BANGKOK – Ambassadors from twelve countries are visiting Bangkok today as a part of the Foreign Ministry's effort to form a new diplomatic bloc that promotes Thailand's standing in the international community, a government spokesperson said.

"They visited Thailand through our program of creating a network of alliances for Thailand – called Friends of Thailand – which has been formed by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs," said Maj.Gen. Weerachon Sukhonthapatipak.

The diplomats, who are ambassadors to the United Nations, hail from Antigua and Barbuda, Burundi, Central African Republic, Comoros, Dominican Republic, Gabon, Ghana, Kiribati, Hungary, Nauru, Vanuatu, and Cameroon.

According to Maj.Gen. Weerachon, junta chairman and Prime Minister Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha met with the UN ambassadors today and told them that Thailand is undergoing a period of national reforms, and will hold an election by September 2016. 

"The Prime Minister and the government will not interfere [with the election]," Maj.Gen. Weerachon said. "And he insisted that he did not want to hold on to power, and is not seeking personal gain. He is enduring all of this for his country. In the past, various conflicts prevented the country from moving forward, so it was necessary for him to step in and take care of the situation. And he insisted that Thailand is building a sustainable system of democracy." 

Gen. Prayuth overthrew an elected government on 22 May 2014 following months of pro- and anti-government protests, which claimed lives of more than 30 people.

His military government and steady suppression of civil rights has come under criticism from democratic nations, including the United States and the European Union, who have said that full-scale diplomatic relations will be not be restored until Thailand returns to democratic rule.

Analysts say the junta has responded by seeking closer ties to other superpowers who are more accepting of the regime, such as China and Russia. 

Speaking at a press conference today, Maj.Gen. Weerachon told reporters that representatives from all twelve nations expressed support for Thailand's military government. 

"The diplomats spoke with one voice, that Thailand is a good place to live, and it is full of friendship," Maj.Gen. Weerachon said. "They also gave moral support to the administration, which has clearly proven to them that it is working to benefit the Thai people and spread happiness. The diplomats unanimously agreed that in order to move the country forward, stability and national security have to come first, then other things will follow." 

The "Friends of Thailand" ambassadors did not ask any questions related to "allegations about human rights violations" in Thailand, the spokesperson added. 

On the one-year anniversary of the coup last week, Human Rights Watch published a report describing how the junta has "systematically" suppressed human rights in Thailand. The report noted the junta's ban on political activities and protests, regular intimidation of the media, and use of arbitrary detention and martial courts. 

In the latest act of repression, police forcefully broke up an anti-coup protest organized by student activists in Bangkok that marked the first anniversary of the coup. More than 30 students were arrested.

"A full year since the Thai military declared martial law and took power, we are seeing how peaceful dissent is still being steamrolled in the streets," Amnesty International's Asia-Pacific Director said on 22 May 2015. "The authorities must respect and even protect peaceful dissent and lift draconian restrictions on expression and assembly in Thailand – in law and practice."

BANGKOK — Thai junta chairman Gen. Prayuth Chan-ocha said authorities are investigating Rohingya rights advocates in Thailand to determine whether they are linked to human trafficking operations.

"The organizations that are involved in taking care of Rohingyas in Thailand, we are investigating how they are related to the operation, because people involved in human trafficking include Rohingyas," Gen. Prayuth said at the Government House today. 

At least 300 migrants from the Bay of Bengal, many of whom are Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar, have been intercepted by Thai police this month after authorities launched a crackdown on human smuggling networks in the south.

The Rohingya Association of Thailand and several other NGOs have been coordinating aid for the migrants who are now being held in shelter homes. 

The groups have also lobbied for recognizing the stateless Rohingya as Burmese nationals. The Burmese government currently denies the Muslim minority citizenship, claiming that are Bengali immigrants despite the fact that many Rohingya have lived in Myanmar (Burma) for generations.

"I wonder whether these associations have been deliberately fanning the news right now, because the problem has been here for more than ten years," Gen. Prayuth said today. "We must completely trace how some of the news has emerged, and what the backgrounds of these associations are, whether they are legally registered. If they are, they have to obey Thai laws, since they are now in Thailand. We have to find clarity about this."

He also told reporters that the investigation should not be seen as an attempt to bully the Rohingya associations.

"This is not a punishment – I'm afraid media will write that I am bullying them," he said. "I want to know how these Rohingya associations have been spreading news. They have to help us and tell us what they know, and how they know about it. They have to help us." 

For years, Thai authorities have turned a blind eye to smuggling operations that ferry Rohingyas from western Myanmar to Malaysia, via southern Thailand. Some migrants voluntarily pay brokers to help them escape ethnic and religious persecution in Myanmar, while others have reported being kidnapped by traffickers. Most are ultimately held in jungle prisions in Thailand while smugglers extort their relatives for ransom fees.

The discovery of a detention camp and mass graves of migrants’ corpses in southern Thailand earlier this month spurred a crackdown on human trafficking operations. Since 1 May, police have issued 70 arrest warrants and arrested 46 people, including bureaucrats, local officials, and police officers.

However, not a single military officer has been named as a suspect, despite allegations by human rights organizations that members of the Thai armed forces are complicit in the trade.

In December 2013, the Thai Navy filed a libel lawsuit against two journalists in Phuket province for publishing an excerpt from a Reuters article that alleged that some Thai Navy officers were involved in human trafficking. 

NARATHIWAT — The Thai army says it will allow members of the southern separatist movement currently living in Malaysian to visit Thailand during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

"The army will permit dissidents who have gone to live in Malaysia to visit their home country and practice religious activities," said Col. Somdej Yotha, commander of the 151st Infantry Regiment. "The army will not arrest these individuals. We will also issue certificates to guarantee their travel."

Army officers meeting with former members of the BRN Coordinate militant group at Galyani Vadhana army base, Narathiwat province, 26 May 2015

He added, "The army will guarantee their safety to display our sincerity to solve the problem." 

Ramadan is expected to begin on 17 June, depending on the observation of the moon by Islamic religious authorities. 

"The Fourth Region Army has already sent written notifications to all relevant agencies," Col. Somdej explained. "Every agency agreed to the order and promised to accommodate any dissidents, including those who have been issued arrest warrants, to enter the Kingdom during that time [Ramadan]."

For the past decade, separatists have been battling Thai security forces the southern provinces of Pattani, Yala, and Narathiwat – a region known as the Deep South – in an effort to revive the independent state of Patani. The sultanate was annexed by Thailand at the beginning of the 20th century.

Some top members of the separatist network are believed to be assisting the movement from exile, including Hasan Taib, a core leader of the BRN Coordinate, and Kastori Mahkota, president of the Pattani United Liberation Front (PULO), who are based in Malaysia and Sweden, respectively. 

The bloody insurgency has claimed the lives of more than 6,200 people since the most recent waves of violence broke out in January 2004, according to data compiled by rights groups.

Experts say the conflict is largely fueled by ethnic and religious differences.  In contrast to the rest of Thailand, which is overwhelmingly Buddhist, a majority of residents in the Deep South are Muslims who speak a distinct dialect and consider themselves descendants of Patani Malays.

Col. Somdej said he met today with six former members of BRN Coordinate, a militant group behind many attacks in region, and asked them to relay the army's offer to sympathizers of the separatist movement in Malaysia.

He also invited BRN operatives on behalf of Lt.Gen. Prakarn Chollayuth, commander of the Fourth Region Army, to engage in peace dialogues with the Thai authorities in the future. 

BANGKOK — A member of Thailand's military government has called for a constitutional clause that would grant amnesty to those charged with crimes allegedly committed during political protests over the past decade.

Boonlert Kachayudhadej, a member of the junta-appointed National Reform Council (NRC), said he submitted the suggestion to the constitution drafters yesterday. 

The constitution drafting committee now has 60 days to deliberate on suggestions filed by the NRC and decide whether to amend the charter, which will replace the constitution dissolved by the ruling junta that staged a coup last May.

Boonlert said he proposed legal amnesty be granted to all suspects charged with "politically-motivated" crimes, starting from the day the military seized power from then-Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra on 19 September 2006, to the most recent coup on 22 May 2014.

The amnesty would be extended to supporters of all political factions in Thailand, including the pro-Thaksin Redshirts and anti-Thaksin Yellowshirts, Boonlert said.

However, those charged with "severe criminal crimes," leaders and chief organizers of protests, and those accused of insulting the monarchy would be exempted from the provision. 

Thailand has been rocked by street protests organized by the rival Yellowshirt and Redshirt movements since 2005, when the Yellowshirts first launched a campaign to oust then-PM Thaksin.

Hundreds of protesters of the two camps have been charged with criminal offenses related to the protests, which have occasionally turn violent and twice culminated in military coups.

"This bill once had consent from politicians and political leaders of all sides. A draft was sent to the Parliament but it failed to become a law," Boonlert said, referring to a similar bill that was proposed by the Thaksin-backed Pheu Thai Party after it won a national election in 2011.

The draft, which also excluded protest leaders and alleged offenders of the monarchy, was billed as an effort to promote "national reconciliation" in the country.

However, in November 2014 the Pheu Thai-dominated parliament amended the bill to extend amnesty to all political leaders and politicians charged or convicted of any "politically-motivated" crime.

Anti-Thaksin activists argued that if passed, the bill would have absolved Thaksin's corruption conviction from 2008 and allowed for his return to Thailand.  The bill sparked mass protests in Bangkok which eventually escalated into a full-fledged campaign to topple the government and replace it with an unelected "People's Council." The protests came to an end after six months when the military intervened and staged a coup d'etat in May 2014. 

SONGKHLA — Public prosecutors in Thailand are filing civil lawsuits against suspected human traffickers in an effort to secure financial compensation for the victims, police say.

"Four separate groups — investigation officers, the Attorney-General, social development officials, and the victims — are currently in discussion to determine the damages victims suffered," said Pol.Maj.Gen. Phuttichart Ekachan, deputy commander of the Ninth Region Police. "The Attorney-General will then file a compensation lawsuit on behalf of the victims."

Security officers find 26 migrants from Myanmar and Bangladesh wandering in a jungle in Songkhla province, 11 May 2015

A total of 77 arrest warrants have been issued this month in connection with human trafficking operations in southern Thailand. Forty-six people, including local businessmen, police officers and politicians, have been detained so far.

The suspects are also being prosecuted for the criminal charges of human trafficking and other "transnational crimes," said Pol.Mag.Gen. Phuttichart.

The officer said 64 of the approximately 300 recently-rescued migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar have been classified as victims of human trafficking. The others are being processed as illegal immigrants.

"The interrogation is almost completed now," he said. "We have only 9 more [victim witnesses] to go." 

Police are still looking for a core leader of the human trafficking operation named Piyawat Pongthai, who is believed to have fled abroad, Pol.Maj.Gen. Phuttichart said. 

Thai authorities launched an unprecedented crackdown on human trafficking operations in the south after security officers found detention camps and mass graves of migrants in Songkhla province in early May. 

Police believe the camps were used by traffickers to detain migrants and extort ransom money from their families.

Thailand has long been a transit country for human traffickers who prey on the Rohingyas, a persecuted ethnic group in western Myanmar, but Thai authorities have been mostly turned a blind eye.  

At the press conference today, Pol.Maj.Gen. Phuttichart said police have started a program to encourage civilians in southern Thailand to be on lookout for traffickers.

"Around 6,800 people have signed up to cooperate," Pol.Maj.Gen. Phuttichart said, adding that "majority of local residents" are opposed to human trafficking. 

However, the BBC recently aired a documentary in which locals explained how "entire communities" in parts of southern Thailand are complicit in trafficking operations, with residents serving as guards and food fetchers.