<p>Almost two weeks on, many in the educated elite and the upper middle class who oppose and abhor Thaksin Shinawatra and his younger sister Yingluck and the red shirts might still be in shock at the landslide electoral victory of the Pheu Thai Party on July 3. Some might even be praying that certain &quot;benign&quot; interventions, be they from the Election Commission, the Army, or the so-called &quot;invisible hand/s&quot;, may still save their day.</p>

<p>A 5-page leaked document written by Thammasat University's law lecturer Kittisak Prokati who is also a sub-committee member of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) raised questions over the quality and impartiality of the now deferred NHRC's report on the April-May 2010 deadly military crackdown on red shirt protesters.</p>

<p>Those criticising the elected red-shirt leaders and insisting that they are not supposed to hold Cabinet seats are actually out to subvert the Pheu Thai Party, Thida Tavornset Tojirakarn, acting chairwoman of the red-shirt Demcratic Alliance Against Dictatorship, said yesterday.</p>

<p>Jubilant Pheu Thai supporters said they were not counting out the possibility of an attempt by the Army or so-called &quot;invisible hands&quot; to intervene, but added that they were ready to fight to hang on to the election victory they won yesterday.</p>

<p>Thai society appears heavily afflicted by the cult of the &quot;good person&quot;. Vote for &quot;good people&quot;, Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha said this month. Many more have expressed similar views as the general election draws near.</p> <p>The problem is, whose &quot;good people&quot; should we vote for and how is a &quot;good person&quot; defined?</p>

<p>As we drive down to the village, about 20 minutes from the provincial capital of Udon Thani, 42-year-old Kamsaen, wife of village headman Korngchai Chaikang, complains about allegations that their village is a training site for anti-monarchist armed militants.</p>

<p>Call on next government to investigate last year's violence</p> <p>A group of relatives of those killed or injured by the military suppression of red-shirt protesters in April and May of last year issued a statement yesterday calling for the next government to set up a truly impartial and accountable fact-finding committee to determine who were behind the deaths of 92 people in Bangkok.</p>

<p>I did not know what to think as I watched about 5,000 Democrat Party supporters cheering as Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban tearfully declared that he &quot;greatly regrets the deaths [of 92 mostly red-shirt protesters] every day&quot; even though it was the fault of the reds and men in black.</p>

<p>Amid increasing criticism, the country needs a rational approach instead of a policy that is causing conflict</p> <p>The debate on the merit of the controversial lese majeste law reached a new height earlier this week when Army chief General Prayuth Chan-ocha defended the law in his surprising nationwide address through Army-controlled Channels 5 and 7.</p>

<p>The &quot;invisible hand&quot;, &quot;special power&quot;, &quot;irresistible force&quot;, all these words have been mentioned frequently lately by people, politicians and the mass media when discussing Thai politics, the upcoming general election and what may follow.</p>

<p>With less than four weeks to go before the election, expectations are high and there are deep concerns about post-electoral prospects. The Nation's Pravit Rojanaphruk talks to political scientist Kengkij Kitirianglarp from Kasetsart University's Department of History about his expectations, fears and more. Kengkij is a rising star among young Thai political scientists and a self-professed red shirt. Excerpts.</p>

<p>Victims must be healed, those behind April-May crackdown brought to justice: panel chief</p> <p>National reconciliation will not last if the truth about what happened last April and May is not accompanied by judicial impartiality, democratic political structure, civilian supremacy over the military and freedom of expression, a panel on post-electoral reconciliation concluded yesterday.</p>