<p>With the overwhelming win of the Pheu Thai Party in the July 3 elections and as Yingluck Shinawatra is headed to become the first ever female Prime Minister in Thailand, it is eerie to see the parallels between the recent developments in Thailand&rsquo;s political history centered around the figure of Thaksin Shinawatra and the period of the late General Juan Domingo Peron&rsquo;s influence in Argentina, particularly during the 1960&rsquo;s and 70&rsquo;s.</p>

<p>The afternoon of May 19, 2010 was a time of chaos at Zen department store after red shirts ended their protest and the Army moved into Ratchaprasong.</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>The provincial court in Ubon Ratchathani has given 9 red shirts suspended jail terms for their alleged involvement in the 19 May 2010 unrest, after they pleaded guilty.&nbsp; Another group of 21 red shirts will hear the court&rsquo;s rulings in early September.</p>

<p>On 23 May, the Civil Court accepted cases filed against the authorities by family members of two victims of the crackdown on red shirts last year.</p> <p><a href="http://www.prachatai.com/english/node/1818">Samaphan Srithep</a>, 16, was shot and killed at Soi Rang Nam on 15 May 2010.&nbsp; Thanuthat Asawasirimankong, 53, has been paralysed after being shot in the back and shoulder on 14 May at Bon Kai on Rama IV Rd.</p>

<p>On 19 May, groups of red shirts under the banner of Democracy Networks held activities to mark the first anniversary of the crackdown in front of Lumpini Park, performing traditional rituals to curse the masterminds who ordered the killings, and campaigning for the release of political prisoners and the repeal of the l&egrave;se majest&eacute; law.</p>

<p><em>Lack of sympathy for calls for justice, democracy still evident</em></p> <p>One year on, tens of thousands of red shirts converged at Ratchaprasong Intersection yesterday to commemorate the end of the bloody military confrontation with the reds. Many are still grappling with how the government managed to get away with the crackdowns that began on April 10 and ended on May 19, leaving a combined death toll of 92 from both sides - but mostly red shirts - and more than a thousand injuries.</p>

<p>Khon Kaen - At an event marking one year since the dispersal of public demonstrations in which 92 people were killed and over 2,000 injured, speakers from four major non-government groups gathered yesterday to assess the progress of recent reports into the outbreak of violence during April and May 2010.</p>

<p>On Wednesday, May 11, 2011, throngs of supporters of the right to speak, including many so-called &ldquo;Red Shirts&rdquo;, will again lay siege to the Nag Lerng Police Station in downtown Bangkok. Another reminder of the packed room of the Faculty of Law, Thammasat University in late April, when a press conference was held by the Nitirat Group (http://www.enlightened-jurists.com/) and a lecturer who was facing intimidation and imminent legal actions for his exercise of the right to freedom expression.</p>

<p>On 1 May, Somyos Prueksakasemsuk was remanded at the Crime Suppression Division.&nbsp; He was visited by red shirts and former Triumph workers.</p>

<p>30 April 2011: Mr. Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, Founding Editor of &ldquo;Voice of Taksin&rdquo;, a magazine affiliated with the Red Shirts Movement, was arrested by the police at the Immigration checkpoint of the Thailand-Cambodia town today apparently on a charge related to l&egrave;se majest&eacute; or defamation of the monarch. His attorney dubbed this arrest a political ploy to suppress the opposition voices when the general elections are forthcoming. </p>

<p>On 25 April, the Democracy Network made a public call for the abolition of Article 112 of the Criminal Code and an end to restricting the people&rsquo;s freedom of expression.&nbsp; The call was made at the office of Red Power magazine at the red-shirt headquarters, Imperial Lad Phrao, in Bangkok.</p>