Bio-diversity in Thailand, especially in the three southernmost provinces, has been reconfirmed with the recent discovery of a new species of fish in Toh Daeng peat swamp forest, Narathiwat, by the royally-sponsored Pikul Thong study centre project in cooperation with Singapore national unversity.

In light of the cabinet’s decision on January 10 to set aside two billion baht as compensation for victims of political violence in the past few years, the news centre of the Isra news agency took a look of the compensation package for victims of the violence in the deep South.

The Fourth Army Region’s re-educational programme for misguided suspected insurgents appears to have hit the snag after four suspects claimed that they were forced to enter the programme against their will.

About 70 percent of security-related cases filed with the courts in three southernmost provinces during 2010 until early this year were dismissed by the courts due to insufficient evidences, according to a study undertaken by the Foundation of Muslim Lawyers Centre.

In the past 3-4 months, there has been a surge of activities from civic groups in the three southernmost provinces against the extension of the emergency decree. Of late, a network of civic groups was established to oppose the extension of the emergency decree by inviting members of the public to write protest letters or send protest postcards to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rig ...