By Teeranai Charuvastra |
<p>A disability rights advocate spent half a day in jail – in his wheelchair – after a court unexpectedly accepted a criminal case against him and held him in custody as his lawyers scrambled to raise bail. His alleged crime: posting a photo of a car that he believed was improperly occupying a wheelchair user’s parking space.</p>
By Yiamyut Sutthichaya |
<p>In a conversation with Prachatai, the President of the Blind Society Association of Thailand, who has just filed a second complaint of royal defamation against another blind person, insists that the monarchy can be criticized with proper language, reason and factual evidence. Despite sending a blind woman to jail in the past, he believes that the accused this time can adjust to prison life as it is “the same as boarding school”. </p>
By Prachatai |
<p>Phatanachai Sakawi, President of the Blind Society Association of Thailand, has gone to Thungmahamek Police Station in Bangkok to report an allegedly lèse majesté comment posted by someone older who also has a visibility impairment. </p>
By Thisable.me and Prachatai English |
<p>ThisAble.me and Prachatai English interview Kirin "Sai" Techawongtham about her guide dog Luther, using a guide dog, and living as a person with a disability in Thailand. </p>
By Thisable.me and Prachatai English |
<p>ThisAble.me interviewed Pongsak Chan-on, the Thailand coordinator for ANFREL, on the challenges faced by people with disability voting in the upcoming 2019 general election.</p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p><p> </p>
By Nalutporn Krairiksh |
By Sarayut Tangprasert |
<p>Last week, a court in Yala sentenced Nurhayati Masoh, a blind woman, to one year and six months in prison for royal defamation. The person who filed the complaint against her is Phiphatanachai Sakawi, who is also a blind and the president of the Blind Society Association of Thailand. Pipathanachai tells Prachatai that Nuruhayati's crime has damaged the reputation of blind people in Thailand. </p>
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By Nalutporn Krairiksh |
<p>“We talked by phone. My little brother talked for me, I didn’t talk to her myself (laughs). After more than a week, I went to pick her up to live with me, and then I proposed to her. I can’t really pinpoint why she’s so nice. I like her for how hard-working she is, waking up early to do housework and taking care of the kids. When I took her to my uncle for him to look her over, he said I could have her if I want. Before, I took many girls for my uncle to look at but he said this one got up late, or was too lazy to wash the dishes. Once the meal was over they hid the dirty dishes. Lazy. But Sim is hard-working. She gets up to do laundry at 4 and 5 am. Uncle sneaked in to watch her.”</p>
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By Nalutporn Krairiksh |
<p dir="ltr">Why is it hard for us to imagine what the sex lives of disabled people are like? Will they have children? Have they ever had boyfriends or girlfriends? This may reflect the old saying that “sex” and “disability” are completely separate from each other. Many disabled people have never received sex education; some are kept away from it; some are afraid because they don’t know anything. The result is that many of the disabled and their families choose to bury this topic away as deep as possible, with many avoiding the problem altogether through sterilization.</p>
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By Kornkritch Somjittranukit |
<div>The draft constitution is a written attempt by the junta to take Thai politics and society back to the pre-Thaksin era. The draft not only aims to prevent the emergence of a Thaksin-like government, but also the emergence of Thaksin-like policies, which were tangible and ‘edible’ for the poor.</div>
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<div><span>The Supreme Administrative Court on Wednesday ruled that facility for physically challenged people must be built in the Bangkok’s skytrain ‘BTS’ system. </span></div>
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<div>The ruling, which overturned the verdict of the Central Administrative Court in 2009, beautifully ends the 20-year fight of the Thai people with disabilities in <span>Thailand for transportation equity on the Bangkok’s popular mass public transportation.
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