Penguin dares to dream of better things
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2 Parit Penguin Chiwarak along with another 21 political activists are taken into detention last September as they await trial on sedition and lese majeste charges.
I have met political activist Parit Penguin Chiwarak twice in my career as a journalist. The first was five years ago when Parit was a precocious high school student at Triam Udom Suksa, a well-known high school in Bangkok. At that time, he had launched a campaign against the Thai education system that teaches students to be submissive.
The second time was last year, when he become a big shot on the Thai political landscape a prominent protest leader. His campaign this time was bold, ambitious and controversial including a demand for reform of the monarchy and an amendment to the constitution that he said leads to unfair elections, opening the door to former coup maker and current prime minister Gen Prayut Chan-o-cha to return as prime m
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Time for govt to show Karen some heart
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After struggling for survival on an empty stomach for days, Karen villagers who fled the war atrocities in Myanmar, from an area under the control of the Karen National Union, took shelter along the Salween River. They received some food and medicine, supplied largely by non-profit organisations, temples, Thais, and fellow ethnic people.
Those samaritans who collected donations through their networks delivered the necessities with difficulty. It took them several days to negotiate with local authorities in Mae Hong Son s Mae Sariang district, who initially blocked passage of the items.
Local authorities said they had to get permission from people higher up the chain.
Thailand must lend a hand to the Karen
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3 People cook in a forest following an air strike in Papun district, Karen state, Myanmar on Friday. REUTERS
Pictures of Karen people, including children and the elderly, crowded on the banks of Myanmar s Salween River while attempting to flee the country as their communities were targeted by air strikes launched by the Tatmadaw, and taking refuge on Thai soil triggered sympathy among many Thais. Criticism has also been deafening over allegations made by human rights groups that Thai authorities pushed back the Karen into the war zone.
Since last week, some 3,000 people from Myanmar s southeastern Karen state fled to Thailand after the military bombarded areas held by an ethnic armed group, the Karen National Union (KNU). The blitz followed a series of bloody military crackdowns on protesters against a military coup staged by Gen Min Aung Hlaing over two months ago.
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