A Cambodian nongovernment organiฌsation claims that at least 10 Cambodian civilians had been shot dead while hunting for food or logging in the forested mountains on the ThaiCambodian border last year and early this year.

Most red shirts still oppose congress headed by Prawase and Anand despite claim of 'transcending political divide' The three-day National Reform Congress concluded yesterday with its chairman Prawase Wasi boasting that the meeting, which drew some 2,000 participants, "transcended" political division and "united" people from all walks.

Democracy is perhaps one of the most overused, abused and confusing terms in Thai politics. Coup-makers, corrupt politicians, ultra-royalists, die-hard supporters of former PM Thaksin Shinawatra, vote buyers and sellers as well as the autocrats all claim that they're committed to democracy.

Middle class and well educated Thais will be in for less shock and better equipped to handle political change if they do not cling on to the "tales" of rural folks being politically naive, of all Thais loving one another and coexisting in harmony under a benign father figure, said Thammasat University political scientist Prajak Kongkirati.

Prejudice against Cambodians is bubbling as border clashes continue sporadically and villagers flee back and forth. While some national media are quick to cast Cambodians as people not to be trusted, locals in Si Sa Ket have a more complex view of their neighbours. This doesn't stop some national papers espousing archetypal bias towards Cambodians, though such popular misconceptions may backfire and hinder mending ties between the people of the two nations well into the future.