Starving for Justice in Thailand
Two political prisoners arrested for questioning the Thai monarchy have been on a life-threatening hunger strike for over a week. The government has met their demands for the right to free expression with silence.
Two political prisoners arrested for questioning the Thai monarchy have been on a life-threatening hunger strike for over a week. The government has met their demands for the right to free expression with silence.
The unprecedented mass protests against the monarchy show no signs of flagging.
Prawais Praphanukul, a longtime human rights lawyer in Thailand, faces life in prison for a series of Facebook posts allegedly insulting the king. His decision to fight the charges is testing the limits of repression under the country’s increasingly authoritarian regime.
As the third anniversary of Thailand’s 2014 coup approaches, there are few signs of an end to military rule in Thailand. Ironically, it is through the courts—the very sites where repression is codified—that activists are presenting the deepest challenges to military rule.
In the year since a military coup brought General Prayuth Chan-ocha and his fellow officers to power in Thailand, repression of protest has taken on a scale not seen in the country since the 1970s. But a courageous group of activists are pointing the way toward a new movement for democracy.