The protestors who have been in the streets since July 2020 in Thailand have three demands: 1) Prayuth Chan-ocha, the current prime minister who first came to power in the 22 May 2014 coup must resign and a new election held; 2) The 2017 Constitution, … Continue reading Speaking Truth to Power: Chiranuch Premchaiporn Addresses Parliament on the People’s Draft Constitutional Amendment
Written by Sujit WongthesTranslated by Nalin Sindhuprama [คลิกที่นี่เพื่ออ่านต้นฉบับ “มหาอาเศียรวาทราชสดุดี เนื่องในวันเฉลิมพระชนมพรรษาพระบาทสมเด็จพระเจ้าอยู่หัว 5 ธันวาคม 2516”] In 2012, controversy erupted in Thailand over a few lines of verse in praise of King Bhumibol on the occasion of his 85th birthday. The praise poem (asirawat or asiarawat) graced the … Continue reading Maha Asiarawat Raja Stuti on the Occasion of His Majesty the King’s Birthday, 5 December 1973
ไผมีบุญได้เป็นเจ้าไทยเฮาก็ตามช่าง
ธรรมนูญบ่อมีหยับย่างย้ายไปได้ท่อเม็ดงา
It matters not which man ascends the throne: the Thammanoon won’t budge, not even as much as a sesame seed.
เห็นเค้าจะประกาศใช้ คอน-คอน-สะ-ติ-ติ-ติ๊ว-ชั่น ด้วยน้า / ห๊ะ คอน-สติ-ติ๊ว-ติ๊ว-ชั่น …มันเป็นฝรั่งมังค่าที่ไหนน่ะแม่ช้อย?!?
Placing royals under the law – I’m sure they’ll concede to that! / If they don’t, then that means war, Mum.
By Thanavi ChotpraditTranslated by Sudarat Musikawong [Click here to read the archived PDF of the Thai original, or go to https://www.the101.world/99-dead/%5D When performing arts encounters visual arts in one area, and when multiple ‘narratives’ run parallel, overlapping, interlacing, and detaching all in one area, within … Continue reading Because the Blood of the Plebeian is not without Value
The Red-Shirts’ movements marked by the nation-wide rallies for democratic elections, which began in March 2010 and were decimated in the April-May 2010 massacres. Both Red-Shirts’ and the current youth liberation movements share a historical consciousness and political discourse that deconstructs, critiques, and protests against … Continue reading Mothers: 99 Dead
Shortly after the 2014 military coup, there was a surge of the lèse-majesté cases in Thailand. During that turbulent period, two members of the production team of “The Wolf Bride” (2013), a satirical play about Thai politics, were prosecuted under lèse-majesté law or Article 112 of the Criminal … Continue reading Mothers: from “In the Land of Madness”
The following poems in translation highlight two different roles mothers have played in the common people’s struggle for democracy in Thailand in the past decade: mothers protesting in the streets, and mothers waiting at the courthouse—seemingly opposite roles that have converged in the activities of … Continue reading Mothers: Two Poems by Arnon Nampa
Sanam Ratsadon 