<p>The trial of the alleged mastermind behind an assault on two Thai political refugee in Paris has once again been postponed due to a lack of interpreter and a sudden mass protest.</p>

<p>A Paris Court has postponed the appeal trial of Petr Donatek, a Czech man who allegedly hired two henchmen to assault Aum Neko and Nithiwat Wannasiri, two Thai refugees in France, in 2019. The rescheduling leaves questions about the alleged ringleader of the crime immediately unanswered.</p>

<p>Sao Nui, a citizen reporter who has already been charged with royal defamation and sedition, has been arrested again for singing a song composed by the band Faiyen during a protest on 23 August 2022.</p>

<p>Musician Parinya &lsquo;Port&rsquo; Cheewinkulpathom has been sentenced to 9 years in prison on royal defamation charges for 3 Facebook posts made in 2016.</p>

<p>Nithiwat Wannasiri, known as Jom Faiyen, a Thai activist, musician and political refugee in France, was attacked in 2020 by 2 Czech men along with Aum Neko, another Thai political refugee. Now the judicial process ended in late 2021, he has revealed what the case entails, underlining the claim that the incident stemmed from politics rather than racial hatred.</p>

<p>On Friday (2 August), political activist in exile Junya Yimprasert wrote on her Facebook page that members of the protest band Faiyen had left Laos and travelled to France.</p>

<p>Faiyen, the protest band in exile, has received yet another death threat yesterday (12 July) in a Facebook message. The sender, who claimed to be a member of the special forces, told them to either turn themselves in or be killed.</p>

<p>#SaveFaiyen trended on Twitter over the weekend amidst concerns over the safety of Thai political refugees in neighbouring countries.&nbsp;</p>

<p dir="ltr">Thai authorities have requested Lao PDR to extradite a group of five to six Thais for producing radio programmes deemed defamatory to the Thai Monarchy, even though this would be forbidden under the extradition treaty.</p> <p></p>

<div><em>“Faiyen” is a pop and luk thung band well-known to red-shirts. With their lyrics sharply criticizing the elite, the band seeks to politically “enlighten” listeners. Faiyen have been harassed by the military until they have had to flee to a neighbouring country. Although their lives in exile are quite difficult and fraught with limitations, Faiyen is still continuing to write and sing songs for a revolutionary change in Thai society. One of Faiyen’s new songs is a chilling cover of The Hunger Games’ “The Hanging Tree.” Although both Faiyen and Katniss may sing this song, the place Faiyen are exiled to is no District 13.</em></div> <p></p>

<div>Music is a powerful tool in political movements and revolutions. What if there was music which aims to push the envelope of the unutterable issue of the monarchy in Thai society under the lèse majesté law? Faiyen is an emerging pop band which transforms Thais’ private conversations about the monarchy into funny and catchy songs that people can sing and dance along to.&nbsp;</div> <div> </div>