Thai PM Paetongtarn apologises as statute of limitations expires on Tak Bai massacre case
Thai Prime Minister Paetongtarn Shinawatra has apologised for the deaths of 85 people in the 2004 Tak Bai massacre. She issued the apology a day before the statute of limitations lapses on the 20-year-old case. Saksith Saiyasombut tells us more about whether this apology has the potential to calm outrage over the incident.
CNA Correspondent: Thailand’s Southern Discomfort
A conflict festers in Thailand’s Deep South, where in one case, discontent has been ignored and denied for 20 years now. Nearly 100 people died in Tak Bai under official custody, and no one has been punished for it. Now, there is a chance to put things right, but time is running out. Will the families of the victims finally see justice served, or will it add fuel to the insurgency against the government?
20 Years After the Tak Bai Massacre, the Quest for Justice is Running out of Time
This weeks marks the 20th anniversary of the Tak Bai Massacre, in which 78 have lost their lives in a botched military transport of people arrested at a protest in the Deep Southern Thai town of Tak Bai (7 other have been killed in the dispersal prior). This is also the week when the statute of limitations run out as justice is still being sought for what has happened then. Recent legal actions saw several military officers charged, but none of them have been served and are said to have fled the country, hoping to sit the case out.
Philippine Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo on South China Sea tensions (Full interview)
Members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) need to make their voices heard in the South China Sea dispute, and speed up negotiations for a code of conduct for the contested waters, said Philippines’ Foreign Affairs Secretary Enrique Manalo in an interview with CNA’s Saksith Saiyasombut on Oct 18.
A Thai father awaits return of his son held in Gaza for a year and counting
Apart from Israelis, migrant workers from Thailand were also among those taken hostage during the Hamas attack on Oct 7 last year. Two have since died, while another six are still believed to be held captive in Gaza. Apart from them, 39 Thais were killed in the attacks. Before the attacks, an estimated 30,000 Thais were working in Israel.