Nai Hong Sar Special to The Nation July 7, 2015 1:00 am After 60 years of war, our people dream about peace. If the government and the Tatmadaw are truly committed, we can achieve a Nationwide Ceasefire deal soon   Over the last 17 months negotiations between the Myanmar government and the Ethnic Armed Organisations (EAOs) have sought a nationwide ceasefire agreement. Negotiations must continue until a path to peace is found. We hope the negotiating team from the Tatmadaw (the military) and the government are united in this desire. U Aung Min leads the government's delegation. I head the ethnic delegation, consisting of 16 EAOs that form the Nationwide Ceasefire Coordination Team (NCCT). Both parties share many perspectives but disagree on others. Both sides have put a great deal of effort into reaching a nationwide ceasefire agreement, and we are almost there. After the recent summit of EAO leaders in Law Khee Lar in ...

By Aim Sinpeng May 27 at 5:34 pm Thai police and army soldiers stand guard outside a military compound before former Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra arrives to report to Thailand’s ruling military on May 23, 2014 in Bangkok, Thailand . (Photo by Rufus Cox/Getty Images) The following is a guest post from University of British Columbia political scientist Aim Sinpeng . ***** It was the most social-media savvy coup in Thailand. And for a country with one of the largest number of coup attempts in the world, 19 in total, since 1932, it was quite a feat. The men in uniform are trying to get with the times. Perhaps they learned from Turkey’s Erdogan that they could block social media sites like Twitter and YouTube and still win an election . Or perhaps they underestimated how shutting down Twitter had backfired on Tunisia’s Ben Ali and helped fuel more protests.  Either way, the Thai military thought the coup had to be carried out properly: ...

NOTE TO READERS: News Coverage Under Military Coup From the Editors [UPDATED: The military launched a coup on Thursday. The martial law is still in place.] Under martial law, the military is now authorized to censor the media as it sees fit. So far, the military has used this power to shut down the operation of at least fourteen news outlets. It has also warned all members of the press not to publish any material that could “incite unrest.” We would like to clarify to our readers that these developments have not affected the impartiality of Khaosod English . We have not been forcibly censored or felt the need to exercise self-censorship at this time. However, if circumstances arise that do require us to censor our material, we will notify our readers by posting a disclaimer at the beginning of any censored article. This way, our readers will not need to question the impartiality of our reporting. If you have any questions, do n...

Tulsathit Taptim tulsathit@nationgroup.com May 21, 2014 1:00 am They fight, they talk and they taunt each other. For several years now in Thailand, Corruption and Democracy have been unable to settle their differences - or some may say, get over their similarities. The removal from office of Yingluck Shinawatra and imposition of martial law have complicated matters. For Democracy at least, because he is confused as hell. Corruption, on the other hand, is vindicated. The following dialogue followed their countless arguments, in which Corruption asked Democracy to sign a truce - in other words, accept him unconditionally as part of the system: Democracy: Stop laughing. Corruption: You should have seen your face. Yingluck's gone and the military's declared martial law, so who do you think has been knocked down here? Me or you? Democracy: I'm not falling into your trap. Any answer will serve your "Corruption-and-Democracy-are-the-same-thing"...

Editorial: A Cold War Coup Yesterday’s military coup d’état was the latest addition to Thailand’s long history of military interventions. Like so many other previous coupmakers, the military junta, which calls itself the Peace and Order Maintaining Council (NPOMC), has claimed that their seizure of power was “necessary” to steer Thailand out of its political crisis. But a look back to the most recent coup in 2006 shows that the last military intervention accomplished just the opposite. In fact, the battle that’s been playing out on Bangkok’s streets for the past seven months was ignited precisely by the previous military coup that ousted former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra eight years ago. Thakskin, a corrupt telecommunications tycoon, won the support of rural Thais with populist polices that supported the country’s long-neglected poor. Putting aside questions about the purity of his intentions, Mr. Thaksin’s policies and...

NOTE TO READERS: News Coverage Under Military Coup From the Editors [UPDATED: The military launched a coup on Thursday. The martial law is still in place.] Under martial law, the military is now authorized to censor the media as it sees fit. So far, the military has used this power to shut down the operation of at least fourteen news outlets. It has also warned all members of the press not to publish any material that could “incite unrest.” We would like to clarify to our readers that these developments have not affected the impartiality of Khaosod English . We have not been forcibly censored or felt the need to exercise self-censorship at this time. However, if circumstances arise that do require us to censor our material, we will notify our readers by posting a disclaimer at the beginning of any censored article. This way, our readers will not need to question the impartiality of our reporting. If you have any questions, d...

Editorial: Revoke Martial Law Regardless of the pretext or intention, the martial law imposed by the Royal Thai Army today infringes on the rights of Thai citizens and should be repealed without delay. Citing potential bloody clashes between the pro- and anti-government protest factions, army chief Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha imposed martial law at 3:00 a.m. this morning and installed the Peace and Order Maintaining Command (POMC) to oversee the invocation of the 100-year-old law. The military has insisted that this is not a coup. But coup or no coup, the martial law is already restricting a number of human rights and freedoms guaranteed under the Thai constitution. There is no basis for Gen. Prayuth to impose the martial law. Although there has been sporadic violence over the past few months, the situation has not reached the full-scale "unrest" that Gen. Prayuth said last week was the condition for a military interventi...