Prachathai

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Prachathai​

Prachathai is an independent worker-owned cooperative online newspaper in Thailand. It covers a wide range of news, from political, economic, social, and cultural to science, health, sport, and arts. The site publishes primarily in Thai but also in English. The stated objectives of Prachathai are:

1. To provide the Thai public with access to reliable news and information relevant to developing and strengthening the democratic functions of Thai civil society.
2. To strive for freedom and independence of Thai news media.
3. To promote active public participation in Thai news media.

 

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Songkhwan Jiarakit won the Confederal Election

On 13 November, 2008, millions of confederal residents head toward polling stations across the Confederation to participate in electronic voting in the first-ever Confederal Election under the 2008 Supreme Confederal Agreement. Yesterday saw the democratic process of the Confederation in electing its Confederal Secretary and the Supreme Confederal Council.

While the SCC result came out as fragmented as expected, the winner, who received 21 percent of all valid votes, was a public servant who worked at Phang Nga Federation's Provincial Assembly. She is in her early 40s and gave birth to a male child two years ago. Ideological commitment and amicable persona marked her transition to her political career.

Songkhwan Jiarakit has been confirmed as the first Confederal Secretary of the Socialist Republic of Thailand and the Confederation by the confederal electoral coordinating authority.

She will be presiding over the SCC-elected Confederal Government meetings as the moderator, taking one seat at the nine-seat Confederal Intelligence Bureaus democratic council of directors of intelligence, representing the people of Thailand on the international stage, and serving as the commander-in-chief of the Confederal Armed Forces.​

 

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Explosion during a CIB and police raid on a Golden Hand cell in Bangkok

At 2:15 this morning, Bangkok Provincial Law Enforcement reports that its joint operation with the Confederal Intelligence Bureau (CIB) resulted in a catastrophic failure. After the CIB informed the police and requested to arrest a Golden Hand cell in the Bangkok Federation jointly, they surrounded a high-rise building of local housing units.

All five pro-capitalist terrorists died in a suicide bombing when confronted by a CIB agent. As a result, three officers and 20 nearby residents were killed in the explosion, leaving another 13 people injured. Local communes have mobilized resources and personnel to alleviate suffering and take care of the crime scene under the Provincial Government's coordination.

Since the explosion took place immediately after the confederal electoral coordination body confirmed the Confederal Election result, the Supreme Confederal Council was inactive, and only the newly elected Confederal Secretary from Phang Nga sits on a nine-seat democratic board of directors of CIB. Songkhwan posted on the SahaiLink social media platform that she had arrived in Bangkok by five in the morning, leaving her son, who just turned two on the election day, at Phang Nga.

The Provincial Government of Bangkok Federation will coordinate the recovery efforts and investigations as decided by the Provincial Assembly. Songkhwan is expected to deliver a speech regarding the explosion as elected confederal coordinators across the country would convene at the Supreme Confederal Council.​

 

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Songkhwan arrives at the explosion site 4 hours after the failed operation

At 6:30 AM, newly elected Confederal Secretary Songkhwan arrived at the damaged high-rise residential building where the failed joint raid took place. The provincial police has cordoned off the area while barring CIB personnel from crossing safety tapes. The provincial police chief has also arrived at the scene an hour ago and reported that all 13 injured civilians are now recovering at a nearby hospital.

Songkhwan arrived via a federal bulletproof vehicle alongside five confederal officials, one of whom is her internally elected personal assistant. Confederal agents swiftly approached her as she is the only person currently sitting on the CIB board of directors. Several communes representatives, federal government officials, and concerned citizens are also present at the scene.

A journalist from The Nation asked Songkhwan what is her role in such a situation. The Confederal Secretary answered as follows:

My presence here is of symbolic importance. The catastrophe that happened here just four hours ago is one of confederal concern. It is a national trauma that a jointed raid between provincial police and CIB resulted in 23 fatal casualties. We must be clear that the failure of such operation stemmed merely not from our inadequate threat assessment but also the radical and fanatic nature of the capitalist group known as the Golden Hand. What happened here was an attack on the spirit and goals of our Confederation.

The provincial police chief also restricts her from entering the explosion site after they have an amicable conversation introducing themselves and the former briefing the latter on the situation. Songkhwan gets to meet with her voters while a small group of people accuses her of interference in local matters.

Regardless, the air at the explosion site, while grim, is cooperative. Three Confederal Secretary candidates, who lost the election to her and reside in Bangkok, also arrived at the scene. Their appearance seems to be at the invitation of Songkhwan or one of the present confederal officials. Regardless, observers note that she actively in dialogue with figures who hold popular sways in Bangkok Federation.​

 

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The Supreme Confederal Council convenes for the first time

This morning at ten, five hundred confederally elected coordinators and two hundred federally elected delegates arrived at Sappaya-Sapasathan, the seating place of the Supreme Confederal Council. The atmosphere at the Confederation facilitative hub was both somber and electric. Various confederally represented politicians entered the building with two goals in mind: to build the broadest coalition in a highly fragmented landscape and to establish relationships with regional delegates who arrived with imperative mandates from their Federations.

The terrorist suicide bombing this morning weighed heavily on these coordinators' shoulders. They spent the first hours of the first inaugural session of the SCC on expressing condolences, condemning violence, and demanding accountability from the Confederal Intelligence Bureau. The CIB also held a press conference at noon, where they revealed that the Golden Hand cell under provincial arrest warrant had been monitored for three months. They planned to launch a large-scale attack at Sappaya-Sapasathan.

However, the confederal agency admitted that the fatal casualties of the local commune population were preventable if they had known that the terrorists possessed explosive devices. They are coordinating with Bangkok Provincial Law Enforcement for further investigation and will hold the press conference at the authorization of the Confederal Secretary. She remained the only sitting member of the CIB board of directors until one in the afternoon, when the other seats were elected and selected by the SCC.

Many initiatives and legislation were discussed during the inaugural session, which lasted for ten hours to let confederally elected coordinators to settle in the Bangkok Federation. Several Federations managed to agree on inter-federal agreements. However, only one agreement, the 2009 Agreement on the Confederal Distribution of Research Grants, is approved unanimously by the SCC. It establishes a program called the Confederal Research Grants (CRG), administered by the Confederal Government to redistribute resources for research and development in natural and social sciences. The grants are the confederal research and development budget for the year 2009, totaling ten billion USD.

The SCC also elected members of the Confederal Government at seven in the evening. They will be responsible for acting as a moderator for each democratic Executive Council of the confederal apparatus. The Confederal Secretary will act as their moderator during the meetings of the Confederal Government.

Moreover, southern coordinators and delegates also privately approached the Confederal Secretary to build a political coalition while the secretary herself attempts to meet with as many delegates and coordinators as possible.​