Myanmar Muslim migrants abandoned at sea have been 'drinking their own urine' to survive

Myanmar migrants left abandoned at sea after being refused entry to Thailand have been forced to drink their own urine to survive, it has been reported. At least ten people have died on the fishing boat which has been stranded in the Andaman Sea for the last week with up to 350 Rohingya Muslims on board, the BBC has reported.

An estimated 6,000 Myanmar refugees have been left abandoned as other countries in Southeast Asia turn boats carrying hundreds of people away. The region finds itself in a spiralling humanitarian crisis as members of Myanmar's 1.3 million Rohingya Muslims attempt to flee persecution in the Buddhist-majority country.

More at The Independent

The Truth Behind Elephant Rides in Thailand

Throughout Thailand, there are countless elephant tourist parks and camps. The vast majority of these camps are commercial enterprises, making huge amounts of money from tourists keen to have their photos taken with elephant calves, bathing with the elephants or riding them, or watching them paint. Some elephants are used in performances, dressed up and forced to perform unnatural, painful and demeaning tricks.

The sad and devastating reality is that this tourist-driven demand is fuelling a huge and unsustainable illegal trade in baby elephants. Recent reports indicate that at least 50-100 calves and young females are removed from their forest homes in Burma every year and are illegally traded to supply tourist camps in Thailand. It is estimated that for every calf smuggled across Burma's border into Thailand, up to five adult elephants, including the calf's mother and other protective family members, are killed.

More at the AFA Coalition 

Stand with Anti-Slavery Activist Andy Hall

Andy Hall is a British campaigner with a special focus on the rights of migrant workers. Two years ago he undertook an investigation on behalf of Finnwatch into potential labour abuses at Natural Fruit, part of NatGroup, a Thai company that processes pineapples and supplies retailers around the world.

Instead of addressing the allegations published in Finnwatch's report, Natural Fruit decided to try and silence Andy with lawsuits. He could now face 7 years in prison and $10 million in legal damages for his investigations.
If this case proceeds and Natural Fruit are successful this would not only be a grave miscarriage of justice for Andy Hall. This process could set a dangerous precedent for other companies in Thailand that might take a similar approach when allegations are raised of modern slavery in their supply chains. This threatens the work of anti-slavery campaigners but also workers in Thailand who might be too afraid to come forward and report abuse.

Petition: Stand with Anti-Slavery Activist Andy Hall

Thai Authorities To Promote 'Martial Law Tourism'

The Tourism Authority of Thailand says its preparing to add one more tourist attraction to the Kingdom's long list of temples, beaches, and mountains: life under martial law.   "The TAT is preparing a campaign called '24 Hours Enjoy Thailand' to attract foreign tourists to visit Thailand under martial law," TAT Governor Thawatchai Arunyik told Thai Rath newspaper on Friday.

Thawatchai said that martial law is beneficial to tourism, because it ensures that foreign tourists can be safe 24 hours a day. "We want the tourists to be confident that they can travel in Thailand both day and night with safety at all times," Thawatchai said, adding that he hopes to promote this concept by creating a "buzz" on social media.

The military imposed martial law over the entire nation on 20 May and seized power two days later. Human rights activists have decried the sweeping power of the 100-year-old law, which includes the authority to detain individuals and search properties without warrants, ban public protests, and try dissenters in military court. 

Khaosod

Thai king endorses army chief as new leader

Thailand's king has endorsed the army chief who seized power in a coup last week, amid widespread international criticism and increasing detention of those considered to be opposed to the takeover.

General Prayuth Chan-ocha told journalists on Monday morning that the much revered King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 86, had officially backed him as the leader of the military council now running the country.

Prayuth seized power on Thursday after six months of political in-fighting between the now-deposed government and its critics, who had taken to the streets and besieged government buildings in an effort to oust it. At least 28 people were killed and more than 700 injured in sometimes violent clashes after anti-government protests began in November.

The Guardian

Child Soldiers in Thailand

The armed teenagers patrolling Thailand’s southern borderlands with state-backed militias are not kidnapped or brainwashed. They aren’t pumped full of drugs and few, if any, have ever killed.

Still, they operate with grown, gun-toting men defending against Asia’s bloodiest Islamic insurgency. And their dissimilarity with the world’s more horrific examples of child soldiering — think Burma or Liberia — is part of the reason they remain largely ignored.

Just as Thailand’s militia kids are overlooked, so is the conflict that has sucked them in. A little-known rebellion along the Thai-Malaysia border seeks to turn a Connecticut-sized territory into the world’s newest Islamic state. Since 2004, the insurgency has left roughly 4,800 dead.

The rebels’ daily shootings, bombings or stabbings have stoked paranoia among their targets: “infidels,” Thai Buddhists, and their “running dogs,” non-separatist Muslims with ties to the government.

To bolster forces, Thailand’s government has helped organize and arm a patchwork of self-defense militias, amounting to roughly 50,000 men and women, that patrol villages with shotguns and rifles.

More on GlobalPost

Condoms rushed to Thai flood victims

Thailand is scrambling to airlift condoms to victims of its worst floods in decades to prevent a feared surge in unplanned pregnancies.

Officials say villagers have nothing to do during the floods, so to prevent a baby boom they're delivering condoms along with other aid. The unusually severe monsoon floods have killed 237 people and affected three-quarters of the country, including the tourist spot of Chiang Mai.

Sky News

Color Revolution's Mystery Gunmen

Bangkok, Thailand April 24, 2011 - Imagine you are an embattled regime fighting against a rising tide of foreign-funded protesters. The entire world is watching, one nation is already under creeping foreign invasion for "waging war against his own people," your nation has been warned that it is next and has been on a 20 year waiting list for regime change, and your opposition is gathering to bury dead protesters from a recent clash with security forces. What do you do?

Stage concealed snipers in multiple buildings and randomly shoot at mourners ensuring a very public, internationally sensationalized bloodbath that will unequivocally escalate both the protests and international pressure? Bashar al-Assad's regime hasn't ruled Syria for so long because they were careless or foolish. And while regimes could stay in power decades ago through unyielding brutality, often sanctioned by tacitly complicit western partners, regimes today realize the value of finesse and accountability in a new age of humanitarian-justified imperialism.

AlJazeera's article, "'Nine killed' at Syria funeral processions," once again relies solely on eyewitness accounts, many of which are claimed to be "anonymous," to tell the story of a brutal Syrian government crackdown. After AlJazeera's blatant lies and exaggerations during the Egyptian protests, rivalled only by BBC's intellectual dishonesty, these reports must be taken with a grain of salt. However, as with the recent massacres in Yemen and previous funeral processions in Syria, protesters cited mysterious snipers, assumed to be government forces, on rooftops randomly shooting at mourners gathered around the country. The government maintains that "an unknown "armed group" on rooftops shot at protesters and security forces."

Full story (with video) by Tony Cartalucci - Black Listed News Contributing Writer

Thai violence spreads after troops storm protest camp

Rioting and fires swept through Bangkok today after Thai troops stormed the fortified encampment of anti-government protesters, unleashing a wave of violence across the capital and other parts of the country.

At least five demonstrators and an Italian journalist were killed in the military operation, which provoked fierce resistance from the redshirts. Protesters set fire to buildings including the stock exchange and south-east Asia's second-biggest department store complex, and attacked newspaper offices and a television station.

Power was lost in the bustling Sukhumvit Road district, an area packed with tourists and wealthy residential complexes, hours after the army said the situation was under control

The Guardian – Video here