Thursday.
Pravit Rojanaphruk, a senior writer for Khaosod English, is a Thai reporter who has twice been summoned by the military for "attitude adjustment" sessions.
Journalists are called in for these brief periods of detention as a reminder to stop reporting critically about the junta, Pravit told BenarNews.
"There have been at least four Thai journalists receiving attitude adjustments. They were from Prachathai, Fadiewkan and a cartoonist as well as me," he said.
Last September, journalists and free press advocates called on the junta to free Pravit, who was a columnist for The Nation at that time, after he was held for an attitude adjustment.
He was asked to sign a document, failing which "he would be charged with sedition," a government spokesman said at the time.
In a separate episode, Pravit was held for a weeklong attitude adjustment session in May 2014, according to reports.
Foreign journalists could be forced to leave
Until now foreign reporters mostly have been immune from that the fear that stalks local reporters, but that could change soon, Crispin warned.
New restrictions on visas for foreign journalists, which are to take effect March 21, "could instill the same self-censorship practiced among local journalists in the foreign media," he said.
"If strictly enforced as written, the guidelines will inevitably hollow out Thailand's now robust foreign press corps and further curb critical news coverage of Chan-o-cha's rights-curbing junta," he added.
Previously, Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) provided foreign journalists with Type-M or Media visas, and allowed them to acquire a press card from Thailand public relations department. It also allowed them to get visa extensions from the immigration bureau and a work permit from the ministry of labor at a one-stop service office.
"The guidelines give authorities the power to deny visa applications in punitive response to any news they deem as 'disruptive' to public order or security," Crispin said. "How officials will measure or determine what constitutes a 'disruption' is unclear.
The new policy also requires that foreign journalists must work full-time for a registered news organization – a move that could negatively affect freelance reporters.
"If Thailand truly wanted to get in step with the changing nature of global media, it would implement measures that aimed to promote and protect freelancers, not restrict them," Crispin added.
Last month, after the New York-based CPJ first publicized its concerns about the new visa policy, the government released a statement denying that the policy was aimed at tightening access to the country for foreign reporters.
"Journalists, correspondents and freelancers employed by a news agency registered with the competent agency of either Thai or foreign government will not be affected," the statement said.
The new guidelines were not intended to "restrict, forbid or limit the work of foreign media, as well as foreigners who work in Thailand," it added.
'Very stressful'
Since Jan. 1, journalists have sought assistance in obtaining visas, Jonathan Head who chairs a professional committee of the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT), told BenarNews on Friday.
"In the last two months, I've been contacted by more than 10 people who have had problem with an M-visa that had them rejected – and that is very stressful," Head said.
"Some of them have lived here for a long time. The MFA advised them they can get business visa instead," he added. "And if an application for an alternative visa is not successful, they have to leave Thailand."


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BENARNEWS- International human rights activists joined the wife of a missing Thai attorney Friday in commemorating his disappearance 12 years ago and calling for laws to prevent such occurrences.
Somchai Neelapaijit was heading a high-profile lawsuit alleging torture of Muslim suspects by police in Thailand's Deep South when he was pulled from his car on Ramkhamhaeng Road in Bangkok on March 12, 2004, never to be seen again.
"We must not let those who lost a missing person or the victim of a forced disappearance face this alone," Somchai's wife, Angkhana Neelapaijit, told a seminar marking the anniversary at Sukosol Hotel in Bangkok.
"As for me, it's been 12 years struggling for justice in Somchai's case as well as for the victims and witnesses of enforced disappearances in Thailand. I confirm that in cases of forced disappearances, Thailand's justice is no justice," she said.
Representatives of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International and the Justice for Peace Foundation participated in the discussion, pressing for passage of a Prevention and Suppression of Torture and Enforced Disappearance Bill.
"The Thai authorities' failure to treat Somchai's 'disappearance' as a likely abduction and murder undermines their credibility," Brad Adams, Asia director for Human Rights Watch, said in a statement Thursday.
"Because Thailand doesn't recognize enforced disappearance as a crime, the authorities have avoided inquiring too closely into those who actually ordered Somchai's abduction and know what happened to him."
In January 2006, the government of then-prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra said that government officials were involved in Somchai's abduction and killing, the HRW statement said.
But in late December 2015, the Thai Supreme Court acquitted five police officers who had been implicated in Somchai's abduction, ruling that the evidence against the defendants was too weak.
Last March, Angkhana met with Department of Special Investigation Director-General Suwana Suwanjutha in Bangkok to request that the agency launch a new investigation, but little progress was made.
"DSI officials said they would contact witnesses for clues and would discuss with me when they could establish sufficient evidence," Angkhana, a member of Thailand's National Human Rights Commission, told BenarNews in January.
A Thai government representative told the gathering Friday that his department was working with "sincere intentions" on laws to prevent forced disappearances and protect human rights.
"When these kinds of incidents occur, we are never happy. We do not want these incidents to happen," said Somchai Komkrit, directory of Rights and Liberties Protection Department at the Ministry of Justice.


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BENARNEWS- Rebels in Thailand's restive Deep South mounted a series of attacks that killed a defense volunteer and injured 11 other people on Sunday and Monday, authorities said.
The attacks brought to 20 the number of people killed in spurts of related violence across the region since Feb. 10, when Thai security forces raided a rebel hideout in Pattani province.
The latest attacks occurred around the 56th anniversary of the founding of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – which remains the largest and most powerful of the armed separatist groups in Thailand's predominantly Muslim far southern region. The anniversary fell on Sunday.
The incidents also took place amid ongoing efforts by the Thai junta to persuade rebel groups and factions to resume formal peace talks for the first time since December 2013, when a civilian-led government was in office.
Rebel groups wanted to show their ability to launch attacks on BRN's anniversary, Gen. Chakthip Chaijinda, the national police chief, told reporters Monday.
Members of other rebel groups joined BRN members in mounting attacks in six or seven locations in Yala and Narathiwat provinces, he said.
Rebels infiltrate hospital
The attacks began when four rebels started shooting at a military base in Cho-i-rong district, Narathiwat province, on Sunday. No one was injured, police said.
Later, rebels launched a larger attack at an Army Ranger base camp 4816, officials said. After authorities responded, the rebel group entered a nearby hospital and fired on the soldiers before eventually fleeing into the woods. Authorities reported that seven soldiers were injured.
Security forces did not open fire on the hospital over concerns for staff members who were in the building. The army and National Human Rights Commission condemned the rebels' infiltration of the hospital as inhumane.
Orawan Namkhan, a nurse at Cho-i-rong hospital who was six months pregnant, confirmed that rebels entered the hospital and shot at the military base next-door.
"There were about 10 rebels who ran into the hospital to hide, and they tied my hands in the back. Luckily I was quiet, so I was safe. If I shouted, I would have been killed," she told reporters.
The fatality occurred Monday, when the defense volunteer was shot dead along the road in Narathiwat's Muang district. Four others, including a civilian, were injured in separate attacks in the Deep South.
Following the attacks, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha ordered the army to increase security in the southern provinces, Reuters reported.
"The government can't accept actions that are above the law," junta spokesman Maj. Gen. Sansern Kaewkumnerd told reporters, according to Reuters.
New wave of violence
The attacks on Sunday and Monday marked the third round of deadly violence this month.
On March 3, four people, including two civilians, were killed in separate shootings over a 24-hour period.
Five days later, three officials were shot dead in separate attacks. A woman who was shot and severely injured while traveling by road to a rubber plantation in Pattani's Tung Yang Dang district.
The bloodshed within the past five weeks has taken place against the backdrop of back-channel efforts by the Thai junta to try and get the BRN and other rebel groups to re-open formal peace talks and settle the region's long-running conflict. More than 6,000 have died in it since 2004.
Last year, the junta began holding meetings with MARA Patani, an umbrella group representing various rebel groups and faction, including the BRN, that were aimed at pointing both sides back on a track to peace talks.
But last month, Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, a member of Thailand's negotiating team told reporters that the pre-peace talk process was still stuck in the mutual "trust-building" phase.
The government now set a June 2016 deadline for the signing of a peace deal, but Nakrob did not say what would happen if both sides failed to strike a deal by then.


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BENARNEWS- The largest human-trafficking trial in Thai history opened Tuesday with testimony from a Rohingya man who told a harrowing tale of deception and suffering at the hands of people-smugglers.
Former Thai army Lt. Gen. Manas Kongoaen and 89 other defendants went on trial in Bangkok on charges of being involved in a transnational human-trafficking ring stretching from Myanmar to Malaysia via Thailand.
"Both hands were tied with rope and we were forced to board the vessel, walk down to the second deck and sit on a cramped floor," Roshiduila, the Rohingya witness and a trafficking victim, testified in describing the start of his five-day sea journey from Myanmar to Ranong – a port on Thailand's Andaman Sea coast – early last year.
The trial of the defendants who include Manas and other army officers, policemen and government officials from several provinces in southern Thailand, is expected to last until mid-December.
Key charges against the defendants include human trafficking involving international crimes, illegally holding others and concealing bodies. The human trafficking charges carry a sentence of up to 15 years and a fine of up to 1 million baht ($28,469 USD), if convicted.
Manas and the scores of co-defendants were chained at the ankles as they sat together on benches in the courtroom during the first day of their trial.
Manas and the others were arrested last year as part of a Thai crackdown on illegal immigration. The crackdown was triggered in May 2015, when the bodies of 32 suspected undocumented migrants were discovered at traffickers' camps abandoned in the jungle in Songkhla province, near Thailand's border with Malaysia.
Southern Thailand has long been a transit point for Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and Bangladeshi migrants trying to enter Malaysia illegally by sea and land.
The discovery of the graves also led to Thailand imposing a maritime blockade on smugglers boats trying to land on its shores. The blockade precipitated a humanitarian crisis in Southeast Asia as thousands of desperate Rohingyas and Bangladeshis came ashore in nearby Malaysia and Indonesia.
Deceived
Roshiduila, a native of Hisuritha village in Myanmar's Rakhine state, was the only witness to testify on Tuesday.
Through an interpreter he testified that a local constable, Hashimyuila, served as a major broker who lured Rohingya Muslims into the clutches of a human-trafficking ring.
According to Roshiduila, Hashimyuila promised people like him a better life in Malaysia, away from persecution in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar.
"Hashimyuila told me and three other friends there were jobs in the construction sector, and each would earn 1,500 ringgit a month (U.S. $361)," Roshiduila said, adding that the broker promised a journey in an air-conditioned cruiser.
Roshiduila said that he and some other villagers believed that the constable would not cheat them, so they decided to take a chance. One night early last year, he and 20 people from the village embarked on a small boat from a nearby pier.
The boat sailed to a rally point in the Andaman Sea, where many other victims of trafficking were forced to board fishing boats, he testified.
Some of them tried to resist, but they were kicked and forced to board the vessel by 10 Burmese-speaking men who were armed.
Roshiduila, who understands some Burmese, said he heard guards mention that the number of passengers had reached 270. The ship set sail the next evening.
He said guards told them they needed to keep quiet, that they would receive one meal a day along with a small portion of water twice daily, and could use a rest room once a day.
At the end of his testimony, Roshiduila identified photos of seven Thai and foreign traffickers whom he encountered at trafficking camps in Ranong. He referred to them as "big bosses."
Testimony is scheduled to resume on Wednesday and go on through Friday.
During their arraignment in November, 88 suspects pleaded not guilty to the charges, as did two more suspects on Tuesday. Two other suspects are in custody but have not been charged. Investigators said another 61 suspects remain at-large.
Back in November, a judge said that the court expected to hear from more than 400 witnesses as well as defendants.
Trial concerns
Meanwhile, a U.S.-based human rights advocacy group warned that the trial could be flawed.
Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, cited the fact that a key potential witness, former Thai Police Maj. Gen. Paween Pongsirin, the policeman who had headed the investigation into the transnational ring, fled to Australia in December, saying he feared for his safety after Thai authorities ordered a stop to the probe.
"Pongsirin is a key witness in this case, and the fact that he fled Thailand in advance of this trial, fearing for his life, is deeply concerning," Smith said.
"We've talked to other witnesses who are also afraid – and for good reason. Witnesses in this case are testifying against members of the Thai Army, Navy, Police, the Internal Security Operation Command and others," she added.
In addition, according to Fortify Rights, Thailand "has failed to provide adequate protection to witnesses."
"Of the hundreds of witnesses scheduled to testify, we are aware of only 12 that are receiving formal protection under the Ministry of Justice. If Thailand is genuine about seeing justice served in this case, protection of witnesses needs to be a top priority," Smith said.


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BENARNEWS- Rebels in southern Thailand violated international law by taking over a hospital while attacking a military installation in Narathiwat province this week, the United Nations and Human Rights Watch said.
The U.N. Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia (OCHCR) issued a statement Wednesday deploring the actions of between 10 and 50 rebels who reportedly seized the Cho-irong Hospital in Narathiwat for about 30 minutes on Sunday, while patients and medical staff were inside.
The insurgents endangered the lives of civilians and medical workers by using the building to stage an assault on nearby Army Ranger Base Camp 4816, Bangkok-based U.N. officials said.
"This incident is a flagrant breach of international law. We are appalled that a public hospital was used in such a manner, and that the lives of hospital staff and other civilians were put at risk," said Laurent Meillan, the acting regional representative for OHCHR.
"Hospitals, medical units and medical personnel are protected under international humanitarian law, and they should not be targeted or used for military purposes at any time," the office said.
Thai security forces surrounded the building while the rebels were inside the hospital, BenarNews reported Monday. Thai authorities said soldiers withheld fire even though insurgents were shooting at them from the hospital. The rebels eventually fled into nearby woods.
According to the regional branch of Thailand's Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), 40 to 50 insurgents were involved in the hospital incident.
Health workers in harm's way
"The insurgents' seizure of a hospital in southern Thailand is far more damaging than just the harm done to the facility's equipment," Brad Adams, Asia director for New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement issued Tuesday.
"Putting hospitals at risk of attack threatens the lives of patients, doctors and medical workers throughout southern Thailand. The insurgents should publicly commit to ending attacks on medical facilities immediately."
Before retreating, the insurgents tied up a pregnant nurse and destroyed hospital computers, telephones and other equipment, HRW said, adding that the incident violated "the laws of war."
"Individuals who order or deliberately carry out an attack on a hospital are responsible for war crimes," HRW said.
"Claims by insurgents that attacks on civilians are lawful because the targets are part of the Thai Buddhist state or because Islamic law as they interpret it permits such attacks have no legal justification."
Both HRW and the U.N. Human Rights Office cited figures from Thailand's Ministry of Public Health, which reported that at least 112 public health volunteers and hospital staff had been killed or injured, and 28 community health centers burned down or bombed during the past 12 years in Thailand's insurgency-wracked Deep South.
'If I shouted, I would have been killed'
Orawan Namkhan, the pregnant nurse who was bound during Sunday's incident, said she saw 10 rebels storm into the hospital as they tried to hide from Thai forces.
"They tied my hands in the back. Luckily I was quiet, so I was safe. If I shouted, I would have been killed," the eyewitness told reporters.
No one was killed or injured during the incident, but one defense volunteer and 11 other people were injured in attacks carried out by southern insurgents on Sunday and Monday.
The latest attacks unfolded around the 56th anniversary of the founding of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN) – the largest of the armed separatist groups in the predominantly Muslim, Malay-speaking Deep South.
The attacks brought to 20 the number of people killed in related violence in the region since Thai security forces raided a rebel hideout in Pattani province on Feb. 10.
They also took place against the backdrop of ongoing efforts by the Thai junta to persuade rebel groups and factions to open formal peace talks for the first time since 2013. Since 2004, more than 6,000 people have died in the conflict.
On Wednesday, ISOC's Region 4 command announced the arrest of a man suspected of taking part in Sunday's takeover of the hospital by rebels.
"He has been under interrogation at Ingkayuth Borihan Fort in Pattani [province] to see whether he was involved in the shootout," ISOC 4 spokesman Col. Yuthanam Petchmuang told reporters.
Meanwhile in Narathiwat, security forces on Wednesday held five local men for questioning after launching a mission in Ra-ngae district to search for suspected insurgents.
Some rebels escaped into the forest, but the authorities recovered gas tanks and other bomb-making materials, said 45th Paramilitary Regiment Commander Col. Rungroj Anandhato.
Nasueroh in Pattani, Thailand, contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Hassan Abdul Rahman, whose pen name is Astora Jabat, is a household name in Malaysia media for his controversial writings in Mingguan Malaysia, a Sunday edition of a local Malay daily Utusan Malaysia.
His writings are so controversial that the nation's Islamic Development Department in 2013 branded the former Utusan journalist a supporter of "liberalism and pluralism."
One of his most controversial writings is "The Prophet ordered us to reject hudud," published in August 2002. Since then, hardliners have called his works deviant.
Astora also writes on the Deep South conflict – a natural topic for a man who hails from Narathiwat.
On air
Astora said his columns in Mingguan Malaysia have garnered at least 8,000 emails and letters along with two bullets from critics.
In 2013, Astora took his writings to the air, becoming a leading host for Media Selatan (South Media) station, a Thai-based political radio station that promotes debates on the conflict. Astora has more than 2 million followers across Asia.
Recently, Astora put down his pen and shut off his microphone, trading them for two wheels. The 62-year-old is on a cycling expedition across ASEAN countries to spread a message through his Bike for Peace expedition in the wake of Deep South insurgency.
In recent weeks, violence has escalated in the region, leaving at least 20 dead across the region since Feb. 10. The latest attacks occurred around the 56th anniversary of the founding of Barisan Revolusi Nasional – which remains the largest and most powerful of the armed separatist groups in Thailand's predominantly Muslim Deep South.
On Sunday, rebels violated international law by taking over a hospital while attacking a military installation in Narathiwat province, the United Nations and Human Rights Watch said. The U.N. Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia (OCHCR) issued a statement Wednesday deploring the actions of between 10 and 50 rebels who reportedly seized the Cho-irong Hospital in Narathiwat for about 30 minutes while patients and medical staff were inside.
BenarNews met Astora in Kuala Lumpur, 1,400 km (870 miles) into his trip from Thailand in over two months.
He has met people along the way and took time to "explain and make them understand the conflict," emphasizing that peace is the only way.
His self-sponsored expedition resulted from his passion for peace in his homeland. Although it is a small contribution, he believes everyone needs to play their part in the Deep South.
"In order to achieve peace, we must diversify our ways to achieve it, and my way of doing so is by cycling to all 10 ASEAN countries.
"We now have the locomotive to accomplish the peace declaration ... and I am doing my part to help it accelerate along with other NGOs who want peace declaration to happen in Southern Thailand," he told BenarNews in an exclusive interview.
Astora plans to share his writings and a video documentary of his journey.
"Hopefully, it will be televised in Thailand. I also hope people would enjoy and come together joining my cause for peace," he said.
Risky ride
Astora has faced challenges throughout the first leg of the trip.
"There are militants in Southern Thailand and soldiers who are opposing the idea of the peace declaration because they think they are not quite ready to settle down just yet," he said.
Astora's journey began with a six-day ride from Pattani to Narathiwat with more than 30 cyclists from Mahidol University of Bangkok, Songkhla University in Pattani and cyclists from Southern Thailand.
Initially, Astora struggled and was often left behind since he is not a long-distance cyclist.
"It was a risky ride as I am prone to be the target to some of these militants as they know who I am and my mission behind this cause," he said. "Eventually on the final day of the expedition in Southern Thailand, I got to cycle consistently, spearheaded the whole team throughout the day."
On Feb. 1, Astora parted with the team and rode solo from Thailand to Malaysia – a 17-day ride of more than 800 km (497 miles) to reach Kuala Lumpur.
"Contrary to my first expedition in Thailand, I have not encountered any militant threat in Malaysia, but I had to put up with the extreme weather and having to look after myself in case of emergency," he said.
Challenges along the way
He soon met other Malaysian cyclists. Astora told of his joy while riding across the states in Malaysia, saying he has been treated hospitably by locals and fans of his writings, especially in the rural areas.
"I wasn't expecting such treatment from the locals here. They provided me a place to stay for the night and meals and I am blessed to be surrounded by generous people," he said.
Apart from message of peace, Astora intends to spread the idea of healthy living.
A year for peace
Astora is continuing his expedition to the southern part of Malaysia, riding into Singapore and making his way back to Thailand through Malaysian states such as Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan.
He expects his ride to last a year as he travels through Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Myanmar, Indonesia, Brunei, Philippines and Timor Leste.
As Astora rides for peace, the Thai junta continues to try to persuade rebel groups and factions to resume formal peace talks for the first time since December 2013, when a civilian-led government was in office.
The government set a June 2016 deadline for the signing of a peace deal, but Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, a member of Thailand's negotiating team, did not say what would happen if both sides failed to strike a deal. The region's long-running conflict has seen more than 6,000 killed since 2004.


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BENARNEWS- More than 1,000 young football enthusiasts from across Thailand's restive Deep South flocked to Narathiwat province recently to take part in a special coaching clinic featuring football legend Kiatisuk "Zico" Senamuang, coach of the Thai national team.
The clinic was one of many activities organized by the Ministry of Education (MoE) as part of a campaign launched a year ago to promote youth sports in Thailand's five southern border provinces.
Earlier this year, the MoE adjusted the national education curriculum at the primary level to mandate that students spend more time pursuing non-academic pursuits during the school day.
The move followed years of reports that Thai students fared poorly in standardized testing compared to other countries in the region, despite spending very long days in the classroom. In Thailand, even 6-year-olds report for school at 8 a.m. and end their day at 4 p.m.
"The MoE understands that if we systematically incorporate more sporting activities into the education system, it will increase the potential of youths here to help develop the country in a sustainable way," Deputy Minister of Education Lt. Gen. Surachet Chaiwong told the crowd during an opening ceremony.
The government also hopes the project will lead more local youths to pursue sports-related careers, possibly as teachers and trainers working with future generations of young athletes – and possibly even launching some of the most gifted athletes onto the international stage.
A lack of opportunities
Students attending last week's clinic were bused in from throughout the region.
Leading drills, Zico explained how mastering four fundamental skills – footwork, passing, heading and shooting – is key to developing the personal skills that can then be applied to learning the all-important ability to work as part of a team.
"From my past experience I have seen that football players from the South possess good technical skills at just about every level, but they tend to get eliminated from competitions early due to a lack of experience. I want to help these kids develop their abilities and pass these skills on to future generations of young footballers for greater success in the future," he said.
Afnan Baka, 16, a student at the Darussoliheen School, a private Islamic religious school in Muang Narathiwat district, said he and other youths in the three southernmost border provinces were pleased to get instruction from a famous coach.
"Most kids in this region like sports, which is normal. However we lack good opportunities because of the incidents of unrest that happen here so often," Afnan said.
Since 2004, about 6,500 people – mostly civilians – have been killed in violence linked to an insurgency in the region, according to Deep South Watch, a watchdog group. Thailand is a predominantly Buddhist country but the Deep South is predominantly Muslim.
"I consider us all lucky that the state sees the importance of promoting sports and the potential to become professional football players in the future. I am really sure this is a fine idea, but I think we could get even better results if they made it an ongoing project," Afnan said.
Thai Students who excel in football have more incentives than ever to aspire to jobs as professional footballers, following the last major expansion of the Thai Football League in 2009.
The system, based largely on the English EPL, has 18 teams in its elite Thai league. Sixteen more teams vie for promotion from the highly competitive Yamaha Division 1. The third tier includes the Division 2 Regional leagues, with more than 100 teams in eight divisions.
Despite the overwhelming popularity of football throughout Thailand, the country has yet to realize its dream of sending its national squad to FIFA's World Cup.
It has won a slew of championships at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) but failed to claim a top-three finish in the more competitive Asian Games since its inception in 1951.


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BENARNEWS- With much of Thailand suffering the worst drought in 24 years, the water supply for Bangkok and other urban populations is dropping to critical levels, officials warn.
The reservoirs of four dams along the Chaophraya, the nation's largest river that feeds the central plains and passes through the Thai capital, could run out of water by July unless significant rainfall comes during the upcoming wet season and people conserve water, according to officials.
The total capacity of the four dams – Bhumibol, Sirikit, Pasak Cholasit and Kwai Noi – has fallen to 37 percent of their combined capacity, but only 2.56 billion cubic meters of water reserved for irrigation, drinking and other uses will last until July based on the dams' current effluent rate, Prutipong Tasanchaleekul, a director of an irrigation office in the suburban Bangkok district of Rangsit, told BenarNews.
Yet he remains optimistic that rainfall will help raise reservoir levels during the traditional rainy season, which starts in July.
"We still have El Niño, and late July should show a sign of La Niña, which is also a transition from dry season to rainy season," he said, referring to the warm weather phenomenon of El Niño which is expected to give way to cooler temperatures during a counter-phenomenon known as La Niña.
"There should be rain, rain fall. There will be peak of rain fall in the five-year span of La Niña," Prutipong predicted during a phone interview.
As a measure for cutting down on water consumption, officials in Bangkok earlier this month announced a curfew during Thailand's upcoming water festival and celebration of Songkran, the Thai new year, according to reports. Last month, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha ordered rice farmers to reduce their output in order to save water. He also called on Thais in general to conserve water such as by taking shorter showers.
"[W]e need all parties to campaign to save water for urban and capital consumption and no more off-season rice cultivation," Prutipong said.
Worst drought since 1992
At the Bhumibol dam in Tak province, the water supply has already dropped to 682 million cubic meters, or 7 percent of its full reserve capacity, Rakchart Lekboonpetch, an engineer who works at the facility, told BenarNews.
The reservoir at the dam is at its lowest level since 1992, said Satit Saikaew, another engineer at Bhumbol.
The shortage resulted from a miscalculation in 2012 when the dam, the nation's second largest reservoir, released 5 billion cubic meters of water to fulfill a surge in rice farming, which was buoyed at the time by a controversial rice mortgage scheme implemented by the government of then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. The former PM is now facing charges related to corruption in that scheme.
"It was a miscalculation in 2012. Some 5 billion cubic meters of water was dispensed to farmers as they enjoyed good price rices, but we did not have water to replenish the dam," Satit told BenarNews.
Isaan farmers hit hard
In irrigated zones, farmers may cultivate their paddies three times a year. Thailand has some 22 million acres of paddy fields, which yielded 23 million tons of rice last year. Some 6 million acres are useable for off-season cropping.
But this year, water in rivers in northern Thailand that are tributaries of the Chaophrya have partially or completely dried up.
In Thailand's most impoverished northeastern region, known as Isaan among locals, the severe drought led to a sharp drop in output for small-scale rice farmer Siri Ekchote.
As a result of last year's meager rainfall between June and August, his yield of jasmine rice and sticky rice sank from 360 to 160 sacks.
"If there is no rain after Songkran, we villagers won't have water to feed our cattle and we cannot grow any crop," he told BenarNews.
China controls water
Thailand's northeast, which has been hit hardest by the drought, borders the Mekong River from which water has been harnessed for dry season farming.
But the water supply from the Mekong has been impeded by five dams built by China upriver since 2003. Now, a project by Laos to build a dam along the river could add to irrigation woes in Thailand.
In recent days, China started to release water from its Jinghong Dam along the Mekong. Officials in Thailand's Nongkhai province started harnessing water from the river on March 15.
And during a meeting in Sanya, China, between Chinese officials and leaders of five Southeast Asian countries, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth on Wednesday called for "constructive" cooperation states that use the Mekong, the creation of a water-management plan that would benefit all of them, and the establishment of a center that would allow those countries to share information about the their use of the river, the Bangkok Post reported.


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BENARNEWS- Thai police Thursday announced the arrests of 15 Malaysians suspected of trying to smuggle crystal methamphetamine and heroin with a street value of millions of dollars by train into Malaysia.
The suspects were arrested Wednesday aboard a train heading to Padang Besar, a southern Thai town on the Malaysian border, police said.
"There are 226 kilos [nearly 500 pounds] of Ice [crystal meth] and eight kilos [18 pounds] of heroin," Police Lt. Gen. Thitiraj Nonghanpitak, chief of the Thai Central Investigation Bureau (CIB), told a press briefing in Bangkok on Thursday.
He called the haul one of the largest ever in Thailand. Thailand's southern border region is notorious as a hub of cross-border criminal activity, including human trafficking and the smuggling of narcotics.
More than 10 Malaysian suspects were paraded at the briefing at the CIB office, where confiscated backpacks, each containing several packets of crystal meth and heroin, were displayed.
The suspects were charged with co-possession of first-class narcotics, but all of them denied the charge. They face jail terms of up to 10 years and/or a fine of up to 200,000 baht (U.S. $5,660), if convicted.
Police Maj. Gen. Sommai Kongwisaisuk, a deputy commander of the CIB, said the heroin was wrapped in 350-gram packets and the Ice in one-kilo packages.
In Bangkok, the price of a packet of heroin is estimated at 500,000 baht (U.S. $14,154), and a one-kilo packet of Ice fetches 300,000 to 500,000 baht (U.S. $8,494 to $14,154), police said.
Lt. Gen. Thitiraj said the smugglers stayed away from roads.
"Highway police had check points so they used a train instead. Some of the packets are wrapped with [aluminum foil sheets]. There are some X-ray machines that cannot see through foil. I believe some couriers smuggled by air as well," he said.
Surge in smuggling via rail
Pol. Col. Putidej Boonkrapru, a railway police supervisor, said trains became the preferred mode of transportation a few months ago, leading railway police to step up their anti-drug campaign.
Sommai said the 15 gang members boarded first-class, air-conditioned train in separate cars.
Based on a police detective tip, railway officers arrested the first two suspected couriers, who were carrying 23 kilos of Ice while in Rajaburi province, some 150 km (93 miles) west of Bangkok. He said the police later managed to trace 12 others and made more arrests as the train kept traveling south.
Suspect paid to carry drugs from Chiang Mai: Malaysian diplomat
One of the suspects said he was paid to carry a backpack from northern Thailand, but didn't know what was inside it, Fauzi Khan Ismail, an official with the Malaysia embassy in Bangkok, told reporters.
The courier was paid 5,000 baht (U.S. $141) per packet, Fauzi said. Each backpack on display contained more than 10 packets.
"They got this consignment in Chiang Mai. So they couriered these drugs to Hat Yai, [because] it is close to the Malaysian border," said Fauzi, who represented the Malaysian government at the press briefing.
His country wants to work with other Southeast Asian countries to eradicate the drug trade, Fauzi said.
"In Malaysia, we are facing lot of drugs problem also. Since January this year, our narcotics department, two or three times, they busted big groups," he said.


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BENARNEWS- Military officials in Thailand's Deep South said Thursday they had detained and questioned people in connection with the armed takeover of a local hospital by insurgents on March 13.
Since a group of rebels briefly seized the Cho-irong hospital in Narathiwat province while mounting an attack on a nearby military installation, Thai security forces have searched for suspects in districts throughout Narathiwat and neighboring Yala province, said a spokesman for regional office of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC).
The searches led to the detentions of up to 14 people, Col. Yuthanam  Petchmuang, deputy spokesman for ISOC 4, told reporters at the regional command's forward office in nearby Pattani province.
"We have adequate reasons to question three suspected individuals for having supporting roles in the seizure of Cho-irong hospital," Yuthanam said Thursday.
Without naming any suspects, he added that 11 more suspects were detained for playing other supporting roles in the incident at the hospital on March 13.
He said the detainees were questioned separately by military intelligence officers at three different military installations in the Deep South.
The hospital seizure occurred amid a series of attacks launched by rebels on the 56th anniversary of the founding of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most powerful of various insurgent groups and factions waging a separatist war in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region.
Since 2004 at least 6,000 people have died in the conflict. The flurry of rebel attacks on March 13 and 14 took place amid ongoing efforts by Thailand's military-controlled government to persuade the rebel groups to resume formal peace talks for the first time since December 2013.
'Relatives must be informed'
According to a human right activist, the military has an obligation to reveal the suspects' names and be more clear about their whereabouts.
"In tracking down people for legal proceedings, if some are invited for questioning or being detained, their relatives must be informed about detention places and allowed a visit, to be in line with laws and human rights principles," said Somchai Suthiklom, chairman of a human rights subcommittee for the Deep South.
"That shall lessen conflicts and create trust among parties involved," he added.
During the takeover of the hospital by between 10 to 50 rebels, the insurgents reportedly shot at a nearby military outpost while patients and medical staff were inside the building.
The seizure drew an outcry from the U.N. Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia and U.S.-based Human Rights Watch. Both issued statements deploring the actions of the rebels, saying they had violated international law by taking over the hospital and endangering the lives of patients and medical workers.


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BENARNEWS- Muslim insurgents fighting for a separate state in Thailand's Deep South shot and killed two military intelligence officers, a local village leader and two civilians over the weekend amid a resurgence of violence since the beginning of March, police said Monday.
The escalation of rebel attacks came as reports said the personal details of thousands of foreign nationals living in southern Thailand were briefly leaked online in an apparent data breach during a website test for police.
On Saturday, civilians Duroning Sama, 51, and Abdulashi Salae, 36, were shot dead in a rubber plantation in Yala's Muang district, according to a government security official who believed the two were targeted because they were believed to be government informants.
On Sunday, Tosa Benyunus, 53, a deputy village headman in Pattani's Mayo district, was gunned down at his residence by a four men in motorcycles, Police Col. Jiradesh Dao-ngern-trakul said.
"We believe it is the work of insurgents" he said.
Intelligence officers killed
Following the incidents, two military intelligence officers were shot dead in Kaotoom Village in Pattani's Yarang district.
Pvt. Addaha Jedad and Pvt. Panawan Tesanarak were killed as they were riding through Kaotoom village, according to Pattani Provincial Police Bureau commander Maj. Gen. Tanongsak Wangsupa.
The officers were attached to the Sirindhorn military base and Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) Region 4, the Thai military command with responsibility for the Deep South.
Tanongsak also said he believed insurgents were behind the killings, which came about two weeks after insurgents briefly took over a local hospital – the Cho-irong hospital in Narathiwat province – while mounting an attack on a nearby military installation.
The hospital seizure was part of rebel attacks on the 56th anniversary of the founding of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most powerful insurgent group.
6,000 have died since 2004
Since 2004 at least 6,000 people have died in the separatist war in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region.
Ongoing efforts by Thailand's military-controlled government to persuade the rebel groups to resume formal peace talks for the first time since December 2013 have met with little success.
Experts and residents are anticipating more violence following the weekend killings.
"The increasing killings of civilians lately, for whatever reasons, are an indicator that the violence is highly likely to escalate," said professor Srisompob Jitpiromsri, director of Deep South Watch, a local NGO that monitors the conflict and serves as a platform for discussing ways to end it. "This also indicates that there could be more serious incidents," he told BenarNews.
Srisompob said that government attempts to quell tense situation through development projects seemed to work out as they are more broadly embraced by locals but there are some residents who he felt did not trust the authorities.
"There are more development projects and the officials have opportunities to meet locals," he said. "But villagers are divided – with one group starting to gain the trust of the government and another which don't trust the government and stayed away from joining any projects," Srisompob said.
A native of Pattani, who identified himself as just Doloh, said the latest killings heralded a new round of a bloody campaigns by the insurgents.


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BENARNEWS- A commission appointed by Thailand's military-controlled government on Tuesday unveiled a proposed new constitution, amid warnings from the junta that it would go after people who criticized the draft charter.
The new constitution will be voted on in a nationwide referendum set for Aug. 7, Meechai Richuphan, chairman of the Constitution Drafting Commission (CDC), told a news conference in Bangkok as he unveiled the 105-page document.
The referendum would mark the first time that Thais go to the polls since the junta seized power in May 2014, and later invoked Article 44 of the interim constitution granting the military absolute power.
Elections are to follow later at an unspecified date. In September, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha announced that elections would take place in Thailand in July 2017 at the earliest.
But the proposed charter contains a controversial clause that rights advocates have criticized for allowing the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – the formal name for the junta – to hand pick all 250 senators, including 6 officers from the military's top brass.
"Asked why we, the drafting commission, had a provisional clause to allow appointed senators, the answers are the NCPO feels its past efforts to bring back peace are not quite done yet. A pledge to reform politics was not fulfilled yet," Meechai told reporters.
The new constitution aims to reform the nation's politics and stamp out corruption, he said.
'Prolonged control'
However, the clause about senatorial appointments is making elected officials and other politicians nervous, said retired Lt. Gen.Nathadej Meksawat, an observer of Thai politics.
"What is getting in the way of politicians are NCPO-appointed senators who will counter-balance an elected government," he told BenarNews.
Meanwhile, a representative of Human Rights Watch (HRW) voiced skepticism about the draft charter putting Thailand firmly back on a democratic path.
"We are trying to hold the junta accountable to its pledge to return to civilian democratic [rule] to Thailand, but this draft charter is showing the opposite," Sunai Phasuk, with HRW's Thai office, told the Associated Press.
"It doesn't give any promise of a democratic transition, but rather a prolonged control of the military," Sunai added.
Thailand-based academic Paul Chambers told Agence France-Presse that the draft constitution was a "charter which expands military and judicial power at the expense of democracy."
As for the upcoming referendum, Prime Minister Prayuth has not made it clear what would happen if the proposed charter is rejected at the polls.
'Officials will take immediate action'
In the days prior to the draft constitution's unveiling on Tuesday, junta officials said they had stepped up efforts to ensure "order" ahead of the constitutional referendum.
"If any group creates misunderstanding or confuses society, officials will take immediate action to restore order," Army chief Theerachai Nakvanich was quoted as saying in the Bangkok Post.
On Monday, Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwon said he would propose that the NCPO "re-educate" politicians who displayed "unruly" behavior after being summoned for attitude adjustments.
The warning came after Thai officials had reportedly summoned two politicians for so-called "attitude adjustment" detention sessions. They included Pheu Thai party member Watana Muangsook, who posted a comment on Facebook suggesting that the prime minister should take responsibility if the proposed charter was rejected in a referendum.
A human rights group issued a statement Saturday expressing grave concern about the detention of Watana and fellow party member Worachai Hema.
"The Thai Lawyers for Human Rights calls for the National Council for Peace and Order to respect the right to exercise the freedom of expression of people which is [a] fundamental right provided in Article 4 of the interim Constitution [of] 2014 and the ICCPR [International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights] to which Thailand is a state party," the Thai Lawyers for Human Rights said.
An earlier version of this report incorrectly identified Worachai Hema as the person who posted a comment on Facebook about the prime minister taking responsibility if the proposed charter failed in the Aug. 7 referendum.


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BENARNEWS- Thai authorities have arrested a woman for sedition over a photo she posted on Facebook, drawing criticism from rights activists as another move by the junta to silence peaceful dissent.
Theerawan Charoensuk, 57, was arrested Tuesday and released on bail pending a military trial, after posting a photo of herself holding up a red plastic bowl inscribed with Thai New Year's greetings from ousted Prime Ministers Thaksin Shinawatra and Yingluck Shinawatra. Red is the color associated with the Shinawatras' political party.
Theerawan's arrest came on the day that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-Cha issued a decree granting the military broader powers to arrest and detain people.
"Sedition charges for a Facebook photo expressing symbolic support for Thailand's political opposition shows the military junta's utter disregard for peaceful dissent," New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) said Wednesday in a statement.
The arrest over the red bowl seen in the picture demonstrates that the junta's intolerance of dissent has "reached the point of absolute absurdity," HRW Asia Director Brad Adams said.
"When military courts try people for posting photos with holiday gifts from deposed leaders, it's clear that the end of repression is nowhere in sight," he added.
'Is it legal to support an outlaw?'
On Tuesday, Prayuth, a retired army general who replaced Yingluck Shinawatra as prime minister following a military coup in May 2014, told reporters that the bowl was inscribed with the name of a fugitive, which is an act of sedition. He was referring to ex-PM Thaksin who lives in exile.
"Look at the inscribed materials, they are of an outlaw. Is it legal to support an outlaw, a fugitive?" Prayuth said.
"The sedition here means [Theerawan] does not obey the laws," he added.
A military court in the northern province of Chiang Mai, a stronghold of the Shinawatras, freed Theerawan on bail set at 100,000 baht (U.S. $2,780), pending a military trial. She faces up to seven years in prison, if found guilty of the sedition charges.
Journalist barred from attending press event abroad
Her arrest occurred amid a growing atmosphere of fear in junta-ruled Thailand, which has seen a clamp-down by the military on civil liberties, public protests and free speech.
This week the junta denied a journalist's request to travel to Finland in order to attend an event in May marking World Press Freedom Day.
Pravit Rojanaphruk, a senior writer at Khaosod English, a Thai news website, said Wednesday that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – the official name for the junta – had rejected his request to allow him to leave the country for the Finnish trip.
"I heard of the denial by phone this morning. The NCPO did not reply in writing and has not clarified the reason for denial," Pravit told BenarNews.
Since the junta toppled Yingluck's government two years ago, Pravit, a former columnist for The Nation newspaper, twice was summoned by the authorities for so-called "attitude adjustment" detention sessions after he had published articles that were deemed as critical of the military-controlled government.
Expansion of police-like powers
Meanwhile, Prayuth Chan-o-cha declared in the Royal Gazette on Tuesday that he was authorizing military officers to take on new police-like powers. These would allow soldiers to arrest people suspected of committing 27 types of crimes, including defamation loan sharking and gambling, the Associated Press reported.
The powers give soldiers the authority to summon, arrest and detain suspects in non-prison facilities, search people's premises and seize assets at their discretion.
The new powers are an extension of Article 44, a clause in Thailand's interim constitution, which the junta invoked last year and that granted the military sweeping law-enforcement powers, according to reports.
"These measures are another affirmation of the strengthening of a military state," Sunai Phasuk, a researcher for Human Rights Watch in Thailand, told Reuters, referring to the military's new powers.


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BENARNEWS- Two civilians were killed and 12 other people were injured in several bomb attacks and a shooting carried out by suspected rebels in Thailand's Deep South  on Wednesday night and Thursday morning, Thai police and military officials said.
All of the attacks took place in Pattani, one of the provinces in the insurgency-wracked southern border region, with at least eight bombs going off in multiple attacks, officials said.
The attacks brought to at least 27 the number of people killed in the Deep South since Thai security forces raided a rebel hideout in Pattani on Feb. 10.
The latest attacks followed attacks over the weekend that killed five people, including two civilians. Since 2004, at least 6,000 people have been killed in violence associated with the separatist insurgency in Thailand's predominantly Muslim Deep South.
On Wednesday night, an official at Prado, a tambon or cluster of villages in Pattani's Yarang district, was shot and killed by two  unidentified men in a drive-by attack, police said.
The victim, 40-year-old Teerapong Pattanabutr, was riding home on his motorbike when he was gunned down.
Before midnight, six bomb explosions occurred around Yarang, another tambon in Yarang district. One of the blasts injured five policemen who were setting up a checkpoint near a local post office, officials said.
The five wounded officers were taken to a local hospital where they were treated for non-critical injuries.
At 6 a.m. on Thursday, a bomb exploded at a house in Bangpu, a village in Yarang district, killing one person, identified as Nit Rodpetch, and injuring another civilian.
Nit died at the scene and one of the other victims,  Waemaheng Kuanekwin, 71, was rushed to a hospital in the district.
"He regained consciousness and is in stable and safe condition," his son Mayase told BenarNews.
At around 9:30 a.m., another explosion occurred as a police bomb-squad and forensics team inspected the scene of one of the bomb attacks. Six officers were hurt, but their injuries were not life-threatening, according to officials.
Col. Yuthanam Petmuang, a deputy spokesman for the regional headquarters of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC 4), said insurgents had carried out the attacks using pipe-bombs.
"The bombs used were small ones – not powerful – and they were planted in a hurry. The attacks were just done by insurgents who wanted to have public recognition that they still exist," Yuthanam told reporters.


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BENARNEWS- Red bowls inscribed with a Thai New Year's greeting from ousted prime ministers Thaksin and Yingluck Shinawatra are part of an agenda to stoke turmoil in Thailand, a government spokesman said Monday after soldiers confiscated more than 10,000 bowls over the weekend.
"There are many ways to sincerely express well-wishes to the nation on the (Thai New Year) festival," Government spokesman Maj. Gen. Sansern Kaewkhamnerd told reporters in Bangkok,
He accused the Shinawatras' Pheu Thai party of reaching out to supporters in an inappropriate way through these red bowls, which are used for scooping and splashing water during new year's festivities.
"The action which had a hidden agenda and can only be interpreted as exploiting the festival to instigate division and turmoil in the society," Sansern said.
The brouhaha over the bowls deepened in the past few days amid a growing clampdown on political dissent.
According to reports, these included moves by the junta that threatened to send dissenters and critics to the insurgency-wracked Deep South for so-called attitude adjustment sessions, and a government ban that forced the cancellation of an event at a bookstore, where a discussion on the country's proposed constitution had been scheduled.
The bookshop's owner, Rodjaraeg Wattanapanit, only last week became the first Thai recipient of the U.S. State Department's International Women of Courage Award.
'The situation is hot'
On Saturday, more than 30 Thai soldiers raided an office of Sirindhorn Ramasutra and Poonsuk Lohachote, seizing 8,862 red bowls. In two other raids, the military seized another 1,500 red bowls each from Cholnan Srikaew and Nattapong Supariyasilp. All four are members of the Pheu Thai Party – whose official color is red – and former members of Thailand's House of Representatives.
Police did not file a report or press charges against the four. But last week Theerawan Charoensuk, a woman who posted a photo of herself holding up one of these red bowls, was arrested and charged with sedition.
In an Instagram post on Sunday, Thaksin Shinawatra, who was toppled in a coup in 2006, claimed the military had threatened sedition charges against his former party members.
"The military threatened Section 116 [a sedition charge] and forced the house representatives to tell them where they got the bowls. The bowls bear my name and Pheu Thai MPs handed them out, if you they want to charge me just do it," he said.
Thaksin, who lives in exile, dared the government to arrest him because the bowls bore his signature.
The message inscribed on the bowls reads, "Happy Songkran [Happy Thai New Year] 2016, and even though the situation is hot, hope all brothers and sisters will cool down from water in this bowl."
The Pheu Thai party has been out of the limelight since the May 2014 coup that ousted Thaksin's sister, Yingluck Shinawatra. She is facing trial for alleged corruption in a rice mortgage scheme. A Thai court expects to issue a verdict late this year or early 2017.
Bowls are part of 'political campaign': expert
A Thai political observer said the handout is a symbolic gesture for Red Shirts, the pro-Shinawatra movement, to uproot the Prayuth regime before the verdict on Yingluck's case is reached.
"The government knew about the move that they would use red bowls as a symbol [for Red Shirts] to vote against the charter and to overthrow the government before the trial progresses further or before the judgment day of Yingluck," Sutin Wannabovorn told BenarNews on Monday.
"The delivery of red bowls is a political campaign that exploits Songkran New Year festival," he added.
Winyat Chatmontri, the secretary general for Free Thai Legal Aid, who represented a few Pheu Thai party members as clients, disagreed with the way that the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – the junta's formal name – handled the bowl issue.
"As a lawyer, I can say that to possess a red bowl is not wrong and the red bowl cannot be used to do wrong," he told BenarNews, adding "Having the inscription on them does not mean they have a political agenda or have breached Section 116."
"It does the NCPO no good to scare people and to force them to support it on whatever they do such as new charter or whatever coming up," he added in a phone interview.
Attitude adjustment sessions in Deep South?
Returning home Sunday from the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha, addressed the issue, questioning whether it was appropriate to possess bowls as symbolic support for the former prime ministers.
"To share the photos with the public to draw attention, right or wrong, I don't know. It could be legal but is it appropriate?" he asked reporters.
Since taking seizing power nearly two years ago, the NCPO has summoned several politicians and reporters for "attitude adjustment" detention sessions for speaking out against the government.
According to Thai media reports published over the weekend, Army Commander-in-Chief Gen. Teerachai Wongwanich said he had devised a seven-day attitude adjustment course to stop government criticism, and was considering sending critics to such sessions in the Deep South.
Bookstore talk canceled
Meanwhile, the junta banned a discussion at the bookstore, scheduled for Sunday in Chiang Mai, on the nation's draft constitution.
A government commission last week unveiled the proposed constitution amid warnings from the junta that it would go after people who criticized the draft charter. The new constitution is to be voted on in a nationwide referendum set for Aug. 7.
On Saturday, Rodjaraeg, the owner of the independent Book Re:public, posted regrets on the shop's Facebook page, saying it would not be able to host the discussion because of the government ban, the Thai news website Khaosod English reported.


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BENARNEWS- A new decree giving soldiers police-like powers to arrest suspected criminals will help maintain order, a Thai junta spokesman said Tuesday in defending the move from criticism by rights groups.
"The intention of the order is to allow the military to respond to the law breakers in order to keep the public peace," Col. Piyapong Klinpan, deputy head of the public relations office for the National Council for Peace and Order – the junta's formal name – told BenarNews.
"We fairly exercise laws in line with good governance, which is the most important thing. We will not arbitrarily use the laws against any groups of persons or person," he added during a phone interview.
On Tuesday, six international NGOs that advocate human rights issued a joint statement condemning NCPO Order 13/2016, the decree issued by the junta last week that gives military personnel as well as paramilitary volunteers from the rank of sub-lieutenant and up powers normally reserved for law enforcement officers.
The NGOs demanded that the Thai government revoke the order immediately.
"The implementation of Order 13/2016 will almost certainly lead to violations of Thailand's international human rights obligations and the rule of law and must be revoked immediately," Wilder Tayler, Secretary General of the International Commission of Jurists, said in the joint statement, which was co-signed by Amnesty International, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), and Human Rights Watch, among other groups.
"We have observed a steady erosion of human rights protections in Thailand since the military coup of 22 May 2014 and this Order signifies another, jarring, movement in the same direction," Tayler added.
The decree is an extension of Article 44, a clause in the interim constitution that the junta evoked last year when it ended martial law but gave the military sweeping powers. The decree authorizes military personnel to arrest people suspected of involvement in 27 crimes, including gambling, loan sharking and human trafficking.
The powers give soldiers and other military personnel the authority to summon, arrest and detain suspects in non-prison facilities, search people's premises and seize assets at their discretion, according to the Associated Press.
According to the six NGOs, the decree is legally problematic and could pave the way for human rights violations for several reasons. Among them, the order creates potential impunity by giving military personnel immunity from prosecution; actions taken under the order are not subject to judicial review; the decree allows the military to hold suspects for seven days without judicial oversight; and it could be opened to abuse and used to silence government critics, the NGOs said.
"The Order is yet another example of the pernicious removal of powers from the judicial system to review the military's actions, to the detriment of rights protection and the rule of law," Champa Patel, Interim Director, South East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, Amnesty International, said as part of the statement from the NGOs.
Responding to the NGOs' particular concern about immunity for military personnel, Col. Piyapong told Benar, "The order realizes the need to provide soldiers with lawful protection, in which the NCPO adheres to the rules of laws."


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BENARNEWS- The Thai government and armed separatist groups in Thailand's Deep South say they are planning another round of informal peace talks for later this month, despite a surge in violence.
A spate of shootings and bombings that killed at least 30 people over the past eight weeks may have prodded the Thai junta to speed up the regional peace process, a spokesman for an umbrella body representing various southern rebel groups and factions in negotiations told BenarNews.
MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafiz said the violence could be seen as "a form of pressure on the Thais to be serious about the peace process, in order to make this process formal as soon as possible."
"The process is still not official and there has been no formal agreement regarding a reduction or cessation of attacks from both sides," he said via email, adding that the rebel side hoped to hold another round of informal talks with Thai officials before May.
"So it's no wonder that the attacks are still going on since there is no mutual agreement," he added.
A member of Thailand's negotiating team, however, dismissed suggestions that the stepped-up violence was related to the Malaysian-brokered peace talks. He expressed confidence that the first informal meeting since August 2015, with both sides fully represented at the negotiating table, would take place as early as the end of April.
"The violence has nothing to do with the talks because, even if there are no talks, they perpetuate violence anyway," Army Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, the secretary for the Thai team, told BenarNews.
Resurgent violence
Through back-channel negotiations the junta has been trying to persuade southern rebel groups to resume formal peace talks for the first time since December 2013, when they stalled under a civilian-led Thai government.
Since the junta's efforts got into full swing last year and MARA Patani emerged on the scene in August 2015 as the umbrella body negotiating on behalf of several rebel groups and factions, the informal talks have not gone beyond the trust and confidence-building phase. As Abu Hafiz noted, both sides have yet to agree to a ceasefire.
The insurgency in Thailand's predominantly Muslim, Malay-speaking southern border region has lasted since the early 1960s, but picked up again in 2004 after a long lull in fighting.
Over the past 12 years, more than 6,500 people have been killed and at least 11,000 injured in violence associated with the conflict, according to Deep South Watch (DSW), a local think-tank.
Amid the efforts to jumpstart formal peace talks, the number of deaths related to the conflict dropped last year to a record low of 246 since 2004, DSW reported.
But the intensity of attacks by suspected rebels and clashes between insurgents and Thai security forces has increased sharply since the Thai military raided a rebel hideout in Nong Chik, a district in Pattani province, on Feb. 10.
Infighting among rebels?
Commentators on both sides attribute the surge in violence to disagreements among the rebel ranks over the peace process.
Some members of Barisan Revolusi Nasional, the largest and most powerful of the rebel groups and which is represented on MARA Patani, have split from BRN because they don't agree with the process, said a former BRN commander who identified himself only as "Abdullah."
"As far as I know from active BRN members, they have formed a new unit that perhaps includes PULO members to counter the government forces, to denounce the insincere peace talks and to oppose to MARA Patani," he told BenarNews during an interview in Pattani, referring to the Patani United Liberation Front, another rebel group.
On two occasions last year, a secretive group that identified itself as the Information Department of BRN publicized its objections to the current peace process, but it did not identify MARA Patani by name.
On Oct. 12, the group issued a four-page statement demanding that the peace process involve international mediators and that Thailand recognize the sovereignty of the "Patani." This was the same demand made by BRN leaders that led to the previous round of formal talks collapsing three Decembers ago.
Angkhana Neelapaijit, a member of the National Human Rights Commission, told Benar that she had learned that "many armed elements on the ground do not accept those in MARA Patani at the negotiation table as their representatives, despite the existence of BRN members."
Angkhana is the wife of a Muslim lawyer from the Deep South who disappeared 12 years ago, and whose clients were suspected insurgents in military custody.
As Deep South Watch director Srisompob Jitprisomsri sees it, through the uptick in violence  rebels are "trying to show resistance to the government."
"Recently, the BRN started to kill more civilians and officials. It is because they are preparing to launch bigger attacks," Srisompob told BenarNews.
"However, I believe the peace-talk approach that can be accepted by all will achieve peace," he added.
'Some are outside the control of MARA'
Abu Hafiz of MARA Patani acknowledged that not all rebel groups and factions were united behind the umbrella body.
"There are armed groups who are affiliated with MARA and some are outside the control of MARA, including those from unknown groups," he told Benar.
"Usually these militia groups have been created by rebel soldiers – they are believed to be involved in individual assassinations and also drive-by shootings at crowded areas, such as coffee shops, or in villages," Abu said.
In spite of skepticism voiced by some analysts, Lt. Gen. Nakrob said that two BRN leaders who were part of the MARA Patani negotiating team from the beginning last year – Awang Jabat and Sukree Hari – had not pulled out of the umbrella group and were still engaged in the peace process.
But the secretary of the Thai negotiating team did acknowledge that divisions existed within the rebel ranks, as well as on the Thai side, over the process aimed at ending decades of bloodshed in the Deep South.
Citing as an example BRN leaders who oppose peace talks, Nakrob suggested that, sooner or later, they would have no choice but to follow the will of people in the region.
"Both sides, we and dissidents, have some individuals who agree with, who are neutral toward and who are against the talks. But at the end of the day, the ones who are opposed to the talks will need to be with their supporters, and they [will] need to agree," Nakrob told Benar.


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BENARNEWS- Nearly two years after an ethnic Karen land-rights activist known as Billy went missing in Thailand, friends, loved ones and activists are calling for a transparent investigation into his disappearance.
Porlajee Rakchongcharoen (a.k.a. Billy), who was 30 years old then, was last seen on April 17, 2014 near Kaeng Krachan National Park in Petch Buri province, 100 miles (161 km) south of Bangkok.
His wife, Pinapa Prueksawan, blamed the then-chief of the national park, Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn, and three of his subordinates for detaining her husband who never returned home.
The next day, Billy was expected to testify as a witness for ethnic Karen farmers in a court case. He was helping Karen farmers who live in Pongluek-Bangkloy, a village near the national park, who were seeking compensation after park officials allegedly set fire to several homes in 2011.
Last week, rights activists went to the Bangkok headquarters of the Department of National Parks to present officials with a petition calling on its acting director to investigate whether any officials in the parks service were responsible for Billy's disappearance.
"We seek the suspension of Chaiwat Limlikit-aksorn," said Pornpen Kongkajornkiat, director of the Thai NGO Cross-Cultural Foundation (CrCF), referring to an official who headed Kaeng Krachan National Park when Bill went missing. "We believe Chaiwat was involved in arresting Billy ...."
Pornpen joined other human rights advocates and ethnic Karen in handing the petition to officials on Thursday.
Ruengsak Teekasuk, an official at the department, said authorities were not ignoring the issue.
"I will forward the petition to the director. This issue has reached the court level. The department is not taking it lightly and is trying to give justice to all parties," Ruengsak told the activists.
According to Pornpen, the department has established a committee to investigate Billy's case, but it has not shared results with his relatives, the Karen community and the public.
The case has drawn international attention.
When Amnesty International in February released its latest annual report, "The State of The World's Human Rights," AI Secretary-General Salil Shetty  called on Thai authorities to investigate the cases of the alleged "enforced disappearances" of Billy and Somchai Neelapaijit, a lawyer from Thailand's restive Deep South who vanished from a Bangkok street 12 years ago, the Bangkok Post reported.
A hill tribe
The Bwa G'Naw people, otherwise known as Karen, Kariang or Yang, are members of a hill tribe that is scattered across Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.
According to population estimates, the number of Karen ranges between 7.5 million to 14 million, with most of them concentrated in Myanmar. Some 320,000 Karen live in Thailand, according to the Frontier Projects Thailand website operated by the Pentecostal Assemblies of Tribes.
The Karen differ from other hill tribes in that they live in permanent villages at lower elevations.
Karen communities sometimes practice slash-and-burn farming, which can lead to conflict with forestry officials, especially when certain zones are declared forest reserves or protected national parkland.
According to the Bangkok Post, park officials set fire to 20 Karen homes in 2011 in an effort to stave off alleged land encroachment by Karen.


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BENARNEWS- Rodjaraeg Wattanapanit, the co-owner of a Chiang Mai bookstore that has been an oasis for the free exchange of ideas in Junta-ruled Thailand, says she worries about growing censorship and diminishing freedoms since the generals seized power in May 2014.
Last month, the 49-year-old graduate of Payap University became the first Thai to be honored with the International Women of Courage Award by the U.S. State Department. She travelled to Washington to accept the honor alongside 13 other women from across the globe.
But since returning home from the United States, her Book Re:public bookstore was forced by the regime to cancel an event, during which people were going to discuss a controversial constitution drafted by a commission appointed by the National Council for Peace and Order, the junta's official name.
In 2011, she co-founded the bookstore, which has since grown into a popular meeting place among intellectuals and scholars in northern Thailand.
Rodjaraeg is also the co-founder of Creating Awareness for Enhanced Democracy, or "Café Democracy," an association dedicated to increasing political awareness, empowering citizens and encouraging the free exchange of ideas in society.
Since junta took power, Rodjaraeg has twice been summoned for so-called "attitude adjustment" sessions at military camps. She was required to sign documents promising to refrain from all political activities as a condition for her release.
Her bookstore, which was forced to close for a full year, resumed its role as a center for debate after its re-opened its doors in October.
"Since reopening at the end of last year, Book Re:public has become an indispensable public space for neighbors to gather, discuss societal problems, and develop solutions to Thailand's political challenges," the U.S. State Department said in presenting the award to Rodjaraeg.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry noted that reopening the bookstore was done at "great personal risk."
In an exclusive interview with BenarNews, Rodjaraeg talked about her new award, her country's future, as well as her concerns about the state of freedoms and human rights in Thailand under the junta.
BenarNews: What inspired you to open the bookstore?
Rodjaraeg: Before opening the bookshop, I was working for the Community Forest Support group, a non-governmental organization working on conservation and community forest issues.
When the Bangkok crackdown took place in 2010, I was deeply disturbed by the fact that members of the public were shot dead right in the heart of the capital. Even though we may hold opposing political views, nobody should have to lose their life for choosing to assemble to express their views or call out for their rights.
After that, my friend and I needed an answer to the question of why democracy in Thailand was going backward, not forward.  So we turned our attention to reading books about Thailand's history, politics and society.
We thought that access to this type of knowledge and understanding should be made available to society at-large. We realized that one way of accomplishing that would be to open a bookstore, which could also serve as a public forum for the exchange of ideas and civilized debate.
BenarNews: So the bookstore was primarily intended to serve as a public place for exchanging political knowledge and views?
Rodjaraeg: We wanted to establish a space for people to come and exchange ideas about any and all issues that affect their daily lives.
In the past, we held dialogues on just about every subject imaginable, including many that involved gender issues. It was not restricted to political debate.
But, at the same time, politics are almost always involved in these topics in one way or another. Whether it be dam construction or other environmental issues, capital investment or suggesting changes to the law as it relates to LGBT issues, it always comes down to the policies of the state.
Politics is all-encompassing. It is not just about administration.
BenarNews: What does this award mean to you?
Rodjaraeg: I accept this award on behalf of women and all people who are fighting for justice in Thailand. I am glad to have been recognized by the global community.
The United States has supported me and the principles of human rights, by bestowing this on me and other woman who uphold these principles, even if it means having to face the power of an authoritarian state.
BenarNews: What is the most challenging aspect of your work right now?
Rodjaraeg: The hardest part of the current situation is censorship and the loss of freedom of expression, which I hold as a basic human right.
The military government is still using Article 44, which gives it full power to either back or abolish projects with no public input whatsoever. We need to find a way out of this situation in the future.
BenarNews: Why were you twice invited by the military government to undergo "attitude adjustment"?
Rodjaraeg: The first time I was invited to the Kawila Army Camp, which is in Chiang Mai. The second time it was by the Army Central Command.
I asked my interrogator, "Why do I need to report myself twice?"
One high-ranking army officer told me it was because me and my work at Book Re:Public had an influence on the new generation of Thai society. I like to think of this as a sign of admiration.
BenarNews: After that did you have to change your approach or the goals of your work at the bookstore?
Rodjaraeg: Our bookstore was put under such pressure that we were first forced to move, and then we had to close down for a full year. We finally reopened in October 2015.
We certainly had to change our activities after that because we were no longer allowed to engage in activities that could be deemed critical of the state. But, at the same time, we continued to insist that we had not done anything wrong in the past.
We still wanted see our country progress and develop, so our goals remained the same as they always had been. That is to say we never held up democracy as some final, ultimate goal, but rather we wanted to see "the democratic process" advance with greater respect for human rights.
BenarNews: Do you still feel that you are under pressure from the state?
Rodjaraeg: I am still under pressure from the state because my activities are constantly monitored.
Before I was released from the army camp, I had to sign a memorandum of understanding stating that I would not take part in any political activities whatsoever. This will remain in effect until the National Council of Peace and Order (NCPO) ceases to exist.
BenarNews: Do you have any hope for Thailand's future?
Rodjaraeg: I can't see much hope for positive change over the next five years, especially with a draft constitution that would [vest] so much power with the military, allowing them to continue to control politics through parliament, infringe on human rights and eliminate political opposition.
My only hope is that groups like ours, who oppose authoritarian rule by an unelected military government, will continue to grow in size and number.


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BENARNEWS- Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, who chaired a Thai government panel working to restart peace talks with insurgent groups in the country's Deep South, has been removed from that duty, he told BenarNews on Wednesday.
"I've been verbally informed that I've been removed from the post," Nakrob said, adding that he did not know what his next assignment would be.
Someone else from the government team, now reduced to eight members, will take over negotiating details of demands and terms between the two sides, Nakrob said.
But an informal meeting between government negotiators and MARA Patani, an umbrella group representing Deep South rebel factions, is still set for next week, both sides said. It would be the first meeting with both sides fully represented since August 2015.
Government participants in the process recently met to prepare for pre talks in late April, Maj. Gen. Shinawatra Mandesh, deputy commander of the 4th Region, which encompasses the Deep South, told BenarNews on Tuesday.
MARA Patani spokesman Abu Hafiz said Wednesday that his side was waiting for the Thai government to fix a date for talks to be held in Kuala Lumpur next week.
Recent violence
MARA has known about Nakrob's pending removal since last week, Hafiz told BenarNews.
"It won't have any major impact, as we expect that ToR [terms of reference], that have been already agreed by both technical teams, will be tabled for endorsement by the main dialogue teams" at the late April meeting, Hafiz said.
But he called Nakrob's exit "a pity ... because Nakrob is easy to get along with and understands the procedures of the peace talk process."
There was no immediate explanation for the removal of Nakrob, a key government actor in peace-making attempts since 2013.
Violence linked to the separatist insurgency in Thailand's predominantly Muslim far southern provinces of Yala, Patani, Narathiwat and several districts of Songkhla province has claimed more than 6,500 lives since deep-rooted conflict reignited in the region in 2004.
A spate of shootings and bombings that killed at least 30 people in the Deep South in recent weeks had raised questions about whether peace efforts under the current government, which have dragged on for months with little concrete outcome, were still on.
In comments to BenarNews on April 8, Nakrob expressed confidence that the next round of talks was still on.
"The violence has nothing to do with the talks because, even if there are no talks, they perpetuate violence anyway," Nakrob said.
Pressure
In public comments around the same time, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said the dialogue panel tended to rush negotiations, and that insurgents were using violence to pressure the government.
"They tried to pressure for a speedier peace process. On several topics, we told them, don't touch on that yet because we haven't yet fully recognized  (MARA Pattani members) ... as real members of the (insurgent) organization," Prayuth told a press conference on April 5.
He criticized the media for its coverage of the attacks, saying, "The more we report, the more they like it.
"Every five days, every 10 days, like mounting pressure on the government to recognize them," Prayuth said, referring to the attacks.
"I am reiterating here that nobody can pressure me. And if they pressure me, I will use legal means to take care of the security of the people and bring wrongdoers to justice."
Implications of Nakrob's removal
Nakrob was the only person on the negotiating team who had been involved in Deep South peace efforts since they were launched under the previous administration of Yingluck Shinawatra in 2013.
He understands the Malay language used in the Deep South and had been the negotiator most deeply immersed in the technical aspects of the talks.
"Lt. Gen. Nakrob has been secretary of the peace talk panel for a long time and has experience from the beginning since the first panel [in 2013] and the only experienced one the government has. Now he is removed, I think there will be some problems in terms of making talk policy, but we will wait and see," Srisompob Jitpiromsri, director of Deep South Watch, told BenarNews.
Nasueroh in Pattani, Thailand, contributed to this report


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BENARNEWS- The former secretary of a government team negotiating with southern rebels to re-open formal peace talks was removed from his post because of a routine reassignment of duties, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha told reporters in Bangkok on Thursday.
"It is a normal reshuffle. He was in the position for many years, and it will not impact peace talks because another person can also do [the job]," Prayuth said during a news conference at Government House.
The Thai junta chief was referring to Army Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, who was the only member of the Thai team involved since 2013 in efforts to negotiate a peaceful solution to a long-running separatist insurgency in Thailand's Deep South. A civilian-led government was in power when peace talks with southern rebels stalled in December 2013, but a military coup led by Prayuth toppled it in May 2014.
Prayuth's comments came a day after Nakrob confirmed to BenarNews that he was no longer the secretary of the nine-member Thai negotiating team and was being reassigned.
"I've been verbally informed that I've been removed from the post," Nakrob told BenarNews on Wednesday.
He said someone else from the team would assume his duties, which involved negotiating details of demands and terms between the Thai side and MARA Patani, an umbrella body representing Deep South rebel groups and factions in Malaysia-brokered discussions aimed at restarting formal peace talks.
Informal talks have been underway since last year and another round of these talks between the Thai team and MARA Patani was still expected to take place in Kuala Lumpur sometime next week, officials from both sides told BenarNews.
Violence linked to the conflict in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region has claimed more than 6,500 lives since the insurgency flared up again in 2004. A recent spurt in rebel attacks has killed at least 30 more people over the past two months.
One of the rebels' main demands, which led to the previous round of talks stalling in 2013, is for Thailand's central government to grant autonomy to the Deep South.
But at Thursday's news conference, the prime minister bristled when he was asked about whether Thailand might agree to create a special autonomous zone in the southern border region.
"Don't talk about governance ...," Prayuth told reporters, adding that the government could provide the region with all of its development needs.


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BENARNEWS- Former Thai prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra on Friday rejected suggestions by current leader Prayuth Chan-o-cha that he had hired "foreign lobbyists" to orchestrate protests in Bangkok earlier this week.
"I don't need to waste money to hire anyone to condemn the Thai prime minister and thus damage the country," Thaksin wrote on his Facebook page.
"There are no lobbyists in the world who can ruin you as much as you do yourself," he added, apparently addressing Prayuth.
"This government took power by a coup and administered the country for two years. What has it done for the world to see? The image is tainted with unprecedented violations of people's rights," he said, suggesting this could lead to investment boycotts that would "severely impact the Thai economy" for many years.
The war of words between the billionaire former telecommunications tycoon, who lives in self-exile after being charged with corruption in 2008, and the general who has led Thailand with an iron hand for two years, followed an unusual show of resistance to the junta earlier this week.
"Who did this? Who supported them? Who plotted this out? Who [hired] foreign lobbyists? Thaksin. You all know this," Prayuth told reporters Thursday when asked about the demonstration.
Mock vote
About 200 people clad in white T-shirts gathered Tuesday to protest the detention of Watana Muangsuk, a former commerce minister and leader of Thaksin's Pheu Thai party.
Watana was taken in Monday for a third "attitude adjustment" after posting remarks on Facebook against the constitution that has been drafted by the Thai junta and is to be put to a referendum in August.
Demonstrators set up a mock polling station and acted out voting against the document, which critics say sets the stage for prolonged military control of the country.
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Nontarat Phaicharoen/BenarNews
Political gatherings of more than five people are illegal in Thailand under the National Council For Peace and Order (NCPO), the formal name for the junta. About 400 police surrounded the demonstration. Two protest leaders were briefly detained but released without charges.
On Thursday, Watana was charged with defying an order issued by the NCPO banning political activity, the Bangkok Post reported.
He was released late Friday, after a bail payment of 80,000 Baht (U.S. $2280), according to a post on his Facebook page.
Campaigning outlawed
Prayuth took power in May 2014 in a military coup that toppled Thaksin's sister Yingluck after months of paralyzing anti-government protests. Junta leaders say they seized power to stabilize the deeply divided country.
Prayuth appeared irritated when reporters asked about Watana at a press briefing Thursday.
"The duty of the NCPO is to keep peace and order and maintain the judiciary system. Anyone who violates the law is wrong ... Law is law. Today we rule [the country] like this," he said.
He went on to accuse Thaksin of orchestrating the recent protest.
On Friday, Thailand approved a law providing a 10-year jail sentence for anyone campaigning ahead of the constitutional referendum, AFP reported.
The law criminalizes "deceiving, forcing or influencing a voter to not cast his vote or vote in any direction," the report said.
In a statement from Geneva Friday, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein expressed concern about military rule in Thailand and tightening curbs on free speech.
"An open and dynamic public debate on the draft Constitution would foster national unity, strengthen the legitimacy and acceptance of the Constitution and provide a sense of collective ownership," Zeid said.
"I urge the Government to actively encourage, rather than discourage, dialogue and engagement on the draft Constitution."
He further urged the government "to suspend the application of these dangerously sweeping laws and orders that have bestowed more power upon the military."
"We fairly exercise laws in line with good governance, which is the most important thing. We will not arbitrarily use the laws against any groups of persons or person," Col. Piyapong Klinpan, a spokesman for the junta, told BenarNews earlier in April, after an NCPO decree gave soldiers police-like powers to arrest people.


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BENARNEWS- A shooting and two bomb attacks in Thailand's Deep South killed three people and injured at least 20 others on Monday, ahead of an informal round of peace talks between the Thai government and local rebels expected later this week.
The latest fatalities brought to at least 35 the number of people killed in attacks by suspected rebels since Feb. 10, when Thai security forces raided a suspected insurgent hideout in Pattani, one of the provinces in the Deep South.
Two bombs rigged to motorcycles exploded simultaneously in two locations in Narathiwat province around midday, police said. The explosions killed one person, identified as 33-year-old Ruslan Da-o, and seriously injured 11 others including a 6-year-old girl, civilians, security volunteers and police, Narathiwat Police Maj. Gen. Patanawut Angkhanawin said.
Nine others were treated for minor injuries. Police examined security cameras and released a photo of the alleged perpetrators riding away from one of the bomb scenes, according to Patanawut.
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Police released a photo of suspected bombers leaving the scene in Narathiawat province, April 25, 2016. [Courtesy of Narathiwat provincial police bureau]
In nearby Yala province, two rubber farmers, Hamdee Tolupoh and Unu Talae, were killed in a roadside shooting on Monday while transporting logs from Ban Mai, a tambon or village cluster, to Yala town. Police said the shooters used military-style weapons.
The two bombs were similar to bombs used in two earlier other bombings earlier this month, police said.
On April 11, a perpetrator dressed as a Muslim woman used a motorcycle bomb to kill a police officer and a 4-year-old Muslim boy in front of Jana Railway station in Songkhla province. On April 19, a bombing at a grocery store near Ban Ta Paed railway station killed one person and injured 18 others.
Thamrong Kirativirotekul, an owner of shop near where the first bomb went off on Monday, said he called police after noticing a suspicious person parking a motorcycle and leaving with someone on another motorbike. The bomb exploded a minute later, he said.
Doubts about peace talks
Violence linked to the conflict in the Deep South, a predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region, has claimed more than 6,500 lives since the insurgency flared up again in 2004.
Monday's violence occurred in the run-up to informal, Malaysia-brokered peace talks that are expected to take place in Kuala Lumpur at an unannounced date this week. Thailand's junta, which seized power in May 2014, has been trying to persuade various rebel groups and factions to reopen formal peace talks for the first time since December 2014, when a civilian-led government was in power.
Srisompob Jitpiromsri, director of regional think-tank Deep South Watch, expressed pessimism about the upcoming round of informal talks, following the removal of a key negotiator from the Thai delegation.
Last week, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said Army Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong was removed from the negotiating team on which he had served since 2013 as part of a routine reassignment of duties.
"Nakrob was the man who clinched the terms of reference (ToR) that were agreed upon and accepted by both sides. Now he is not there and we don't know whether any ToR contents were changed at all," Srisompob told BenarNews.
"And if there were some changes, we don't know if MARA Patani can accept that," he said, referring to an umbrella body representing southern rebel groups at the negotiations table.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand's junta Wednesday arrested 10 people for allegedly posting "disturbing" messages on social media, amid rising tensions over an upcoming constitutional referendum.
In related news, 16 other people were detained in Bangkok for demonstrating against the arrests of the first 10, according to Thai pro-democracy group Resistant Citizen.
Meanwhile, Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn told reporters in Bangkok that his office had filed a complaint against a group for criticizing the proposal via Facebook posts, under a new law that prohibits people from campaigning during the run-up to the Aug. 7 referendum.
Somchai did not identify the group that was the target of his office's complaint but said it was "a fund" based in Khon Khaen, a northeastern province.
Two people from Khon Khaen were among the 10 taken into custody Wednesday, and a spokesman for the junta said authorities were investigating whether the detainees had criticized the referendum through online comments.
Somchai said the group associated with the fund in Khom Khaen had been posting messages on Facebook that contained "foul language" and tried to persuade people to vote "no" in the referendum.
"The action is deemed a violation of Section 61 of the constitution bill and maybe subject 10-year jail term," he said.
"Whether the two detained in Khon Khaen by the military are connected to the fund's Facebook account, I don't know but I have filed the case with the police," he added.
When a junta-appointed commission unveiled the draft charter in late March, it said elections would take place later on but warned that it would go after people who criticized the proposed constitution.
The document is controversial because it contains a clause that would allow the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to hand pick all 250 senators, including six officers from the military's top brass. The junta seized power from a civilian-led government in May 2014.
On Wednesday, NCPO spokesman Col. Winthai Suwaree briefed reporters about the detention of the 10 people, including eight from Bangkok and two from Khon Khaen.
"The officials invited those individuals to seek their cooperation to stop defying the rules," Winthai told a news conference in Bangkok.
"The officials conducted the operations in line with the rule of law and want to make known to the public that they are under custody, and none have gone missing. Everyone is there and their detention is traceable, so don't worry," he said.
Winthai declined to name the 10 detainees. Apart from trying to determine whether the 10 had violated the new referendum-related law, he said that an investigation had found they had violated the country's Computer Crimes Act.
'Relatives and friends are searching'
Another pro-democracy group, Thai Lawyers for Human Rights, voiced concern about the arrests of the 10 and named five of them: Nopklao Kongsuwan, Supachai Saibutr, Wararat Mengpramul, Harit Mahathon, and Nithi Kulthanasilp.
"At 6 a.m., about 20 armed military officers raided Harit's and Nithi's residence in Khon Kaen, confiscated Harit's mobile phone, computer, and passport, and arrested Harit and Nithi without informing [them about] the cause or the location of detention," the lawyer's group said in a statement.
"Relatives and families are searching for them, but there's no official information of their whereabouts."
Elsewhere, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha on Wednesday defended the arrests.
"What rights do you have to allow you to use social media to ridicule others? You misuse the rule of law and [human] rights? Does the law allow you to?" Prayuth told reporters in Chiang Mai.
"If they didn't break the law, no one could have arrested them," he added.


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BENARNEWS- A Thai delegation met Wednesday in Kuala Lumpur with negotiators representing Deep South insurgency groups in efforts to resume formal peace talks, a spokesman for the rebel side told BenarNews.
"The meeting ended without further development. I'll only comment tomorrow," Abu Hafiz Al-Hakim, spokesman for MARA Patani, a panel representing various rebel groups and factions from Thailand's southern border region in peace negotiations, said in confirming Wednesday's meeting.
Thai officials could not be reached for comment.
The Malaysia-brokered meeting was the first one since the two sides met in the Malaysian capital in November to discuss technical steps toward resuming formal peace talks for the first time since December 2013, when a civilian-led government ruled Thailand.
In August, a delegation representing Thailand's military-controlled government met for the first time in Kuala Lumpur with MARA Patani, when the newly formed umbrella body unveiled itself to the public.
"No statements from me today. Thank you," Malaysian facilitator Ahmad Zamzamin Hashim told BenarNews.
Col. Kasturi Mahkota, leader of the Patani United Liberation Organization (PULO), one of the rebel groups represented on MARA Patani, did not attend the meeting. He told BenarNews that he had not received any information about it.
The meeting came amid a surge in deadly violence in the Deep South in recent weeks.
On Monday, a shooting and two bomb attacks left three dead and at least 20 injured. Since Feb. 10, at least 35 people have been killed in attacks by suspected rebels after Thai security forces raided a suspected insurgent hideout in Pattani, one of the provinces in the Deep South.
The meeting also took place days after a top government negotiator was relieved of his duties.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha said Army Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong was removed from his post as part of a routine reassignment. Nakrob was the only member of the Thai government team involved since 2013 in efforts to negotiate peace in the Deep South.
Since the conflict re-ignited in 2004, more than 6,500 people have been killed in violence related to the separatist insurgency in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking region.


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BENARNEWS- Efforts to restart peace talks in Thailand's Deep South ground to a halt when the Thai government this week declined to endorse ground rules for formal negotiations, the rebel side said Thursday.
Negotiators for the two sides had "mutually agreed" to terms of reference (TOR) in earlier meetings, and expected the full delegations to endorse them at talks in Kuala Lumpur on Wednesday, sources among the rebels told BenarNews. But the meeting lasted only an hour and 15 minutes, according to the insurgents.
"[T]he Thai side was not ready to endorse the TOR," said Abu Hafez Al-Hakim, a spokesman for MARA Patani, a panel representing southern rebel groups and factions in negotiations with Thailand's junta.
"We are however unsure if party A wants to review the TOR, draft a new one or suspend the process altogether," he said, referring to the Thai delegation. "We were informed that the Thai Prime Minister has not yet approved it."
The setback to the Malaysia-brokered peace efforts occurred a week after Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, Thailand's top negotiator with southern rebels since 2013, told BenarNews that he had been removed from that duty.
In comments to reporters the next day, Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha called the change of personnel a "normal reshuffle."
Thai delegation members and military officials in Bangkok could not be reached for comment about the talks on Wednesday or Thursday.
Ahmad Zamzamin, the Malaysian facilitator of talks aimed at re-opening formal peace negotiations for the first time since December 2013, declined requests for comment.
'A set of rules'
The contents of the TOR have not been revealed to the public, and a statement released by MARA Patani on Thursday did not make clear what the Thai side had objected to in the terms.
A MARA Patani steering committee had approved the terms earlier in April, and a technical team from the Thai side, led by Nakrob, had agreed to them as well after multiple meetings since last year, Abu Hafez said.
"The TOR is like a set of rules and regulations without which a match could not be played," Abu Hafez said.
"Whatever reasons they have (for not endorsing the TOR), we will give them ample time to reconsider and reverse that decision," he added.
The MARA spokesman also alluded to Nakrob's absence at Wednesday's short meeting.
"He was the 'engine' of the Thai team who is knowledgeable and well-versed of the peace process," Abu Hafez said.
"Prior to his removal, he was optimistic that the Party A would endorse the TOR. His absence was felt and has considerably affected the process."
'Not a good sign'
In Thailand, some analysts and NGO leaders reacted with consternation to news of the setback to the peace talks.
"This is certainly not a good sign for the peace dialogue," Rungrawee Chalermsripinyorat, an expert on the Deep South, told BenarNews.
Rungrawee said that Prime Minister Prayuth should publicly explain why Thailand did not back the terms, which government representatives had been hammering out with the rebel side for months.
"At the moment, the prospect for the government to proceed with the dialogue is apparently grim," Rungrawee said, calling the process "vital to the search for a long-term solution to the protracted southern conflict."
In Yala province, Rukchart Suwan, president of the Buddhist Network for Peace, said he was not surprised that Prayuth had not endorsed the reference terms. He urged negotiators to communicate with the public about the way forward.
"Is a new TOR needed? How long will this take to be done? These [questions] are hanging in the minds of the people, and they have an uncomfortable feeling toward the way the government has worked," Rukchart said.
Rebel ranks split
Thursday was the 12th anniversary of the Krue Se mosque incident. On April 28, 2004, armed separatists launched attacks across the Deep South that culminated in a military raid on a 400-year-old mosque that killed 32 suspected rebels holed up inside.
More than 6,000 people have died since then in violence associated with the separatist insurgency in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South region. Since early February alone, at least 35 people have been killed in shootings and bombings carried out by suspected insurgents.
On Thursday, a Thai paramilitary was killed and five others were injured in a bomb attack in Yala – one of the provinces in the Deep South – as they were helping to build houses for poor people, police said.
Commenting on the latest twist in the peace process, Malaysian analyst Mohd Azizuddin Mohd Sani told BenarNews that talks could not take place amid such violence.
In his view, rebels who oppose the peace process spearheaded by MARA Patani were behind the recent surge in regional violence. A sticking point in the peace process has been demands by hardcore rebels for total independence from Thailand, he noted.
"The failure of agreeing to the TOR also comes from the disagreement among the rebel groups themselves. Although MARA Patani has been formed, there are rebel groups who, at the moment, feel left out in the peace talks," said Azizuddin, a political science and international relations expert at Universiti Utara Malaysia.
Hata Wahari in Kuala Lumpur, Nasueroh in Pattani, Thailand, and Nani Yusof in Washington contributed to this report.


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BENARNEWS- Talks with Deep South rebels are alive but a limited ceasefire must be in place before Thailand can agree to terms for advancing the peace process, Bangkok's chief negotiator said Friday.
"If there continues to be violence on the ground, the public will not have trust in peace talks," Gen. Aksara Kerdpol said two days after leading a Thai delegation in a meeting in Kuala Lumpur with negotiators from the rebel side.
"Therefore, it is a must to cease violence in certain areas, and then we can join together to prepare a comprehensive TOR [Terms of Reference] spanning over the trust-building stage," he told reporters in Bangkok.
But as Kerdpol assured the public that the talks were still on, Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha appeared to send a different signal about the state of southern peace talks.
Prayuth told reporters at Government House that the peace talks were not successful because both sides had different intentions.
"If the other side has the same intention as us, the problems can be solved," the prime minister said Friday.
As he put it, Thailand could not negotiate with members of banned groups such as insurgents.
Such organizations are all outlawed, Prayuth said, adding, "[T]he government cannot bargain with them using domestic laws. Thailand cannot talk to wrongdoers."
'They do not have a clear status'
Aksara was responding to a statement issued Thursday by MARA Patani – a panel representing various southern rebel groups and factions – which claimed the Thai side was not ready to agree to the reference terms that the insurgents see as ground rules for opening formal peace talks.
Since the Thai junta launched its efforts last year to open formal peace talks, violence associated with the decades-long separatist insurgency has kept simmering in the Malay-speaking and predominantly Muslim Deep South. A surge in attacks by suspected rebels has killed at least 35 people since early February.
On Thursday a spokesman for MARA Patani said negotiators from technical sub-committees on both sides had mutually agreed to those terms – which have not been made public – during previous discussions.
"The one thing that we and the dissidents differed on is that I had a technical panel to discuss setting up safety zones so that people have trust [in the process], but the dissidents wanted to sign the TOR," Aksara said of Wednesday's meeting in Kuala Lumpur, referring to zones for a limited ceasefire in the Deep South.
Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong, the only Thai official involved in negotiations with rebels since 2013 and who headed the technical panel to which Aksara alluded, has been dismissed as secretary of the Thai delegation.
According to Aksara, it also is unclear whether MARA Patani has legitimate standing as an umbrella body negotiating on behalf of rebels and whether the rebel ranks are united behind it.
"Like I have said before, they do not have a clear status while we do have an order from the Prime Minister office [to conduct negotiations]. So, I said, we should continue to build mutual trust," Aksara added.


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BENARNEWS- Illegal boat journeys from Myanmar and Bangladesh have decreased significantly in the year since Thailand launched a crackdown on human trafficking, but the root cause of the problem still festers, an activist fighting for Rohingya Muslim rights told BenarNews in an interview.
A year ago Sunday, the discovery of graves in the jungles of southern Thailand that contained the remains of people trafficked from those two countries triggered a crackdown by the Thai government against human smugglers.
A Thai maritime blockade on people-smuggling boats followed, which in turn precipitated a humanitarian crisis when thousands of desperate Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi migrants came ashore in neighboring Indonesia and Malaysia.
In Thailand, at least 90 people, including a Thai general, are now on trial on human-trafficking charges.
In an interview with BenarNews, Matthew Smith, an expert on illegal migration in Southeast Asia, says the situation has "improved drastically" in some respects over the past year.
But Smith, director of the NGO Fortify Rights, says officials in Malaysia could do much more to protect victims – and Myanmar's newly elected government could work to uphold the rights of Rohingyas and solve the root causes of their mass flight.
BenarNews: May 1 marks the anniversary of the discovery of migrants' graves in Thailand. Can you comment on that?
Smith: We're still concerned that not all of the grave sites have been properly discovered, exposed, and investigated.
I've personally visited grave sites that were not included in the discoveries last year. We have reason to believe bodies litter the terrain in certain parts of Songkhla and other areas in the south. Thai authorities would be wise to continue the investigation, which at present is closed. 

We're also concerned with the role of the Malaysian authorities. Thailand has received a great deal of negative attention about human trafficking, and for good reason, but Malaysia's role has somehow been largely ignored.
We were encouraged that Malaysian authorities uncovered a large number of graves, but the authorities there still fail to protect survivors of trafficking. Rohingya are systematically detained in Malaysia. Most are held in squalid detention, deprived of their liberty.
And Malaysian authorities have categorically failed to prosecute any traffickers involved in trafficking Rohingya. Malaysia only prosecuted three traffickers last year. Many traffickers roam free with no fear of justice knocking on their door. That's a problem.
BN: How does irregular migration in the region this year compare with last year?
Smith: The number of departures from Myanmar and Bangladesh decreased significantly this year.
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We attribute this to the crackdown against trafficking in Thailand, as syndicates were working closely with many Thai officials, as well as the political changes in Myanmar. Many Rohingya are hoping the new government will improve their situation.
We hope for the same.
BN: Has the situation improved since Thailand launched its crackdown on human smuggling a year ago?
Smith: In some ways, the situation has improved drastically. This time last year there were several thousand Rohingya being held in torture camps in Thailand.
Today, those camps no longer exist. That is undeniably positive. But this time last year there were also thousands of Rohingya and Bangladeshis stranded at sea, facing death as a direct result of the so-called crackdown.
That was most definitely not a positive development. The ongoing trial against 92 defendants is positive, but it's also beset with problems. Witnesses have been threatened and [have] gone into hiding, and many perpetrators still roam free.
We were very impressed with the new Cabinet Resolution that, if implemented, would grant special protections to survivors of trafficking. It would allow survivors to remain legally in Thailand, it would allow them to work, and it would provide automatic witness protection.
In effect, it would free refugees and survivors from detention. These would be positive steps in the right direction, but the resolution still needs to be implemented. We hope it's not just words on paper.
Also, the root causes of the crisis, including systematic abuses in Myanmar, have not been addressed. Until those abuses are addressed, Thailand will still see refugees arriving on its shores. Until those abuses are addressed, we can't confidently say the situation has improved.
BN: Will the situation for Rohingya Muslims improve under the new government in Myanmar?
Smith: We have hope for the NLD [National League for Democracy] government. The NLD inherited an enormous responsibility to undo the human rights abuses of the past military-led regime.
That is no easy task.
However, the NLD has claimed the Rohingya will not be a priority for its government, and we think that's a mistake. Any failure to adequately address the abuses against Rohingya will backfire and ultimately damage the NLD and Myanmar as a whole. These abuses are bad for the entire country, and the entire region.
This is an international issue. In a worst case scenario, a failure to end the abuses against Rohingya could derail the NLD's other noble efforts to reform the country.
BN: Has Aung San Suu Kyi done anything to help improve the situation?
Smith: One of Suu Kyi's first orders of business was to ensure political prisoners were released. On her second day in office, nearly 200 were released. This was momentous and helped inject hope throughout the population, Rohingya included.
But she has not yet taken a strong position in defense of Rohingya rights, and that's a concern. Any failure to address the abuses risks complicity in those abuses.
The NLD would be well advised to support an independent international investigation into the human rights situation in Rakhine state. Such an investigation would provide the NLD with recommendations to improve the situation, and would help clarify the facts about what is happening in Rakhine state. The facts remain hotly contested.


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BENARNEWS- Marking World Press Freedom Day, two Thai media associations called on Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha to revoke measures that prevent reporting on current affairs freely.
At the Government House, representatives from Thai Journalists Association and Thai Broadcast Journalists Association along with other reporters briefly met with Prayuth to hand him a statement and petition. They also gave him a T-shirt inscribed with media freedom message.
The statement requested that orders issued by the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) be revoked and that the government-sponsored National Reform Council support efforts for reporters to cross check among themselves. It also urged the media to report objectively and without bias, while maintaining respect for human rights.
"I will take a look at this issue. If these ones are revoked, I can replace with others," he said. "I wish you all happiness and be successful for the nation."
According to iLaw, a Thai human rights advocate group, from May 2014 when Prayuth took power until the end of March 2016, at least 62 civilians have been charged under lese majeste, defamation of the royal family, and at least 39 were charged with sedition.
In the last month, at least 10 people have been arrested for allegedly posting disturbing messages on social media as tensions rise over an upcoming constitutional referendum. On April 27, Election Commissioner Somchai Srisuthiyakorn said his office filed a complaint against a group for using Facebook to criticize the referendum, citing a new law that prohibits people from campaigning during the run-up to the Aug. 7 vote.
Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, an editor of the Voice of Taksinmagazine, has served five years of his 10-year jail term for committing lese majeste.
"The freedom of media situation has been flagging as reflected by the report from the Reporters Without Borders. Thailand's media freedom ranking dipped from 130 in 2014 to 134 in 2015," the associations' statement said.
"How free is Thailand's media now?"
Meanwhile, representatives from media outlets such as The Bangkok Post, Prachatai and The Voice TV gathered at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand to discuss government treatment since the 2014 coup.  The Southeast Asian Press Alliance was present as well.
Nopporn Wong-Anan, deputy editor of The Bangkok Post said Thailand has not been ruled by an elected government, so the situation is not normal.
However, he said the government has not applied any pressure on The Bangkok Post, except for telephone calls asking for an opportunity to tell the side of their story.
"Are we given pressure by the government very rarely," he told more than 100 at the event.
"So far we didn't receive interference but they called to report the stories of their side," he said.
"If you (the government) want a reform of the nation, please be open to discussion," he added.
Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the director of an on-line news outlet Prachatai who in 2015 was sentenced to a suspended eight-month jail term, said otherwise.
"One of our editors is still in jail for five years for sensitive contents (against the monarchy)," she said in reference to Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, who was convicted of lese majeste on Jan. 23, 2013.
She said the government monitored print, radio, TV and on-line.
"They have a list of forbidden guests to programs," she cited her colleagues' accounts as saying.
"They used the penalty as laws state to the media and netizens as well," she added.
Anthee Dejthevaporn, field reporter for Voice TV, delivered a blunt account of the country's polarization amid the political rifts. He said the military has summoned his coworkers 10 times for inquiry into sensitive content.
Kulachada Chaipipat, a campaign manager for Southeast Asia Press Alliance described press freedom as deteriorating.
"In comparison to other Southeast Asian countries, Thailand is facing deteriorated situation followed by Malaysia," she said.


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BENARNEWS- A group of Thai academics is petitioning the U.N. to investigate Thailand's crackdown on dissent as tensions build over a constitutional referendum in August.
"We strongly urge the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights to take a firm stance against the military government and the NCPO [National Council for Peace and Order] to help put an immediate end to the atrocious violations of human rights in Thailand," the Thai Academic Network for Civil Rights said Thursday on Facebook, using the Thai junta's official name.
The academics pointed to recent arrests of at least eight people who posted messages on social media that allegedly criticized the government over an Aug. 7 referendum on a proposed, military-backed constitution. A new law prohibits people from campaigning in the run-up to the vote.
"If the U.N. acknowledges the problems, when Thai representatives participate internationally the Thai government will have to seriously respond to the human rights violations," Professor Anusorn Unno, dean of sociology and anthropology Thammasat University in Bangkok, told BenarNews.
On Friday, Thai authorities arrested another person under Lese-Majeste, the country's royal defamation law. Patnaree Charnkij, the mother of leading pro-democracy activist Sirawith "Ja New" Seritiwit, turned herself into police on an arrest warrant for allegedly defaming the monarchy and violating Thailand's computer-crimes law.
Attorney Anon Numpa, who represents Patnaree, said on Facebook that his client was charged for not dissuading another user of the social media network from posting messages online that could be construed as defamatory to royals.
Under Lese-Majeste, anyone who "defames, insults or threatens the king, the queen, the heir-apparent or the regent" faces up to 15 years in prison.
'Never been abused'
Anusorn and other academics behind the petition also cited the arrests of others accused of violating Lese-Majeste, as well as the expansion of military powers through Article 44 of the interim constitution and other decrees issued by the junta since it seized power from a civilian-led government two years ago.
"Over time, political dissenters have faced arrest, abduction and torture while a large number of people, including university students, academics, journalists, social activists and politicians have faced constant threats and harassment in various forms for criticizing the military government and the NCPO," the petitioners said.
"Such ... control and curtailing of rights and freedom of expression have intensified during the time when the country is preparing for the draft constitution referendum," they added.
In petitioning the U.N. Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the Thai Academic Network for Civil Rights also accused the military of abducting anti-government critics and holding detainees at undisclosed sites for more than 24 hours to extract information from them.
Maj. Gen. Sansern Kaewkamnerd, the deputy spokesman for the prime minister's office, denied the allegations contained in the academics' petition, saying no one had been mistreated while in custody.
"[T]he perpetrators have never been abused. I want the academic network to prove [this] with evidence. Do not believe such information is true from just hearing or reading from social media, without [checking the facts]," he told reporters on Thursday.
UN airs concerns
The United Nations did not respond immediately to the petition from the academics, but two weeks ago the U.N.'s human rights chief voiced concern about Thailand's widening crackdown on dissent.
"An open and dynamic public debate on the draft constitution would foster national unity, strengthen the legitimacy and acceptance of the constitution and provide a sense of collective ownership," U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein said in a statement issued on April 22.
The proposed constitution is controversial because it contains a clause that would allow the junta to hand pick all 250 members of the Thai senate, including six officers from the military's top brass.
"I urge the government to actively encourage, rather than discourage, dialogue and engagement on the draft constitution. This would be an important step in establishing a solid foundation for a sustainable democracy in Thailand."


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BENARNEWS- An old school site in Thailand's Deep South, which authorities seized over allegations that it was used for training local insurgents, may be turned into an Islamic educational center, says a committee tasked with exploring future uses for the property.
But members of a family that owned the property are resisting this possibility, saying they want their land back.
The school in Pattani province's Yaring district has not operated since May 2005, when former headmaster Doonloh Wae-mano fled to neighboring Malaysia amid allegations by the Thai military that he was conducting weapons-training sessions for young insurgents. Officials nicknamed the site the "commando school."
Doonloh, according to the military, served as the deputy leader of a combat training unit for Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the most active of armed separatist groups in Thailand's Muslim-majority Deep South.
The Thai government formed a committee of clerics, area residents and officials to find a future use for the property, after a court in December 2015 ordered that the deed for the 5.5-acre property be voided and the land revert to state ownership because the land had been used for terrorist activities.
Wae-mano's son, Balyan, said he ignored an invitation to sit on this committee because he was angry.
"The provincial governor had asked me to be a member of the committee to find a solution to Pondok Jihad [school] but I did not respond .... I don't want to deal with them," Balyan told BenarNews by phone.
Meanwhile, an official involved in developing plans for the old school site's future use, touched on some of them in an interview with BenarNews.
"We may turn the premise into Islamic learning center, a new Pondok (religious) school or pre-Haji preparation center," Kitti Surakanghaeng said.
Money raised to help family
Doonloh's wife, Yawahee Wae-mano, challenged the government's seizure of the land, claiming that her father started the school and was its owner. Her husband served as headmaster, but never had ownership. According to Yawahee , when her father died, the land and school should have reverted to his heirs – herself and four siblings.
In mid-February, the family moved from the old school grounds to Tha Dan mosque on the other side of their village in Yaring district.
To help the family, the community held a feast in March at a local sports facility. More than 10,000 people attended and a group of local artists joined the fundraising effort by painting the old Jihad Witaya school and contributing to the fund.
The effort raised about 4.1 million baht (U.S. $116,660) from attendees from Thailand and nearby Malaysia.
Tha Dan mosque Imam Muhammad Nawawi Abdulkadir said 2.1 million baht (U.S. $59,747) would go to the family to purchase land and build a house. Some money would go to the mosque's renovation and a building (that could be part of the mosque itself or a new religious school).
School seizure linked to recent violence?
The seizure of the school property could even have contributed to an uptick in deadly attacks by suspected insurgents that have occurred since early February and amid efforts by the Thai junta to open formal peace talks with rebel groups, a military commander in the region suggested recently.
"The violence that followed the court order to freeze the Jihad Witaya School has caused a great obstacle to peace talk efforts," Maj. Gen. Shinawat Mandej, deputy commander of the 4th Army Regional command, and who is a member of the Thai delegation, told reporters last month.
In late April, Thai officials said that the peace process was still alive after the rebel delegation accused the Thai side of refusing to agree to mutual terms needed to advancing the process. Thai officials said that a limited ceasefire had to be in place before Thailand could agree to those terms.
Shinawat added that he hoped that the communities of Malay-Patani could understand why the government had to seize the Jihad Witaya School.
"When the group using this issue for violence subsides, at the end of the day, peace talks can go on," Shinawat said.
More than 6,500 people have been killed in violence associated with the insurgency since it reignited in 2004. Since February, at least 37 people have been killed in shootings and bombings carried out by suspected rebels in the Deep South, according to officials.


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BENARNEWS- Thai officials Wednesday presented their nation's periodic report on human rights to a U.N. body reviewing Thailand's performance in that area, but without commenting on criticisms leveled at the junta over arrests of government critics and restrictions on free speech.
"We hope we will all learn together from the review today," Justice Ministry Permanent Secretary Chanchao Chaiyanukij told a United Nations Human Rights Council (OHCHR) hearing in Geneva, as it opened a hearing into Thailand's National Universal Periodic Review (UPR) report on human rights.
"You need to take human rights into consideration when formulating policies," he went to say. "However, the protection and promotion of human rights is not the sole work of the government, but of society as a whole."
Thailand submitted the report to the council in February, and is one of 14 U.N. member-states undergoing a four-year review of their human rights records by the council. The U.N. body is expected to issue its non-binding recommendations for Thailand on Friday.
The Thai delegation will then announce which of the U.N.'s recommendations it will accept, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) said after Wednesday's hearing.
OHHCR last reviewed Thailand's human rights performance in 2011, when a civilian-led government was in power.
While "several countries commended Thailand" for promoting economic, social and cultural rights, the MFA noted in statement that "concerns were expressed" at the session over freedom of expression, the right to peaceful assembly and other issues. But the ministry did not say more.
During the hearing Thailand was criticized by other nations and rights groups over its rights record under the junta, which seized power two years ago.
U.S.-based Human Rights Watch (HRW) was among rights advocacy groups that slammed the junta on Wednesday.
"The Thai government's responses to the U.N. review fail to show any real commitment to reversing its abusive rights practices or protecting fundamental freedoms," John Fisher, the Geneva director of HRW, said in a press release.
"While numerous countries raised concerns about the human rights situation in Thailand, the Thai delegation said nothing that would dispel fears of a continuing crisis."
Social media arrests
The hearing occurred amid Thailand's recent arrests of nine people over social media posts that took aim at the government and monarchy. Among those charged in recent days was the mother of an activist.
On Tuesday, Thailand freed on bail eight of these people – activists who were arrested on April 27 over social media posts that allegedly criticized the junta and a controversial draft constitution that will be up for a national referendum on Aug. 7, Reuters reported.
In its written report to the OHCHR, the Thai government spelled out its views on free speech.
"Thailand fully respects freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of assembly as they form basic foundation of a democratic society. However, freedom of expression shall be exercised in a constructive manner and does not insult any faith or belief system, be they religions or main institutions. In addition, freedom of expression should also be exercised in an appropriate context, which means time, place and manner, and shall not disrupt social order and security," the report stated.
It also touched on Lese-Majeste, Thailand's strict royal defamation law, under which the junta has carried out many arrests for perceived slights against the monarchy.
"The Thai monarchy is highly revered and has been a pillar of stability in the country. The Lese-Majeste law is part of the Criminal code and gives great protection to the rights or reputations of the King, the Queen, the Heir apparent, or the Regent. ... It is not aimed at curbing people's rights to freedom of expression or academic freedom," the report said.
US deplores woman's arrest
A recent case involving Lese-Majeste was the arrest of Patnaree Charnkij, the mother of pro-democracy activist Sirawith "Ja New" Seritiwit. Last week, she turned herself in to police on an arrest warrant for allegedly defaming the monarchy via Facebook and violating Thailand's computer-crimes law.
Patnaree's attorney, Anon Numpa, said his client was charged for not dissuading another user of the social media network from posting messages online that could be construed as defamatory to the royal family. She has since been freed on bail, but her arrest has drawn criticism from the United States, one of Thailand's key allies, and elsewhere.
"We are troubled by the recent arrests of individuals in connection with online postings, and the detention of Patnaree Charnkij, the mother of a political activist. The arrest and harassment of activists and their family members raise serious concerns about Thailand's adherence to its international obligation to protect freedom of expression. These actions create a climate of intimidation and self-censorship," said Katina Adams, a spokeswoman for the U.S. State Department's Bureau of East Asian and Pacific Affairs.
"We urge the government to allow for an open and inclusive debate on Thailand's political future," she added.


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BENARNEWS- Ma-sae Useng, a "core leader" of the southern Thai rebel group Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), has died of natural causes at a hospital in Kuala Lumpur, a relative of his and a Thai security official told BenarNews.
One of two de facto leaders of the BRN and who was believed to be the architect of a seven-step plan for a separate state in Thailand's Deep South region known as "Patani," 57-year-old Ma-sae died
April 30 of complications from pulmonary tuberculosis and diabetes, the sources said.
A spokesman for MARA Patani, an umbrella group representing various Deep South rebel groups in unofficial peace talks with the Thai government, confirmed the senior rebel's death.
"But I do not know more details about it. This is an internal affair of BRN, and I can't comment," Abu Hafiz Al-Hakim told BenarNews.
Ma-sae was also leader of the youth wing of the BRN but he opposed current peace efforts between Thailand and MARA Patani, the Bangkok Post said Thursday in reporting on his death.
The BRN official was buried in Malaysia within 24 hours of his death, sources told Benar.
Fled in '04
Ma-Sae, who fled to neighboring Malaysia that year as the decades-long conflict re-ignited, was born in Cho-irong district in Narathiwat province.
He worked as a religious teacher at a local school before becoming a core BRN leader in the province, sources said.
The Thai military found his seven-step plan (pictured) when it raided his house 12 years ago.
At the time, Thai officials had issued a warrant for his arrest on charges of treason and separatism, and they put out a 10 million baht (U.S. $283,700) bounty for his capture.
The government believed that he had led a rebel raid in which 413 weapons were stolen from the Pileng military camp in Narathiwat on Jan. 4, 2004.
More recently, high-ranking Thai officials in the Deep South had tried to persuade his relatives to get him to return to Thailand to spend his final days at home after he took ill in 2012, but he apparently refused to come back.
'A good thing'
Prior to his removal last month as secretary of the Thai delegation negotiation with MARA Patani, Lt. Gen. Nakrob Boonbuathong told BenarNews that his team hoped that Ma-sae would participate in those efforts because he was seen as a figure who wielded ideological influence across the Deep South.
"I can't believe it is true but if it is, it is good. It is a good thing because the organization will become weaker and there should be a pause in attacks," another Thai military official, who requested anonymity, told BenarNews on Thursday.
"But there are many sub-groups under BRN, so we need to dissect the cause and find a way to make peace."
The official was referring to a surge in suspected rebel attacks in the Deep South that had killed at least 37 people over the past three months.
On Thursday, four more killings were reported in the region. Two civilians were shot dead in Pattani province and a vendor and security officer were killed in a similar manner in nearby Narathiwat province, police said.
The BRN is the largest and most heavily armed of the separatist groups in the predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking Deep South, where more than 6,500 people have died since 2004 in violence associated with the insurgency.


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BENARNEWS- The criminal defamation trial of a British labor-rights activist who is being sued by a Thai pineapple processing plant over allegations that it exploited its mostly foreign workers, opened in Bangkok on Thursday with a company official testifying against him.
Activist Andy Hall faces seven years in prison if convicted of charges that stem from a survey he conducted among workers at a plant in southern Thailand operated by the Natural Fruit Co. Ltd., and whose 800-strong workforce is made up largely of migrants from Myanmar.
The charges against Hall, whose passport has been seized by Thai authorities, include allegations that he violated Thailand's Computer Crimes Act in connection with the case.
Hall interviewed the workers and did research on behalf of Finnwatch, an NGO based in Finland that advocates global corporate responsibility, and which published a report in 2013 based on his work.
"[Andy] disseminated false information on the Finnwatch website so that customers don't order our products," Kachin Komneyawanich, Natural Fruit's vice president, said on the witness stand Thursday.
Kachin was the lone witness who testified for the prosecution at the Bangkok South Criminal Court.
'I simply did my duty'
Outside the courthouse, Hall told reporters that he did not commit libel or break the computer law, saying he simply was relaying to Finnwatch information and statements he had gathered from the workers for its report.
Among their allegations, the Natural Fruit plant workers said they were deprived of reasonable wages, sick and holiday leave, and that their employer had confiscated their passports and was employing child-workers.
"I have just said what the workers told me," Hall said Thursday. "I researched the conditions in that factory; Finnwatch then prepared the report and published the report and put it on the internet."
"So firstly, it is not my report. Secondly, I did not put it on the Internet," he said, adding, "[T]he main thing is I simply did my duty as a researcher to report the conditions that the workers face. That's what I have been doing in Thailand for over a decade."
The case is the most serious of four separate lawsuits filed against the activist by Natural Fruit three years ago, but a Thai appeals court dismissed one of the cases in September 2015, according to Finnwatch.
The second of three days of prosecutorial testimony will follow on May 26, and witnesses for the defense are to testify over eight days spread between June and July, the Finnish NGO and other sources said.
Migrant workers who used to work at the pineapple canning plant are expected to testify for the defense, along with union figures, lawyers and leaders of Thai export companies who were featured in Finnwatch's report, which was titled "Cheap Has a High Price."
The NGO's executive director, Sonja Vartiala, plans to travel to Bangkok to testify on Hall's behalf.
"Andy Hall's work in defense of migrant worker rights in Thailand is internationally recognized. This campaign of judicial harassment against him has been condemned by civil society and responsible businesses all around the world. Finnwatch continue to stand by Andy Hall," Vartiala said in a statement issued last week.


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BENARNEWS- As Thailand enters a third year under junta rule, critics say it has silenced their voices while supporters say that life under the generals is more orderly.
After Gen. Prayuth Chan-o-cha led a coup that toppled the government of Yingluck Shinawatra on May 22, 2014, he vowed to restore order and unity amid political turmoil and rid the nation of anti-royalist elements.
Since then, the National Council for Peace and Order – the junta's official name – has yet to steer Thailand back onto the path of democracy. Prayuth's government has rounded up government critics and journalists for so-called "attitude adjustment" sessions, and escalated arrests made under Lese-Majeste – Thailand's strict royal defamation law.
At least 39 people have been charged with sedition and 67 have been charged with violating Lese-Majeste, according to iLaw, a Thai human rights advocacy group.
All this has happened against a backdrop of uncertainty over the country's future, as King Bhumibol Adulyadej, a symbol of unity and Thai identity for decades, is 88 and in frail health.
Yingluck's term ended on May 7, 2014, when an anti-corruption body found her guilty of corruption linked to a rice subsidy scheme and a court ordered that she be removed from office.
Amid protests that turned violent and claimed dozens of lives, Prayuth, who was then army commander-in-chief, seized power. The general held meetings with all parties involved, including Yingluck's party and the opposition Democrat Party, but they failed to find a solution.
"Sorry, but I need to seize the power," Prayuth said on May 22, 2014.
A day later, Prayuth invoked martial law to summon Yingluck and 22 other leaders of her Pheu Thai party for attitude adjustment, but released them later.
On July 22, 2014, the junta formalized its power through an interim charter. Since then, it has maintained its grip, ordering attitude adjustments for some 922 people at military camps or through home visits, iLaw claims.
Two years later
Yingluck marked Sunday's anniversary with a posting on Facebook.
"It was the day that the people's rights and freedom were taken away. They justified this action by claiming that my government could no longer govern the country and it must be them in charge in order to proceed with the reconciliation process," she said.
On Sunday, security officers looked on as 300 people gathered at the Democracy Monument in Bangkok to criticize the junta for its grip on freedom of expression.
"During these two years, all voices of Thais have been ignored. Two years do not seem long when compared to our life span, but it is long enough to tell how villainous the government is," said Rangsiman Rome, a member of the New Democracy Movement.
The junta is creating more division and turmoil, said Payao Akhad, the mother of a nurse killed during 2010 demonstrations by the so-called Red Shirts – supporters of Yingluck and her brother Thaksin, another former prime minister.
"It has been two years that the citizens have been deprived of their rights. Instead of reforming the country for the better, there are even more conflicts," she told BenarNews by telephone on Monday.
Government supporters protest
Supporters of the government also raised their voices. A group of royalist women, Sri Siam Ladies, rallied in front of the U.S. Embassy on Monday to protest what they described as American meddling in Thai internal affairs.
"This is the Kingdom of Thailand, not USA's colony," one poster said. Since his arrival in Thailand last year, U.S. Ambassador Glyn T. Davies has called on Thailand to return to a democratic government.
"Since it took over the power, the nation became calmer and corruption has been reduced," Bangkok resident Kitti Tantiweshyanond told BenarNews.
"The government allows citizens to speak out, but it does not allow gatherings that incite unrest or arouse violent emotion," he said.
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Sri Siam Ladies rally in front of the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok, May 23, 2016. [BenarNews]
Road map
Prayuth has laid out what he calls a roadmap to democracy and has readied a new draft charter to be voted on in an Aug. 7 referendum.
Kasit Piromya, a member of Democrat Party who served as Thai foreign minister in the Abhisit Vejjajiva administration, said the draft charter is not acceptable.
"It will provide difficulty for the Thai people into the future," he told a gathering of the media and expats at the foreign correspondents' club of Thailand on May 10.
"I could not accept the rationale that we should have stability and ignore participatory politics," he said.
Pongthep Thepkarnchana said he had read the draft charter and had questions. He is a former deputy of the Thai Rak Thai Party led by Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted by a military coup in 2006.
"I concluded that we lack a good checks-and-balances system. We have an imbalance of power," Pongthep said.
The referendum would mark the first time that Thais go to the polls since the junta seized power.
Elections are to follow later at an unspecified date. In September, Prayuth announced that elections would take place in July 2017 at the earliest.
The proposed charter allows the junta to hand pick all 250 senators, including six officers from the military's top brass.
Deputy Prime Minister Prawit Wongsuwan said Prayuth's government had kept its promise by following a path to democracy.
"There is a way. You cannot say the road is rough. The car is moving along, following the road map," he said, responding to Yingluck's Facebook post.


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BENARNEWS- Shallow understanding of the violent conflict in Thailand's Deep South has fueled Islamophobia in that country, academics and local residents told a seminar on the topic this month.
Exacerbating the problem is the media's penchant for focusing on violence, according to Saki Pitakkhumpol, a professor at the Institute of Peace Studies at Prince of Songkla University in Hat Yai district of southern Songkhla province.
"We cannot generalize that the violence in the Deep South was the sole work of the so-called Deep South bandits or perpetrators. It is more complex than that," Saki told a seminar on May 13 titled "Islamophobia in Thai Society: How We Can Live Together" at the Central Islamic Center of Thailand in Bangkok.
"People on the ground start to understand the complex problems that go beyond separatism or problems between Muslims and Buddhists," he added.
Panelists at the event cited "increasing anti-Muslim sentiment" as the impetus to hold the seminar.
On May 12, banners appeared at a mosque construction site in Mukdaharn province in northeastern Thailand rejecting its presence.
One of the banners referred to resistance in southern Pattani province to a proposed Buddhist park in the predominantly Muslim area.
"Cannot build Buddha Monthon Park in Pattani because they are Muslims. Here we are all Buddhists. Who is the mosque for?" one banner read.
9,000 militants
Thailand's Deep South, formerly the Malay kingdom of Patani Darussalam, encompasses Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat provinces, and four districts of Songkhla. The region was completely annexed by the then-Kingdom of Siam in 1902.
Today 80 percent of the Deep South's 1.7 million residents are Muslim Malay-Patani, or Muslim Thais, a term Thai authorities prefer. Muslims live elsewhere in Thailand, accounting for close to four million of the country's total population of 67 million.
A separatist insurgency has simmered in the Deep South since the 1960s. Since it reignited in 2004, more than 6,500 have been killed, both Buddhists and Muslims.
There are some 9,000 militants in the region affiliated with a variety of insurgent groups and factions, according to estimates by the government and Mara Patani, a committee representing the rebels that has been involved in recent efforts to restart peace talks.
'A bad impression'
Deep South Muslims are stereotyped as violent insurgents, according to one Pattani native.
"I understand why outsiders have a bad impression of people in Deep South, Muslims in particular. The government readily concludes that insurgents cause the problems. And in the government's definition, insurgents means Muslims in the Deep South," Tola Denglala told BenarNews.
"The reality is too complicated to be able to clearly identify who did the violence. And by generalizing, so the government unknowingly creates more problems," he argued.
The media, meanwhile, pays little heed to the majority of Muslims and Buddhists who live in harmony, he said.
But Rukchart Suwan, president of Buddhist Network for Peace in Yala, said the stereotype stems from the fact that almost all suspected insurgents arrested in the region are Muslims.
On Wednesday police announced the arrest of two Muslim men suspected in an April 11 bomb attack near a railway station in Songkhla's Jana district that killed a 4 year-old boy and a police officer. Eight others, including two sisters of the boy, were injured.
The two men were compelled to "re-enact" the bomb scene, a typical procedure in Thailand's justice system. Furious comments about the bombing spread like wildfire on social media.
"Almost all suspects in violent incidents are Muslims. They kill both Muslim Thais and Buddhist Thais," Rukchart told Benar News by phone.
In his view, Thai security officials have not added significantly to the southern death toll in recent years.
"Lately Thai officials strictly observe legal means," he said, acknowledging that earlier the insurgency was fueled by deadly military clashes with southern rebels and civilian casualties.
He was likely referring to events in 2004 when police killed 32 suspected insurgents who had taken refuge in the Krue Se Mosque in Pattani, or the so-called Tak Bai incident in which 85 protesters died, many after being stacked like logs in military trucks.
Preserving identity
Malay-Patanis want to prevent their ethnic identity from being subsumed in Thai identity, which is fundamentally Buddhist, according to Pornpen Kongkachonkiat, director of the Cross-Cultural Foundation, a Thai NGO.
Some Thais may harbor Islamophobia, but the government itself does not single out followers of that religion for discrimination. Rather, the state resists all efforts to deviate from mainstream Thai identity, she said.
"Thailand recognizes itself as a single state, indivisible, and it is unwilling to accept ethnic differences." Pornpen told BenarNews by phone.
Rukchart said that Islamophobia could be addressed by curbing social media forums in which the Deep South conflict is hotly debated, and hate speech is rampant – and by forging peace in the south.
"It has been 12 years of violence already and it is time to put it to an end," he said.


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BENARNEWS- The Thai Ombudsman's office said Wednesday it would ask the Constitutional Court to rule on whether a government ban on misleading or rude speech about a referendum over a draft charter is unconstitutional.
The office was sending a letter to the court to ask it to review, interpret and clarify Section 61, a clause of a new law that stipulates rules for speech during the run-up to a referendum set for Aug. 7, a spokesman said. The referendum marks the first time that Thais will be going to the polls since a military-led government seized power in May 2014.
If the court rules that Section 61 conflicts with Thailand's existing constitution, the section will be voided, Rakskesha Sae-chay, the secretary general of the Ombudsman's office, told reporters in Bangkok.
"It is unclear, ambiguous. Citizens will be confused by the wording and will not dare express their opinion, which contradicts the intention of the referendum. As well, each individual official may interpret it wrongly and unlawfully prosecute citizens," Rakskesha said of the language in the section.
The Office of the Ombudsman is a public body led by three ombudsmen whose mandate is to consider and investigate complaints against civil servants, government employees or agencies. Among its duties, the ombudsman can refer a law or regulation to the Constitutional Court, "if, in the opinion of the Ombudsman, a law, regulation or action of an individual is in violation of the Constitution. ..."
In this case, the Ombudsman is asking the court to review Section 61, which says that "anyone who publishes inaccurate information" via print, TV or electronic media or information that could be construed as being "aggressive, rude, seditious or threatening people to vote" on referendum day, could be prosecuted.
So far, since the regulation was passed in April, at least 10 Thai citizens have been arrested for allegedly posting "disturbing" messages that contained "foul language" about the controversial referendum via social media, according to Thailand's Election Commission.
Because violations of Section 61 are considered a criminal offense, "the law must be clear to begin with," Rakskesha of the ombudsman's office said, warning, "In the end, the referendum will end up causing turmoil rather than creating order."
'People are vulnerable'
The ombudsman's referral of the case to the court stems from a complaint lodged by iLaw, a human rights advocacy group.
Section 61 deprives people of their right to free speech and information about the referendum, which will be crucial to Thailand's future, iLaw Director Jon Ungpakorn told BenarNews.
"People are vulnerable to being prosecuted with punishment as harsh as 10 years in jail. I hope the Constitutional Court will consider this issue sooner rather than later," he said.
Thais have the right to debate with one another during the months leading up to the vote, he said.
"Each citizen has the right to listen to different opinions, and to agree or disagree with the draft charter. This is important because the new charter will be hard to amend," he said.
The proposed future constitution has drawn widespread criticism from human rights advocates because it would allow the junta to hand pick all 250 members of the Thai Senate, including six officers from the military's top brass.
According to a survey done by People Poll Thailand, a group that conducts polls via a Smart phone application, the draft charter that was unveiled on March 31 is deeply unpopular.
Eighty-four percent of 2,095 respondents said they would vote against the charter, compared with only 7.7 percent who said they would vote for it. Six percent of respondents said they had yet to make up their minds over the issue while another 2 percent declined to respond, according to People Poll.
'I cannot thank the NCPO'
In other political news out of Thailand on Wednesday, the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) – the formal name for the junta – lifted a ban that had prevented political activists from traveling abroad.
NCPO spokesman Col. Piyapong Klinphand told BenarNews that Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha had signed an order on Tuesday that revoked a two-year-old ban for foreign travel by activists, critics and journalists who had been summoned for so-called "attitude adjustment" detention sessions by the military.
"The atmosphere is calm and is in order," Piyapong said in explaining why the ban was being lifted.
"This [ban] has been on since May 22 [2014] and I think it is quite long now, so I relax it, everyone can relax," Prayuth told reporters in Bangkok earlier this week, according to local media.
Pravit Rojanaphruk, a senior writer with Khaosod English, was among local journalists who have been summoned for attitude adjustments. In his case, the military has called him in twice for such sessions in the 24 months since the junta took over in Thailand.
"I cannot thank the NCPO because, for more than two years, my freedom has been deprived and many more of us were summoned for attitude adjustment," Pravit told BenarNews.


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BENARNEWS- Four suspected rebels and a Thai paramilitary died Wednesday in a gun battle in the mountains of Narathiwat province, a day after two paramilitaries died in a roadside attack elsewhere in Thailand's restive Deep South.
The four insurgents who were killed in the shootout in Ban Aigis mountains of Narathiwat were suspected of having taken part in the seizure by rebels of a hospital in the province, Thai security officials said.
The killings over the course of the two days brought to 44 the number of people who have died since Feb. 10 in a surge of violence linked to a long-running separatist insurgency in Thailand's southern border region.
Wednesday's gun battle erupted as Maj. Gen. Ekkarat Changkaew, commander of the Narathiwat Task Force, was leading about 50 members of a Deep South regiment in hunting down suspected rebels, officials said.
The paramilitary who was killed was identified as Anusak Amrod, and two of the dead insurgents were identified as Lugman Latehbuering and Bueraheng Arwaema.
Three or four other militants were injured, but they escaped, officials said.
Lugman and Bueraheng were subjects of arrest warrants from a Narathiwat court for their alleged roles in the seizure of the hospital in Cho-irong district on March 13.
On Tuesday night, two paramilitaries died after being struck by a roadside bomb and then shot in Chalerm, a sub-district in Narathawit's Ra-ngae district, said Lt. Col. Manot Plodkhanngern, an officer assigned to the local police station.
Military officials found a motorbike along the road, and later discovered the bodies of paramilitaries Sirawut Nuanwong and Chakpong Chaipat, whose weapons had been taken.
No one has claimed responsibility for Tuesday's incident.
Incident in Cho-irong
The gun battle marked the latest effort by military officials in the Deep South to track down those responsible for the takeover of the hospital in Cho-irong.
"Such operations have occurred following the collection of forensic evidence taken from Cho-irong hospital and through information from witnesses and suspects, so officials could assess the situation before this invasion today," said Col. Yuthanam Petchmuang, a spokesman for the military.
On March 13, a group of 14 rebels briefly seized the hospital while mounting an attack on a nearby military installation.
The takeover occurred amid a series of attacks launched by rebels on the 56th anniversary of the founding of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), the largest and most powerful insurgent group waging a separatist war in Thailand's predominantly Muslim and Malay-speaking southern border region.
The flurry of rebel attacks took place despite efforts by Thailand's military-controlled government to persuade the rebel groups to resume formal peace talks.
Since the long-running insurgency flared up again in 2004, more than 6,500 people have been killed and about 12,000 injured in violence associated with the conflict.


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BENARNEWS- Nineteen Uyghurs on Thursday were on a hunger strike at a detention center in Thailand, protesting against their possible deportation to China, according to a detainee.
On Tuesday a group claiming to represent more than 70 Uyghurs who are being held at the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok and other sites in Thailand said they had started a hunger strike because they would rather die there than be sent back to China.
"If we were returned back to China, we will face physical and emotional torture, and be killed or sentenced to stay in prison for life," a group calling itself For Freedom told Radio Free Asia (RFA), a sister entity of BenarNews, in a hand-written note received (pictured) on May 31.
"Therefore, we announced a hunger strike and thought it would be better to die from a hunger strike while in here. We will continue our hunger strike until we are freed or relocated to a third country or till we die here."
On Thursday, 19 Uyghurs were refusing to take food and water at the Bangkok center, a detainee told RFA. Two members of a group of about 30 being held at the detention facility were taken away to solitary confinement because they spoke English and were suspected of contacting the media, while others were taken to "punishment cells" after falling ill during the strike, the source said.
The hand-written note criticized the Thai government and officials at the Immigration Detention Center in Bangkok, saying that they treated detainees as something less than human.
"Thailand did not give us to Turkey, and they did not treat us Uyghurs in detention as humans either. They inflicted profound suffering upon us," For Freedom wrote. "They separated us from our wives and children, parents, and siblings. Other countries did not help us at all."
On Thursday Thai government and prison officials could not be reached for comment.
One of the detainees, who asked to remain anonymous, told RFA that he and other Uyghurs were seeking a better life.
"We escaped from China's layer upon layers of oppression to free our wives and children detained in the democratic country of Thailand. If Thailand is a democratic country, they should let us go to countries like Turkey," the detainee said.
Last year, Thailand forcibly sent more than 100 Uyghurs back to China, where their fate is uncertain.
Uyghurs have fled unrest in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where hundreds of people have been killed in spates of violence in recent years.
Ties to Turkey are religious, ethnic
Uyghur ties with Turkey are religious and ethnic. About 20 million Muslims live in China and many Uyghurs have already immigrated to Turkey.
The Uyghurs in Thai custody are hoping that their hunger strike will get the attention of other countries that might be willing to take them in. Uyghur advocacy groups have criticized the international community for turning a blind eye to their plight.
Rukiye Turdush, managing director of the Diplomatic and Human Rights Office of Eastern Turkestan Government in Exile based in Canada, told RFA that he was concerned for the Uyghurs' safety and doubted they would be allowed to go free anytime soon.
"We call on Thai police first to treat the Uyghur detainees with human dignity and release them to freedom or let them go to other free countries," he said, adding that refugee organizations in Canada told him there was no room for new refugees.


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BENARNEWS- A man who served as a courtroom interpreter for two Uyghurs accused in a deadly bombing in Bangkok last year is in jail for alleged possession of drugs, a Thai activist said Friday.
But Uzbekistan national Sirojiddin Bakhodirov claimed he had been framed and beaten by police for helping the two Uyghur men.
Bakhodirov – also known as Sergy – was arrested on Wednesday in Bangkok's Sukhumvit area, according to Chalida Tajaroensuk, who received a phone call from him later that night from the Lumpini Police Station.
Chalida is director of People's Empowerment Foundation, which has been assisting Uyghurs in Thailand since 2014.
"We were worried whether he was framed. But the police had evidence. Then they asked to have his urine test and it was positive. I and two lawyers were there," she told BenarNews.
"According to the police, a black [market] drug pusher disappeared as Sergy boarded a taxi and they captured him. He was found with marijuana and ice," she added, using a slang term for crystal methamphetamine.
Chalida said she would have difficulty finding another person to serve as an interpreter for the two men accused of carrying out the Aug. 17, 2015, bombing at Bangkok's Erawan Shrine.
Adem Karadag and Yusufu Mieraili's next court appearance is scheduled for Aug. 23 and 24, she said. On those days the court will hear more witness testimony in the bombing that killed 20 people and injured 125 at the popular Hindu shrine.
The two men, who have denied the charges against them, last appeared in court on May 17, shackled, barefoot and distraught.
Adem Karadag shouted in English to reporters outside the court: "I'm human! I'm not an animal!"
"We're innocent, help us, help us, where are the human rights?" Reuters quoted Mieraili as saying.
'I am innocent'
Bakhodirov spoke by telephone late Friday to Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews, from Bangkok South Court, where police brought him earlier in the day seeking to extend his custody.
"I am innocent. I've been jailed for translating for two Uyghurs who are Bangkok shrine bombing suspects," he said, adding that he had been beaten around the waist by police.
"If I am deported back to Uzbekistan I will face seven years' imprisonment for helping courts in a foreign nation. I have a daughter in Uzbekistan and my family is under stress," he said.
A reporter then heard him cry out in evident distress before the phone connection was abruptly cut.
Chalida said Bakhodirov could face charges of overstaying his visa as well as possession of drugs because immigration clemency extended while he served as court translator would automatically be revoked.
If convicted, he is likely to be sent back to Uzbekistan in three months' time, she added.
Contacted by BenarNews, Pisek Panupat, a press officer at the Thai Embassy in Washington, said he had no information about the arrest, or about 19 Uyghurs reportedly on a hunger strike since May 31 at immigration detention facilities in Thailand.
The Uyghurs were protesting their possible deportation to China, one detainee said.
Uyghurs have fled unrest in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where hundreds of people have been killed in spates of violence in recent years.
Uyghur exiles and rights groups have criticized Chinese authorities' heavy-handed rule in the region – including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people – which, they say, has forced many to flee overseas, often through Southeast Asia.


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BENARNEWS- The courtroom interpreter for two Uyghurs accused in the 2015 Bangkok bombing was released on bail Friday afternoon after being held two days for alleged possession of drugs, sources said Monday.
Police Captain Pongsak Nonthachote, the officer in charge of Srojiddin Bakhadirov's case, told BenarNews that he brought the Uzbek national to Bangkok South Court on Friday to seek an extension of custody pending a court review of the case.
"He was given a bailout at 16:00 hours on June 3," an information official at Bangkok South Court told BenarNews by phone. The official did not disclose who had provided the bail money.
But Bakhadirov claimed he was still in police custody when he spoke to Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews, at around 9 p.m. Friday.
"I am innocent. I've been jailed for translating for two Uyghurs who are Bangkok shrine bombing suspects," he said at the time, adding that he had been beaten around the waist by police.
A reporter heard him cry out in evident distress before the phone connection was abruptly cut. Repeated attempts to reach him again were not successful.
'Police work with transparency'
Pongsak denied that police had beaten Bakhadirov.
"The police work with transparency and never beat him up. We do our best," he said.
The Uzbek man was arrested June 1 after he allegedly purchased a small amount of crystal meth and marijuana from a drug dealer near Bangkok's Sukhumvit area. He initially faced a charge of possession of narcotics, but Pongsak said the case had not yet been wrapped up.
"I asked for custody and now I have 84 days to conclude the case and forward it to the attorney general. I cannot tell you which charges he is facing for now," he told BenarNews.
Bakhadirov could face charges of overstaying his visa as well because immigration clemency extended while he served as court translator would automatically be revoked, according to Chalida Tajaroensuk, director of the People's Empowerment Foundation, an NGO which has been assisting Uyghurs in Thailand since 2014.
Chuchart Kanpai, a lawyer for Adem Karadag and Yusufu Mieraili, the defendants in the Erawan Shrine bombing case, told BenarNews he could not locate Bakhadirov.
"Police sought his custody on Friday and I heard he got bail, but after that, we don't know where he is," he said.
The two men say they are innocent in the Aug. 17, 2015 bombing that killed 20 people and injured 125 at the popular Hindu shrine. Their lawyer alleged at court in February that Karadag had been tortured into confessing.
The next court hearing in the case is scheduled for Aug. 23 and 24.
Uyghurs have fled unrest in northwestern China's Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, where hundreds of people have been killed in spates of violence in recent years.
Uyghur exiles and rights groups have criticized Chinese authorities' heavy-handed rule in the region – including police raids on Uyghur households, restrictions on Islamic practices, and curbs on the culture and language of the Uyghur people – which, they say, has forced many to flee overseas, often through Southeast Asia.


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BENARNEWS- Thailand has effectively eliminated the danger of mothers transmitting HIV and syphilis to their newborns, the Thai Ministry of Health, the World Health Organization (WHO) and other international public health agencies announced Wednesday.
Thailand is officially certified as "free of the transmission of HIV and syphilis from mothers to children," after Thailand became the first Asian country where the national rate of mother-to-child HIV transmission fell below 2 percent last year, officials from those agencies said in a joint news release.
"Today, not only Thai children but also children of migrants eligible for healthcare coverage face almost no risk of acquiring the virus from their mothers because of their access to prevention of mother-to-child transmission services," said Thomas Davin, the representative of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Thailand.
"This remarkable achievement demonstrates Thailand's extraordinary commitment and leadership in responding to the global pandemic," he said. "Thailand has set an example that will inspire many other Asian countries in their efforts towards an AIDS and syphilis-free generation."
HIV, or the human immunodeficiency virus, can cause AIDS, a disease that has afflicted Thailand and many other countries for decades. According to WHO, 36.9 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS in 2014, and 1.2 million people died of related illnesses that year.
In Thailand, some 450,000 people were living with HIV/AIDS in 2014, but the HIV infection rate has fallen from 140,000 new cases of infection in 1991 to 7,800 new cases two years ago, Saya Oka, an official with UNAIDS Regional Support Team in Bangkok, told BenarNews.
A WHO global guideline considers the threat of the mother infecting her child with HIV to be effectively eliminated when the rate falls below 2 percent. In Thailand, the rate fell from 10.3 percent in 2003 to 1.91 percent in 2015, said the release issued early Wednesday morning (Bangkok time).
Two decades ago, globally about one out of every three children whose mothers had HIV were born with the virus, said Tatiana Shoumilina, the country director for UNAIDS.
"Thailand is the first country in Asia to achieve what was deemed an impossible milestone at that time – of freeing infants of HIV as well as syphilis," she said.
Dr. Daniel Kertesz, WHO's representative in Thailand, praised "the Government of Thailand's exemplary efforts extend not only to Thai citizens, but also to migrant populations residing in Thailand."
"Thailand is one of only a few countries that have broadened universal healthcare to include migrant women, making prevention of mother-to-child transmission affordable for everyone," he said.
In Thailand, where there is universal healthcare coverage, services for HIV-infected mothers are entirely integrated into maternal and pediatric programs at hospitals, the release noted.
'A challenge remains'
WHO, UNICEF, UNAIDS and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) were among the international public health agencies that joined Thai health officials in announcing Thailand's achievement of the milestone.
The certification was a two-year process in which WHO convened a team of regional and independent health experts to validate that Thailand had met all criteria for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of both HIV and congenital syphilis, the release said.
"Thailand's success in achieving global WHO targets in eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV and Syphilis belongs to everyone – all involved organizations and partners," said Dr. Piyasakol Sakolsatayadorn, Thailand's Minister of Public Health. It is not only Thai mothers and children who benefit from this, but all who are residing in the Kingdom."
"However, a challenge remains: how we make this success sustainable. We'll be able to reach that dream through effective leadership and management, as well as strong cross-sectoral collaboration and policy advocacy by the government," Piysakol added.


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BENARNEWS- A group of NGOs has marked the anniversary of the 2015 Andaman Sea migration crisis by calling on Thailand to end "arbitrary and indefinite detention" of refugees from Myanmar who came ashore then, and do more to protect survivors and witnesses of human trafficking.
"Thailand's policies and practices towards Rohingya refugees are putting lives at risk and must be addressed immediately," Amy Smith, executive director of Fortify Rights, one of six NGOs that issued a joint statement after convening a one-day forum in Bangkok on Wednesday.
"The Thai government should ensure protection for Rohingya refugees and human trafficking survivors without delay."
More than a year after close to 3,000 Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar and undocumented Bangladeshi migrants landed in Thailand, Malaysia and Indonesia in May 2015, after human traffickers had abandoned them at sea, Rohingya refugees are still being held at Thai detention centers and state-run shelters, said the half-dozen NGOs that advocate human rights and rights for migrant workers and refugees.
The crisis escalated when Thai authorities launched a crackdown on human trafficking and imposed a maritime blockade on smugglers' boats that were trying to reach Thailand's Andaman coast. The crackdown and blockade followed the discovery in the jungle on the Thai side of the border with Malaysia of graves containing the bodies of at least 36 undocumented people.
Ninety-two suspects including a Thai general are being prosecuted for human smuggling in Thailand as a result of the crackdown. Their trial is the largest even human-trafficking case in Thailand's history.
"It's encouraging that Thailand has taken steps to combat the vast network of human traffickers that have long preyed on the desperation of Rohingya refugees," Siwawong Sukthawee of the Migrant Working Group (MWG), one of the forum's organizers, said in the joint release.
"But it's not enough. Much more needs to be done to protect survivors. In many ways, the crisis continues," Siwawong added.
When contacted by BenarNews on Thursday, Lt. Gen. Nattathorn Phrohsunthon, chief of the Thai immigration police, declined to comment on criticism contained in the statement from the NGOs.
But a spokesman for the Thai junta did respond to it briefly.
"The government understands this problem well. We will convene agencies involved and will have a press release sometime. Let us have a meeting," Major Weerachon Sukhontapatipak told BenarNews.
Misclassified
In their statement, the NGOs pointed to a resolution adopted by the Thai cabinet on March 15 which, if implemented would provide protective legal status for survivors of human trafficking and also grant official protection to witnesses testifying in human trafficking trials.
The NGOs first welcomed news of the resolution's passage three months ago, but now they are voicing concern because the government has not yet implemented its provisions, according to the joint statement.
As of December 2015 Thailand's Ministry of Justice had provided formal witness protection to only 12 out of approximately 500 witnesses who were expected to testify in the trial of the 92 defendants, according to Fortify Rights.
The Rohingya refugees were fleeing religious persecution in predominantly Buddhist Myanmar, where members of this Muslim minority are not recognized as citizens.
According to Papop Siamhan, the anti-trafficking coordinator at the Human Rights and Development Foundation (HRDF), Thai authorities have wrongly classified them as undocumented migrants.
"Most Rohingyas were trafficked by some groups of people – human trafficking brokers. But the police and attorney general documented the cases as if they were illegal migration only. The court was persuaded into seeing the cases as mere illegal migration," Papop told Wednesday's forum.


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BENARNEWS- Thai police said Friday they planned to question the abbot of a Buddhist temple about allegations that it was trafficking wildlife and trading animal parts, after authorities removed scores of tigers and tiger carcasses from the site in recent days.
The temple's representatives, however, told BenarNews that they planned to sue the government over the seizure of more than a 100 hundred tigers from its premises, saying the move was illegal.
In Kanchanaburi province, police Maj. Gen. Suranit Phrombut announced plans to summon Abbot Luang Ta Chan of the Wat Pa Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno – which is known across Thailand as the Tiger Temple and a tourist destination in the province – over claims that temple staff had abused and was involved in the illegal trade of tigers and their parts.
Police were waiting for DNA tests on the animals before proceeding, the Bangkok Post quoted Suranit as saying.
Earlier in the week, Adisorn Nuchdamrong, the deputy director-general at the Department of National Parks, Wildlife and Plant Conservation, told reporters that it had obtained evidence of a letter showing that the abbot had an agreement with Laos to breed tigers. If DNA tests of specimens do not match domestic predecessors, it could reflect an international trade of tigers, he said.
The police's plan to summon the abbot for questioning came a day after a lawyer representing the temple and a spokesman announced moves to sue the national park department for seizing 147 tigers. They called the seizures illegal and complained that the "tourist landmark of Kanchanaburi" had been damaged because the animals were taken.
The department claims 137 tigers were taken from the temple in Kanchanaburi's Sai Yoke district, about 150 km (93.2 miles) west of Bangkok.
Saiyut Pengbunchu, a lawyer for the temple, said its legal team was considering a lawsuit on grounds that the department had overstepped its authority and defamed Wat Wat Pa Luang Ta Bua Yanasampanno.
"We may sue it on grounds of abuse of authority," Saiyut told Benar News by phone Friday, complaining that the temple had no revenues and staff had lost their jobs because the animals were taken away.
During a press conference on Thursday, Luang's representative, Siri Wangboonkerd, refuted accusations that the temple and the abbot had performed illegal acts.
"To seize the tigers without a court order is an act of robbery. There is no clear accusation yet against the abbot, yet the authorities point the finger at the abbot," Siri told reporters at the temple's entrance. "This temple is the landmark of Kanchanaburi. The temple's reputation is damaged and the tourist service has had to stop."
But it is believed that the department took the action based on a search warrant from Kanchanaburi provincial court.
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Thai wildlife officials carry a tiger on a stretcher after it was anaesthetized at the Tiger Temple, May 30, 2016. [AFP]
Tourist business
The Tiger Temple apparently bred tigers to attract foreign tourists, generating a lucrative business.
While removing the big cats earlier this month, the department found carcasses of 40 tiger cubs in a freezer along with amulets and ornaments made from tiger parts, leading to suspicion that the temple was linked to trans-national wildlife trade, a breach of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora).
"We are conducting scientific tests, we are doing DNA tests. And if we found any more infractions, we will prosecute the temple," Adisorn Nuchdamrong told Benar News by phone.
"We do our jobs, we cannot help if they sue us," he said, adding that the removed tigers were safe at a wildlife sanctuary in nearby Ratcha Buri province.
Edwin J. Wiek, the director of Wildlife Friends Foundation Thailand, expressed concern over the conditions where the tigers are being kept.
"The tigers are with the national park department and each of them is kept in 8- by12-meter cages – too tight. Each of them needs a minimum space of 1,000 to 1,500 square meters to be comfortable. If this is only temporarily, that's fine," he told to Benar News by phone.


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BENARNEWS- Criminal syndicates and corrupt officials promote and profit from violence in Thailand's Deep South, clouding efforts to resolve an insurgency there, people who know the region well told BenarNews.
Violent incidents occur almost daily in provinces on Thailand's southern border where a separatist conflict has lasted for decades. More than 15,000 gun or bomb attacks have been recorded in the region since January 2004, according to Deep South Watch, a local think-tank.
Police typically pin the blame on insurgents, but notoriously elusive rebel groups never claim or deny responsibility for attacks.
"We cannot deny that there are separatists. There are many, in fact," Saki Pitakkhumpol, a professor of peace studies at Prince of Songkla University in southern Thailand, told BenarNews.
"But there are contraband smuggling rings, and they need to create an environment to facilitate their business. As well, there are drug-trafficking syndicates, and personal conflicts among local gang-landers," he said, adding, "When they get angry at each other, they use bomb attacks. When the officials cannot identify the real cause, they say the incidents are separatist-related."
Apart from drug-smuggling, the Deep South has been notorious as a transit route for the cross-border smuggling into neighboring Malaysia of undocumented migrants and Muslim Rohingya refugees from Myanmar.
Moreover, "underground syndicates hire separatist groups to carry out attacks to divert the real attention from them," said Saki, whose father, Asis Pitakkhumpol, is Thailand's Sheikhul Islam, or government-appointed leader of Thai Muslims.
Pattani, Yala and Narathiwat provinces, near the Thai border with Malaysia, were part of a Malay Muslim sultanate annexed by mostly Buddhist Thailand over a century ago. Today 80 percent of the Deep South's 1.7 million residents are Muslim Malay-Patani, or Muslim Thais, a term preferred by Thai authorities.
Since the separatist insurgency reignited in 2004, more than 6,500 people of both faiths and all ages have been killed, according to Deep South Watch.
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Saki Pitakkhumpol [Photo courtesy of Saki Pitakkhumpol]
Climate of fear
Much of the violence in the Deep South is carried out by the most powerful insurgent group, Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), according to Samrej Srirai, a general, now retired, who was posted in the south from 2005 to 2013.
"The BRN wants to have independence. Its tactics are violent attacks and to exploit Islamism by depicting [Thais] as Siamese infidel intruders," said Samrej, who was deputy commander of the 4th Army Region, which oversees southern Thailand, at the end of his tenure.
"They have a secretive chain of command, and sleeper cells of RKK militants," he said, using the Malay-language acronym for an armed group in the south, Runda Kumpulan Kecil.
"The cells do not know anyone beyond their direct commanders, and the cells do not know each other," he told BenarNews.
In addition, the insurgents "have a shadow administration in the provincial level, the district level, and down to village level."
But violence is also carried out by criminal syndicates who smuggle palm oil, petroleum and bootlegged goods into Thailand, and illegal drugs into Malaysia, he said.
"Black marketers used thugs to create turbulence, to cause a climate of fear," he said.
"The underground syndicates are the allies of the insurgents, but they do not have armed elements of their own," he added.
He alleged that authorities were being paid off by the syndicates.
"Drugs, oil smuggling, these illegal activities cannot be conducted without Thai officials' involvement. Gangsters gave them a kickback," he said.
Speaking to BenarNews on condition of anonymity, a Narathiwat resident close to an illicit smuggling ring said that illegal activities had been going on for a long time in the Deep South and that some local and national-level leaders had been involved.
"There have been illegal activities that are backed by local politicians and national-level politicians. The methamphetamine trade is an obvious [example]," he said.
The border towns of Sungai Kolok, Dan Nok and Padang Besar are transit points for drugs to Malaysia, and some operators have both Malaysian and Thai citizenship "so they can escape prosecution in Thailand," he said.
Criminal syndicates even sponsor insurgent violence to distract authorities, he alleged.
'There are good and bad persons in any organization'
According to Col. Pramote Prom-in, a spokesman the regional forward office of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), violence perpetrated by insurgents is a tiny fraction of violence carried out across the region by criminal elements.
"The insurgent-induced violence in Deep South accounts for only 5 percent, while 95 percent is linked to what we call 'opportunistic threats': violence by racketeering in drugs trade, illegal goods and oil smuggle and so on," Pramote told BenarNews.
Nonetheless, authorities in the Deep South have suspected insurgents of being behind a spate of attacks that has killed at least 44 people across the region since early February.
"We cannot verify whether there are officials involved. There are good and bad persons in any organization but we have punishments for that," Pramote said, adding that military officers face "two-times harsher punishments" for taking part in criminal activity.
Former Army Lt. Gen. Manas Kongpaen is on trial in Bangkok with some 90 other suspected members of a major human trafficking ring that allegedly operated in Thailand southern border region and was uncovered last year during a Thai crackdown on illegal immigration.
"In many cases, there are links between the racketeers and insurgents because they use the same groups of militants and the same weapons," Pramote said.
'It's not going to go away'
On top of the prevalence of criminal gangs operating in the region, there are some 9,000 militants in the Deep South affiliated with a variety of insurgent groups and factions, according to estimates by the government and by Mara Patani, a committee representing the rebels that has been involved in recent efforts to restart peace talks.
Those efforts ground to an apparent halt in April when the Thai government declined to endorse terms of reference that the two sides had hammered out in a series of encounters over a year's time.
At the time, lead Thai negotiator Gen. Aksara Kerdpol said it was unclear whether rebel ranks were united behind Mara Patani.
Gen. Samrej suggested that the only way to achieve peace would be to reach out to the RKK commanders.
"We need to talk with those middle-level commanders in Deep South to stop the carnage," he said.
Metha Mekharath, chairman of Muslims for Peace in Narathiwat, said the missing element in the peace process was political will to solve the problem.
"The problem in the Deep South has a long history. It's not going to go away. I believe government agencies have all the information about the insurgents. What have they done with it?" he asked.


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BENARNEWS- Myanmar State Counselor Aung San Suu Kyi will meet with about 3,000 migrants from her country who work in neighboring Thailand to discuss their concerns about their status and risks, during a three-day state visit that begins on Thursday, said the head of an activist organization that advocates for migrant workers.
Aung San Suu Kyi, who is also foreign minister and Myanmar's de facto leader, will address migrant laborers on Thursday evening at Tarle camp in the heavily Myanmar-populated southern Bangkok township of Mahachai.
But only those who hold passports and temporary documents known as pink cards will be able to attend, said Kyaw Thaung, director of Myanmar Association in Thailand (MAT), an organization that provides assistance for trafficking victims.
Myanmar puts the number of migrant workers living in Thailand at 4 million with only half legally registered to work there, while Thailand's Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare puts the number at more than 1.4 million, with most from the Karen, Mon, and Shan ethnic minority groups.
Many migrant workers in Thailand are at risk of being trafficked as sex workers or for hard labor on fishing boats. Granting the largely undocumented Myanmar workforce in Thailand permanent status has been the subject of negotiations between the two countries.
"Thousands of Myanmar migrant workers will attend the meeting, but because it's the rainy season, the Myanmar embassy has arranged a hall for Aung San Suu Kyi to speak," Kyaw Thaung told Radio Free Asia, a sister entity of BenarNews.
The hall will hold 500 people, while 2,500 others will watch her on large screens outside, he said.
Thirteen Thailand-based activist groups for workers have been arranging for Myanmar laborers to attend the meeting and ask the state counselor questions.
'Workers are suffering'
Kyaw Thaung said he will submit a proposal to Aung San Suu Kyi to ask Thai Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-o-cha to allow migrant laborers from Myanmar to work in Thailand for two or three years without a visa or work permit fees.
"Because Thailand is a rich country, and Myanmar workers are suffering, it would be great if Aung San Suu Kyi could ask the Thai prime minister about that," he said.
He will also urge her to abolish the memorandum-of-understanding system under which many Myanmar workers have become victims of agencies that engage in human trafficking, he said.
"I will tell her that if she still wants to use this MOU, then please get rid of the agencies for workers and do it government-to-government," Kyaw Thaung said. "I want Myanmar workers who are in jail as a result of human trafficking to be released as well."
Aung San Suu Kyi last met with Myanmar migrant workers in Mahachi in 2012.
MOU to be signed
During her trip Aung San Suu Kyi also will visit Talay Thai market, Thailand's largest seafood market where many Myanmar migrants work, a Myanmar migrant worker community in Samut Sakhon province in central Thailand, and a temporary shelter for Myanmar displaced persons in Ratchaburi province in the western part of the country, according to an announcement by the Thai Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On Friday, she will meet Prayuth to discuss bilateral relations, especially labor and development cooperation.
It is expected that a Memorandum of Understanding on the Labor Cooperation Agreement on Employment of Workers and Agreement on Border Crossing will be signed during the visit, according to an announcement by Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Aung San Suu Kyi will be accompanied by Thein Swe, Minister for Labor, Immigration and Population; Kyaw Win, Minister for Planning and Finance; and Kyaw Tin, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs.
The visit will "signify the deepening Thailand-Myanmar ties and lay a solid foundation for both sides to resolve pending issues and further enhance bilateral cooperation," the statement said.
She will also meet Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai on Friday during a town-hall meeting with Thai university students at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
On May 9, Don Pramudwinai visited Myanmar and met with Aung San Suu Kyi and President Htin Kyaw.
Aung San Suu Kyi's upcoming visit to Thailand marks her second foreign trip since her National League for Democracy (NLD) party took power in April.
Pink card validity
After officials from both countries met in late February, Thailand began issuing new pink cards with a two-year validity and eligibility for a two-year extension to give foreign workers with temporary cards more time to obtain regular, legal documents from their home country, according to a March 1 article in the Myanmar Times.
But migrant rights groups say that holders of pink cards, which allow people without documents short-term stays in Thailand, can be deported at random and are vulnerable to arrest or extortion by police, the article said.
Furthermore, the holders are not eligible for social security, leave, workers' compensation or driver's licenses, it said.
Many workers had been informed that they must pay 500 Thai baht (U.S. $14) to renew their pink cards before a Thai-imposed deadline at the end of June, plus up to 10,000 baht (U.S. $284) to brokers, the article said.

Concerns about migration policies
Meanwhile, the Migrant Workers Rights Network (MWRN), a membership-based organization for migrant workers from Myanmar who live and work mainly in Thailand, met U.S. embassy officials in Bangkok on Friday to update the American government on the migrant situation in the country.
The group expressed concern about the country's migration policies, rule of law, recruitment systems, failure to provide a living wage to workers, absence of social dialogue, and limits on the free movement of workers, according to minutes of the meeting obtained by BenarNews.
Some of MWRN's recommendations were that Thailand ensure enforcement of the rule of law to prevent ongoing corruption and ensure compliance with basic labor and social protection laws, put in place simple and inexpensive cross-border labor migration procedures with no recruitment fees to reduce trafficking, and strictly regulate labor recruitment agencies involved in migration processes.
Pimuk Rakkanam in Bangkok contributed to this report.


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