Puangthong Pawakapan

20 Jul 2022
At least 30 critics of the Prayut Chan-o-cha administration had their phones infected with Pegasus spyware, a powerful tool for surveillance and eavesdropping. Although government authorities have yet to be tied to the bugging, an investigation strongly suggests state involvement.
7 Apr 2022
Although it’s now common for royal insult defendants to be freed on bail, their freedom often comes with vague conditions like bans on joining protests that could lead to “chaos” or doing anything that “damages” the monarchy. Experts question whether these conditions may violate the rights to free expression. 
23 Jul 2019
On 18 June, a group of academics and activists from the Documentation of Oct 6 Project went to Nakhon Prathom to retrieve the 'Red Gate', the rusty metal gate upon which Chumporm Thummai and Vichai Kaetsripongsa were found hanged on 24 September 1976, after they have been putting up posters protesting the return of Thanom Kittikachorn to Thailand. This incident is among the events which later spiralled into the Thammasat University Massacre on 6 October 1976.
25 Apr 2018
In September 2017, I wrote a summary on 'The Enigma of the Deaths on October 6' for the Documentation of Oct 6 Project. One of the issues mentioned was the photo of a man holding a chair and using it to beat the body of a hanged victim on Sanam Luang. The photo by Neil Ulevich, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1977, was one of the most viewed photos of the October 6th incident. The 'chair' in the man's hand has therefore become a symbol of violence. But 40 years have passed and we still do not know who he was; very few people even cared to ask who he was.
26 Mar 2018
In the 10 years of the 2008 Internal Security Act, an important legacy of the 2006 coup d’?tat, Prachatai's Kritsada Subpawanthanakun talked with political scientist Puangthong Pawakapan who argues that ISOC has changed its status to a permanent agency which continues to build the legitimacy of the armed forces in various ways, beginning with its involvement in the judicial process, monitoring of civilians and seeing democracy as a danger to security.
6 Oct 2017
To break the taboo in Thai society surrounding the 1976 Massacre, a group of scholars have founded an online archive of the incident in the hope that Thai society will be able to learn from its bloody past.
29 Sep 2017
While attempts have been made to remove the memory of the 6 October massacre from Thai society and the timeline of history, a website has been created with the goal of archiving the event.    On 24 September 2017, the “Documentation of 6 Oct” project launched its website www.doct6.com at Chulalongkorn University’s Faculty of Political Science.
3 Oct 2016
Puangthong Pawakapan, a scholar in the Faculty of Political Science at Chulalongkorn University and member of the organizing committee for the “40th anniversary of 6 October: ‘We do not forget’” events gave an interview to Prachatai about the deeply-embedded culture of impunity in Thai society. In her view, the 6 October 1976 massacre is a profound wound and a primary metaphor of this culture, which is nourished by the connections woven across the ruling class. Even after four decades, the families of those killed on 6 October continue to live in fear while the ruling class does not comprehend the anger that continues to drive the people into the streets.
7 Apr 2016
Election? Another coup? People’s uprising? Where is Thailand heading? Academics have said that if the military decides to prolong its regime, a people’s uprising is inevitable. 
1 Jul 2015
Symbols are a communication tool which has been used as a part of the expression of opinions. A particular place, such as the Democracy Monument, can be used as a symbol and become the subject of controversy. 
28 Jan 2015
Executive Summanry
28 Nov 2013
Group of academics on Thursday called on the government to resolve the current conflict by holding referendum to amend the constitution, and dissolve the parliament, paving the way for new election. 
Subscribe to Puangthong Pawakapan