Thailand Coup Watch

Coup Protest at Cornell

2006-11-27T15:43:00.000-08:00

I got this messege from one of the founders of the group. Also it can be found at link from Prachatai. The protest will be held on Thursday 30th November at Willard Straight Hall from 9.30 am-4.30 pm. Details are below.

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Cornell Students for Thai Democracy

Call for Democracy

Right now, it is a critical time in Thailand's democracy fight, please come out to show your support in this struggle.

Most people across the world know that the Thai people lost their democracy on Sep. 19, 2006. A group of persons under the name "Administrative Reform Council (ARC) under the Democratic System" staged the coup d’etat and removed power from the government elected under the constitution drafted by the people.

We, "Cornell Students for Thai Democracy", agree with the “19 September” and All the People’s Man Networks” that we do not accept the coup and the Thai junta government. Abolishing the constitution, harassing the media, and putting an end to the independent agencies are considered acts of abolishing the parliamentary democracy system. These acts are similar to those done by the previous coups and will bring about the same evil outcomes that happened in Thai society in the past.

Our group (consisting of some Thai and American Students at Cornell) would like to inform the Cornell Community, our friends, and faculty that we are opposed to the way of building democracy through guns and tanks. There is no such thing as building democracy through destroying democracy at the same time in the world. We also insist that we shall accept only the same democratic principle that has been used in all democratic countries across the world. The recent explanation of the Thai junta government about the democratic form under Thai style is unacceptable.

To show our standing point and share our political viewpoints among the Cornell community and others, we would like to invite all Cornellians and other people outside Cornell to attend our poster and speech protest that will be held in front of Willard Straight Hall on November 30, 2006 during 9:30am–4:30pm (please see detail in the protest agenda below).

The Protest Agenda

•Poster Show (9:30 am – 4:30 pm)

-History of Thailand’s Democracy

-Bloody May 1992

-Sep.19, 06 Coup

•Event Presentations (10:00 am – 4:00 pm)

-Bloody May 1992

-Sep.19, 06 Coup (Tanks and guns around Bangkok, etc.)

•Democracy Donation (9:00 am – 4:30 pm)

-We don’t need money, but Democracy!

Please donate your opinion against the coup and dictatorship here.

•Thailand’s Democracy Tree Show (9:00 am – 4:30 pm)

-See the unfertilized Thai democracy tree

It is too weak and small to hang yourself, but label your opinion.

•The Coup Leader Dummy (9:00 am – 4:30 pm)

-One hit on his head a day, give the dictators away!

So, please don’t miss it! Free hit to Free Thailand’s democracy!!

***The Group’s Declaration Speech (12:00 am – 1:00 pm)

-Is the coup the right answer?

-Nine myths about the Sep. 19, 06 Coup (All the People’s Man Network, 2006).

Prem gives Churchill a bad name

2006-11-16T12:09:00.000-08:00

Following Anan Panyarachun's allegation that New Zealand/Australia are ignorant and not understanding of the tradition of the COUP in Thailand, we have a new gaffe made by another former Prime Minister, Prem Tinsulanonda . ( NOTICE : they both were PM during the military rule, neither were elected by Thai population)

Now Prem's reference to Winston Churchill has become a talk of the cyber town. He gave an analogy between Winston Churchill's rise to power and that of Gen. Surayut of Thailand.

From Thairath website it can be translated into

"every Thai citizen must have the duty of creating National conciliation, sacrificing for the national rather than personal interest and withholding the lowly, vulgar thoughts. Everyone must know of Mr.Winston Churchill who was the prime minister of England during the WW II just like Gen.Surayut is being a PM of Thailand as of now. They both have the same paths that they neither were elected by the people (MPs). Churchill was being invited to be a Prime Minister because the Queen saw that he had appropriate qualities. And Churchill also talked about the necessity of sacrificing for the country in his famous speech. Gen Suruyut of Thailand, in the same manner as Churchill, has accepted the post of PM not because he wants to but because he sacrifices himself to the country"

"the WW II occurred because of the power greed of less than 10 people. These 10 people engaged the world into war for many years because they wanted power. I really don’t understand why people are hungry for power (implied: because I don’t, albeit my 8 years of PMship)." Prem says.

Thai Coup Watch's COMMENTS : Had Gen. Prem known the history of England more he would not have said such statement. Why ?

1. Churchill was elected by the populace, he was a politician under the English parliamentary system.

2. With the concensus from the parliament. King George VI, not the Queen, asked Churchill to be a PM and to form an all party government.

3. How can Prem compare the leader from military coup to the English stateman during WW II like Churchil ? Does he want to justify the coup or to promote Suyayud who is known as Prem's puppet PM ?

4. Someone also suggested that this part of history is well-written in the King Bhumipol- translated book titled 'The Man Called Interprid". So it is quite likely that the head of Privy Council might never read this famed book by the King at all.

This will be another memorable quote made by Gen.Prem. Lately, he has made some analogies to 'Jockey, Horse and Owner' in explaining the role of the military, the government and the king. Another one is when he implicitly compared Thaksin to 'Hitler' . I wonder what more would come from this once-known-as-a very quiet PM.

P.S. I have just discovered that BangkokPundit already covered this very same issue. And it also appeared in the nation.

Several new video are available on the web

2006-11-12T08:30:00.000-08:00

Several videos from the anti-coup groups are released on youtube.

1. UNCLE Nuamtong's song ( By Vayupak group)

2. NOV 11 Protests at Sanamluang ( 3 clips By DCODE)

Click here for more details

Protest on Saturday Nov 11 2006

2006-11-11T13:55:00.000-08:00

The protest by the anti-coup ally on Saturday Nov 11 at Sanam Luang had just finished peacefully. The participating groups were D-Code, TMC, Wayupak (Phoenix) , Pirabkao (White Dove) and various others.

This is the 2nd time of the protest that the D-Code group has involved with. The first one was on Nov.1 where fewer people gathered. Lesson learned from the first time, the second one was much better organized and attracted quite a lot of crowds given our limited resources/publicity. It bodes very well for other anti-coup coalitions to stage a protest in the future as people become less fearful of the martial law and the military thus be more courageous to express their voices.

We would like to recap the atmosphere of the event briefly by showing pictures. We believe there will be video, audio available on the web in a few days.

To read more story, click here.

URGENT: Uncle Nuamthong to be cremated Thursday at 4.00pm

2006-11-08T09:04:00.000-08:00

The temple’s lack of proper facility and the possibility of political complication forced Uncle Nuamthong’s family to return to the original plan of having cremation ceremony for him on Thursday, scrapping the idea of keeping his body for 100 days before the cremation ceremony. Aunt Boonchu, his wife, cited these two reasons and told Thai Coup Watch that the cremation would take place at 4.00pm at Bua Kwan Temple on Ngarm Wongwan Road, Nonthaburi.

All of you are invited to attend this ceremony and pay respect to Uncle Nuamthong.

Update: Secretly, a military ninja pays respect to Uncle Nuamthong’s body

2006-11-08T09:03:00.000-08:00

An unidentified military officer and his subordinates secretly paid respect to Uncle Nuamthong Praivan’s body in the afternoon of the last day of his funeraql’s Buddhist chanting ceremony. Sources confirmed that an unidentified high-ranking military officer, accompanied by 2-3 male and female staff soldiers, came to Uncle Nuamthong’s funeral pavilion in Bua Kwan Temple in Nonthaburi at about 2.00pm today. They had to ask the pavilion’s caretaker to open the door for them as no one was in the pavilion and it was supposed to be open only in the evening for the Buddhist chanting ceremony. They paid respect to his body and left immediately, the sources told Thai Coup Watch. This incident happened without the knowledge of Uncle Nuamthong’s family, a family member said.

To view more story click here.

19 Sep.org protest at Grand Hyatt Erawan Hotel today

2006-11-07T12:25:00.000-08:00

Open Letter to the World Community

There is no justice and opportunities under dictatorship.

Since General Surayud Chulanont is invited to give a speech entitled, “Justice for All - Thailand in Transition: Challenges and Opportunities” today;

We in the name of “19 September Network against the Coup d’etat” would like to use this very same forum to declare our stance to the international community, through the foreign journalists that:

1.The formation of this interim government and the National Legislative Assembly (NLA) is a direct consequence of the coup d’etat on 19 September 2006, by the dictatorial council that called themselves, “Council for Democratic Reforms under Constitutional Monarchy” (CDRM); which recently has changed its name to “Council of National Security” (CNS). The coup d’etat has destroyed the principle of democracy. Actions such as tearing the constitution, overthrowing the elected government, and declaring the Martial Laws to violate the rights and freedoms of the people, by this illegitimate government, reflects that it does not have the rights to claim that it is being represented by the people. Its attempt to open up to the people to participate in the political processes is simply the ritual to give legitimacy to them.

To view more story, click here

Who is behind the 'CAR BOMB' case?

2006-11-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

After a successful coup, it seems like the Car Bomb case would become a halt. Actually it will surely be in oblivion like many other unsolved cases in this country.

Let me remind you that a car bomb is an incident that a group of Thai soldiers had plotted to kill ex-PM Thaksin Shinnawatra by using a Daewoo sedan filled with dotonation materials just a few weeks before the real coup occurred.

It began when police had caught Lt Thawatchai Klinchana one of the team members at scene. It led to the charges of other suspects who happened to be subordinates of Gen.Pullop Pinmanee and other very high-ranking Army officers. The investigation was almost done. The suspects are about to be charged and prosecuted under the rule of Thai law.

Shortly after the investigation, the Army staged a coup. Many observers of Thai politics believe that one hidden reasons of the coup is to protect some 'very' higher-ranking Army officers from being convicted by the police.

After the coup and the rules of Thai JUNTA, the CAR BOMB case will surely rest in the dusty file of Thai police. Again justice is being delayed in Thailand.

I found this vdo footage featuring Maj Gen.Kattiya Sawatdipol (Sae Dang). In his defensive argument against the car bomb case, he offered his thesis that the then-government staged a fake car bomb to imply that 'some very influential persons' had been involved in the planned killing of Thaksin'.

In min 2.10 of the video, Sae Dang mentioned the names of the plotters such as Gen.Surayuth Chulanonda and Gen.Prem Tinsulanon. Surprisingly, these people were later to have been involved in the military coup to topple Thaksin in one way or another.

MCOT: The best arbiter of truth that has ever come out of the idiot box?

2006-11-06T09:14:00.000-08:00

Attention, media of the world! If you think that press freedom was the first victim to be killed in the wake of Thailand’s so-called bloodless coup in the prime-time hours of September 19, you had better take a closer look at its second victim - the listed, state-run Mass Communication Organization of Thailand (MCOT).

Politically-motivated, radical sharp policy u-turn is taking place at the organization which has always been second to no one when it comes to the role of the government’s mouthpiece. The junta and current military-installed government, which late last month had epiphany that they were in the middle of PR stagnation, are now in an all-out effort to re-engineer the state’s propaganda apparatus – particularly the MCOT’s Channel 9 television station. It is preceded by the agency’s modernization under the leadership of its former executive director Mingkwan Saengsuwan, one of ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s PR saviors, some four years ago. Since then, Channel 9 has been known as Modernine TV. It was this TV station that ran Thaksin’s state-of-emergency audio broadcast from New York during his final hour in power. Minutes after airing it, the station was under heavy military control.

With the respected veteran newspaperman Pongsak Payakavichien as interim executive director, the channel’s work slogan will be changed from “Towards Wisdom Society” to “Towards Right Wisdom Society”. In the coming weeks, some most popular news-talk and edutainment programs which have put the channel at the forefront of Thailand’s television history in the making are expected to be purged. The old faces of “media headmasters” who proved to be arch-enemies of the deposed government have been invited by the architects of the military-installed government’s PR and media strategy to snatch the prime-time slots. In tandem with the PR Department-run Channel 11, the channel ran a live broadcast of the government’s platform address at the National Legislative Assembly on Friday. Last week, Channel 9 also had a program, entitled “Government’s Policy Critique”. Ironically enough, it featured all-star critics of the Thaksin administration from every circle.

For the government, this battle will be more interesting when the new schedule comes out, when MCOT employees wear black in protest on Tuesday, and when analysts expect another new low for the MCOT stock. This is just a curtain-raiser. Let’s see.

Update: Uncle Nuamthong’s body to be kept for 100 Days after his death

2006-11-06T08:28:00.001-08:00

The body of Uncle Nuamthong Praivan will be kept for 100 days at Bua Kwan Temple in Nonthaburi, a source who spoke to his wife said in an e-mail circulating in an anti-coup mailing group. After the seventh night of Buddhist chanting ceremony at the temple, the merit-making ceremony will take place on Thursday at 10.30am, his wife Bunchu told our source. Then, Uncle Nuamthong’s body will be temporarily laid at the temple’s cemetery. His family will conduct the cremation ritual for him on the 100th day after his death. At first, the plan was to cremate his body on Thursday at 5.00pm but his wife changed her mind because she could not simply endure the thought of losing him forever. “It would be too painful for me to cremate his body now,” she told the source.

On the fifth day of his funeral on Monday, less than 30 people attended the Buddhist chanting ceremony, a sharp contrast to the scenes from the previous days of funeral in which over 200 people had come to attend the funeral each day. National Human Rights Commissioner Jaran Ditapichai, Friends of the 1997 Constitution, and Democratic Union of Thailand will co-host the funeral on Tuesday.

Interesting Placards in the city

2006-11-05T23:37:00.000-08:00

Several of DCODE members have noticed many big placards along the tollway in Rangsit district. They took a picture and posted in the webboard asking about the possible doers.
It doesnt seem that the DCODE members are responsible for it though.

The placard on the top reads

"Annoucement:
The Privy Council has a role of serving the KING , not meddling with Politics (or else) disgrace will come to your respected organization"

My comment- This is a direct attack to Prem Tinsulanonda, but it could be referred to other privy councils such as Kasem Wattanachai, Palakorn Suwannarat who have often antagonized Thaksin and his policies (the latter two were ex-senior officials who had been removed from their positions by Thaksin and been appointed as privy councils shortly after. It does mean something) .

The bottom placard reads : Uncle NuamTong 30 October 2006
Thai Army in North and Northeast regions
Please count 1-10, I beg the North - Northeast to love the KING until the day you are buried.

My Comment-This messege is to soldiers with background from North-Northeastern regions (the stronghold of Thai Rak Thai party). They beg them to be calm (by counting 1 to 10) and be loyal to the King (rather than to their superiors in Army or to extraconstitutional bodies).

Underground Publications

2006-11-05T10:07:00.000-08:00

I’ve come across several interesting pamphlets of the anti-coup movements. One of them strikes me very hard that I want to share it here. It’s called The Big Theatrical Plot (ละครฉากใหญ่). It summarizes in chronological order 4 steps of the plots and roles of many players in the enterprise of toppling Thaksin (sorry for non-Thai reader , it is not in English yet). I find it quite credible, reasonable and not overly biased like many others . The drawback of this piece is that it does not indicate the motives / belief / the reasons behind those who want to get rid of Thaksin. I should take time or ask someone to translate it someday.

Sereechon Newspaper

There is another Thai underground publication from the Vayupak (Phoenix) group called ‘Sereechon newspaper’. It is in the form of newspaper that can be downloaded from the internet. Click here ( 3th ) , (4th) for example (there are 4 issues so far) . I dont know this group well but their papers seem to be highly professional.

To download in pdf form..go to
1. http://www.savefile.com/files/177269

2. http://www.savefile.com/files/177302

3. http://www.savefile.com/files/177333

4. http://www.savefile.com/files/177372

5. http://www.savefile.com/files/177395

6. http://www.savefile.com/files/177423

Thongchai Winichakul on Thai Coup @ Stanford

2006-11-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

Last month, I was quite sad to have missed Thongchai Winichakul and Sulak Sivaraka's talk at Harvard, Paul Handley's talk at Columbia. But we eventually have the good news in that Thongchai will come here as a guest of Don Emmerson of APARC ( not sure if it's because of my suggestion to Don or not, my wish is granted whatsoever)

He will come for the event titled 'A Coup for Democracy in Thailand? Thaksin's Ouster and What It Means, along with Prof. Jim Ockey of NIU who is one of the experts in Thailand Politics (I just read his old article about the role of Thai military in Politics, it is still very timely indeed)

Thongchai is one of the very first academics to publicly express his view against the military coup through the online petition which is the first public platform of its kind. He has also given interesting comments on the 4 bad excuses of people who support the coup). Recently, his piece titled ‘The King Maker’ is an interesting reading. The article is not very profound but it is thought provoking for those who are naïve about the role of monarchy/the royal aides in Thai politics.

I can't wait to meet him here. Following the formal talk, we will have a dinner and an informal chat with Thongchai at my so-called 'residence' . I am very excited about this event that I dreamed about it lastnight, funny.

I will try to get the script of his formal talk and post it in this blog once I get it.

The picture that shows in the Stanford website of the Talk

Nuam Tong's letter

2006-11-02T23:10:00.000-08:00

Below is a translation of Nuamtong's suicide letter

Saluting to the nation, religion, and the king. There must be no Military State, Police State.

Greeting to my respected fellow countrymen. The cause of my second life scarification by destroying my own life, and not to damage any property (his taxi car) like my first attempt is to react to the insulting statement announced by the Vice Speaker of the Evolution Council (the Junta group) to many newspapers that:

= No one will be with such a strong idealology to sacrifice his own life=

In my first life sacrification attempt, I admitted that my speed calculation in driving my taxi was wrong. The tank parked at the Royal Plaza on the edge of Rajdamnern Nok road. I drove my taxi passing the Army Headquarters and other pedestrian ways and it needed an S curve turn which had reduced a lot of my car speed even though I was planning a serious and direct crash to the tank. That’s why I was only seriously injured, 5 ribs were broken, my eyes bruised and my chin crashed inside my mouth. I had been cured at Vajira hospital. The group of Kru Prateep Hata (Former Senator) and her colleague and many other groups paid me many visits. A reporter interviewed me and asked me that, don’t you feel comfortable that the take over is peaceful and bloodless? I answered him that if there’s anyone breaking the law and creating unrest. It must be handled by law.

There were many implicit plots (about the coup) in the recent past and now the secrets of the persons (who are behind the coup) are almost completely exposed. This is a strong slap to the face of the people shamelessly. But there isn’t any press dare to reveal. Even my news of driving my taxi to hit directly to the tank was only printed in the press just one day, and then disappeared from the public. I was admitted to Vajira hospital for 13 days and the doctor allowed me to go back home. He’d also brought for me the newspapers reporting my tank hitting news for me to read.
But I have seen the interviewing report of the vice speaker of the Kor Por Kor (the junta) in such an insulting manner as that. So I have to respond to his insulting speech. It is a common manner to us the Thai that, Kill me you may can, but insulting me you can’t. My other reason to choose the last day of October to be my life scarification day is because this month is the month that our country passed away heroes for democracy (October 14, 1973 democracy uprising in Thailand) whose spirits were peacefully rest at this Monument of October
(He initially planned to hang himself there) where I’ll scarify my life. So I can stay there together with those heroes who have scarified their lives for democratic society in Thailand forever. I declare both of my actions strongly with my whole heart that, nobody hired me to do. I did them with my own heart and feeling. Lastly, May my children and wife be proud of their father and husband. Do not feel bad. In our next life we should be born and see no more of any coup d'etat again.

Sign: Mr.Nuamthong Praivan

P.S. May I correct the news that reported of a bottle founded in my taxi after my tank crashing incident. It is a supplementary food capsule of Chinese herb called Pae Guay leaf. It’s not any stress relieving medicine as reported in the newspaper at all. I was not stressed . I just wanted to protest this hideous dictator.

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In Thai

เทิดทูน ชาติ ศาสนา พระมหากษัตริย์

รัฐทหารต้องไม่มี และ รัฐตำรวจต้องไม่มี

สวัสดีครับ ท่านพี่น้องประชาชนที่เคารพ เหตุที่ผมกระทำการพลีชีพครั้งที่ 2 โดยการทำลายตัวเองเพื่อมิให้เสียทรัพย์เหมือนครั้งแรก ก็เพื่อลบคำสบประมาทของท่านรองโฆษก คปค. ที่ให้สัมภาษณ์ นสพ. หลายฉบับว่า

=ไม่มีใครมีอุดมการณ์มากขนาดยอมพลีชีพได้ =

เหตุพลีชีพครั้งแรกของผมยอมรับว่าคำนวณความเร็วของรถ TAXI ผิดพลาด รถถังที่จอดลานพระบรมรูปทรงม้า ติดด้านหัวถนนราชดำเนินนอก เมื่อผมขับรถผ่านกองบัญชาการกองทัพบก พ้นหัวถนนและเกาะกลางถนนเพื่อพุ่งเข้าชนต้องหักเลี้ยวแบบตัว S ความเร็วจึงลดลงมากเพราะต้องการชนแบบประสานงา ผมจึงแค่บาดเจ็บสาหัส ซี่โครงหัก 5 ซี่ ตาซ้ายบวมช้ำ คางทะลุถึงภายใจช่องปาก รักษาตัวโรงพยาบาลวชิรฯ มีคณะของคุณครูประทีป ฮาตะ และคณะอื่นๆ มาเยี่ยมหลายคณะ และมีผู้สื่อข่าว นสพ. มาขอสัมภาษณ์ว่า ไม่พอใจหรือที่ปฏิรูปแล้วบ้านเมืองสงบสุข ไม่มีการนองเลือด ผมตอบไปว่า ใครทำผิดกฎหมายและก่อความไม่สงบ ก็ต้องดำเนินการตามกฎหมาย ที่ผ่านมามีเบื้องหลังเบื้องลึกมากมาย ตอนนี้ก็เปิดหน้ากากออกมาจนเกือบหมดแล้ว เป็นการตบหน้าประชาชนอย่างไม่อาย แต่ไม่เห็นเป็นข่าว รวมทั้งข่าวของผมที่ชนรถถังเพื่อประท้วง คปค. ลงข่าว นสพ. วันเดียว เงียบหายไปเลย

ผมรักษาตัวที่โรงพยาบาลวชิรฯ 13 วัน คุณหมออนุญาตให้กลับมาพักฟื้นที่บ้าน และนำ นสพ. ที่เสนอข่าวชนรถถังประท้วง คปค. ของผม พบคำสัมภาษณ์ท่านรองโฆษกใน นสพ. ตรงกันหลายฉบับ ด้วยถ้อยคำที่กล่าวมาข้างต้น และยังปรามาสว่า ผมแก่แล้ว คงทำด้วยอารมณ์ชั่ววูบ ก็มีเวลาเอาสีมาพ่นข้อความรอบตัวรถ ยังคิดว่าอารมณ์ชั่ววูบ ไม่น่าให้ทำงานและกินเงินเดือนที่ได้มาจากภาษีของประชาชนเลย ความคิดผมเมื่อหายป่วยดีก็จะทำมาหากิน ขับรถ TAXI ไม่ก่อวีรกรรมอีกต่อไป แต่พบข้อความการให้สัมภาษณ์ นสพ. ของท่านรองโฆษก คปค. ในเชิงปรามาสดังกล่าว ก็เลยต้องสนองตอบกันหน่อย เพราะนิสัยคนไทยฆ่าได้ แต่หยามไม่ได้

และเหตุผลที่ผมเลือกวันสุดท้ายของเดือนตุลาคมเป็นวันพลีชีพ เพราะเดือนนี้เป็นเดือนที่วิญญาณของวีระชนที่สถิตย์อยู่ที่อนุสรณ์สถานฯ ที่ผมทำการพลีชีพนี้ ได้เรียกร้อง กระทั่งได้มาซึ่งประชาธิปไตย และวิญญาณของผมก็จะขอสถิตย์ อยู่กับเหล่าวีระชนแห่งนี้ ตลอดไป และขอยืนยันว่าปฏิบัติการทั้งสองครั้งทำด้วยใจ ไม่มีใครจ้าง

สุดท้ายขอให้ลูกๆ และภรรยาจงภูมิใจในตัวพ่อ ไม่ต้องเสียใจ

ชาติหน้าเกิดมา คงไม่พบเจอการปฏิวัติอีก

ลาก่อนพบกันชาติหน้า

สวัสดีครับ

29 ตุลาคม 2549 (นายนวมทอง ไพรวัลย์)

ปล. ขอแก้ข่าว ขวดยาที่พบในรถ ภายหลังเกิดเหตุคืออาหารเสริม แค๊บซูลใบแปะก๊วย ไม่ใช่ยาแก้เครียด ตามที่ลงข่าว นสพ. ผมไม่เครียด แต่ประท้วง จอมเผด็จการ

Pictures from Uncle Nuam's Buddhist ceremony

2006-11-02T21:22:00.000-08:00

Pictures from Uncle Nuam's Buddhist ceremony
(by Meeeed WNC)

Coffin, framed picture and suicide letter

Aunt Boonchu (in black) , his wife

In memorial of Uncle Nuam, a taxi driver who died for democracy

2006-11-02T19:51:00.000-08:00

We'll run a few entries chronicling the recent death of Nuamtong Priwan, a taxi driver who killed himself in protest of the military coup on Oct.31 , just one month following an attempted suicide by ramming his taxi into a tank on Sep. 30.

We went to the funeral of Uncle Nuam for 2 nights and would like to share our perspectives about the life, hope, ideology and belief of Uncle Nuam. In the meantime, you can read the news regarding his heroic incidents from the following links.

1. Reveal the truth of the death of a democratic hero (personal correspondence, not published by any media)
2. Thailand-politics-coup-taxi (AFP)
3. Taxi driver who slammed into tank commits suicide in protest against the coup ( Intenational Herald Tribune)
4. Taxi driver in Thai coup protest hangs himself "for democracy" (AFP)