Veteran anti-coup activist Sombat Boonngarm-anong took to twitter this afternoon to recount his experience among other prisoners, including the notorious "Popcorn Gunman," in Bangkok's Remand Prison.

Mr. Sombat was released on bail earlier this week after spending nearly a month in Bangkok's Remand Prison on charges of "inciting unrest," violating the Computer Crimes Act, and defying a summons order from the military junta's National Council for Peace and Order.

The NCPO summoned Mr. Sombat, along with hundreds of others, to report to the Army Club shortly after it staged a coup against the elected government on 22 May. Mr. Sombat, who also actively campaigned against the last military coup in 2006, refused to turn himself in and took to social media to organise flash protests against the military junta in Bangkok.

Mr. Sombat, known among activists as "The Dotted Editor," quickly became the de facto leader of the anti-coup campaign, which staged regular rallies across Bangkok  in the week following the military takeover. However, the budding movement was dealt a near-fatal blow when police arrested Mr. Sombat in his hiding place in Chonburi province on 5 June.

Today, Mr. Sombat (@nuling) posted a series of tweets detailing his experience in prison:

@nuling: Series on "political prisoners" at Bangkok Remand [Prison] by the Dotted Editor starts now. #PoliticalPrisoner 

@nuling: In late afternoon on 12 June I arrived at Bangkok Remand Prison. Per common practice, new inmates stay in the reception section, which is Section 1. There are 8 Sections here.

@nuling: Every prisoner has to get short pants, undergo a body search, fill in background forms, and get a short haircut in a single day. We enter our cells at 3 pm. We leave the cells at 6 am. 

@nuling: A shout went up "Welcome, Dotted Editor!" It was Jeng Dokjik and Sergeant Prasit. The expressions on their faces showed their happiness to see me in the prison.
 _{[Jeng Dokjik is the nickname of Yosawarit Chooklom, a core activist of the Redshirt political group, the United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship (UDD). Sergeant Prasit is the nickname of former Pheu Thai MP Prasit Chaisisa. Both men are being held at Bangkok Remand Prison for allegedly insulting the monarchy.]}

@nuling: It was my second time in prison. The first time was when Gen. Saprang and Gen. Sondhi sued me for libel. So, I was able to adjust very easily in my latest entry.
_{[Gen. Saprang Kalayanamitr and Gen. Sonthi Boonyaratglin were leaders of the 2006 military coup, which Mr. Sombat also campaigned against.]}

@nuling: My first meal in prison was a small pack of bread that Brother Jeng Dokjik placed in my hands, because it was already late when I arrived. The central kitchen was already closed. He also gave me a bottle of water.

@nuling: Before I entered my cell, I walked up to and greeted Brother Somyot Prueksakasemsuk. Of all the people I knew in there, Brother Somyot is the person I am most familiar with.
_{[Somyot Prueksakasemsuk is a former labour activist and editor of several political magazines who campaigned against the 2006 military coup alongside Mr. Sombat. Mr. Somyot was convicted of lese majeste (insult of monarchy) for articles in the now-defunct Voice of Thaksin magazine, which he edited.]} 

@nuling: Brother Somyot is a political prisoner who has been in jail for 3 years. His case is still pending an appeal. Of all the political prisoners, he's the most calm, peaceful, and stoic. 

@nuling: It's common for people in prison to be diverse, especially in terms of their political opinions. In Section 1, I met the suspect who is known as the Popcorn Gunman.
_{[Wiwat Yordprasit has been identified by police as the "Popcorn Gunman," the masked militant seen firing a weapon concealed in a popcorn bag at pro-government protesters during  clashes in northern Bangkok on 1 February, a day before the 2 February general election.]}

@nuling: The first impression I had when I met Popcorn was that he is an ordinary person. Society's perception of him as some sort of professional gunman did not strike me as such at all.

@nuling: I walked up to him and introduced myself as I reached out my hand in greeting. "Hello Popcorn. I am the Dotted Editor."

@nuling: Although the beginning of the conversation between new friends of different colour – between Popcorn and the Dotted Editor – was a bit awkward, the wall of colour lowered after some time.
_{[Thailand's political factions are "colour-coded": supporters of the former government are known as "redshirts," while those belonging to the rival political camp are commonly referred to as "yellowshirts."]}

@nuling: I will not go into details about the conversation between me and Popcorn because it won't be fair and it may affect legal prosecution. Let's just say, he is not a cruel person.

@nuling: Popcorn was assigned to work in the front of the Section, because the prison guards were worried that if he worked inside he would be mixed with Redshirts and cause problems. This is something the prison guards were keenly aware of. 

@nuling: Who would believe that on one of the last days I spent in prison, Popcorn sneaked to take an afternoon nap in the corner where Redshirts socialise in groups. They sat and spoke lively together. They laughed cheerfully.

@nuling: The first rule in prison is: don't fall ill, because medicine is very hard to find. There's only paracetamol. Prisoners who are a bit VIP will have access to anti-inflammatory drugs and coughing medicine. Tiffy is high-class stuff in here.
^{[Tiffy is a widely-available, inexpensive brand of cold medicine in Thailand.]}

@nuling: One morning, I saw Popcorn and he didn't look too good. He was ill, coughing, with runny nose. He didn't have any medicine, so I sought two tablets of decongestant medicine for him. This is not about colour. It's a humanitarian [issue].

@nuling: Apart from Popcorn, there was another NSRT guard. But he was arrested for a gun crime, not on political charges. On one of his arm's there's a tattoo that says "Buddha Issara."
_{[NSRT refers to the Network of Students and People for Reform of Thailand, an ally of the People's Committee for Absolute Democracy With the King As Head of State (PCAD), which campaigned against then-Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra. Many PCAD and NSRT security guards were commanded by Buddhist monk and anti-government activist Buddha Issara.]}

@nuling: I want to briefly conclude that both Yellowshirts and Redshirts who were in the prison are not criminals. They merely have their own set of ideas that they believe are right.

@nuling: I have been coughing for two weeks since when I was in prison. It's still here today. Germs in prison are very strong. People there call it "Prison Disease."

@nuling: There's a hospital in prison, but only [inmates] with critical conditions can use its service. Its ground floor has around 50 beds, for TB and HIV patients.

By Cod Satrusayang

BANGKOK (DPA) —  When Nui snuck into her professor's office to get the answers for an upcoming exam, she wasn't doing it to rise to the top of her university class, she said, but simply not to be left behind.

"I did it because everyone else was doing it and it seemed like an easy way to get an A," said the 20-year-old student from the humanities department of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"I didn't cheat because I wanted to get ahead."

Nui, not her real name, is far from an exception in Thailand, where higher education has been blighted by plagiarism and cheating for years. But with the trend starting to tarnish the country's reputation, educators are beginning to address the issue seriously.

"Outside of China, Thailand is probably the worst offender in Asia in terms of plagiarism and falsified applications," an admissions officer at an American university told dpa.

He said that applications from Thailand are scrutinized for doctored transcripts and ghostwritten essays. He told the story of two essays he received, nearly identical in style and terminology.

When he investigated he found that both applications originated from the same agency offering support services to applicants.

"It seems in both countries [China and Thailand] plagiarism is a serious epidemic and it needs to be dealt with."

Thai universities are also taking steps. On Thursday, Chulalongkorn made available to other universities a computer programme it designed to check thesis papers for plagiarism.

The Thai Office for Higher Education said all higher education institutions must use the internet-based Turnitin programme to check for plagiarism in all academic papers from September.

"I think any kind of attempt to combat plagiarism is a good thing," said Panuwat Panduprasert, a lecturer at Chiang Mai University.

"Universities have not been cracking down on hard enough. State universities are pretty slow to adapt because of bureaucracy."

To some students cheating is justified because of the pressure to excel.

"Cheating is considered normal among Thai students," said Thanawat Kheawdoknoi, a 22-year-old graduate from Thammasat University.

"They have always been taught that having great grades means you're smart and affects how people think of you.

"It doesn't matter how you get there as long as you do."

Lecturers like Panuwat said that universities' longstanding acceptance of cheating has created a prisoner's dilemma.

"Students think that everyone is doing it and if they don't they will lose out," he said.

But the universities are starting to clamp down. "I've had students repeat a year for bringing in a cheat sheet," said Narudh Areesorn, a former lecturer at Mahidol University in Bangkok.

Narudh said instances of bringing notes into lectures are rare. Students more frequently steal exam papers from professors, which he regards as "soft cheating."

Thais are increasingly criticized for misrepresenting themselves in applications to universities overseas, often with the connivance of specialized agencies, Fortune Magazine reported in February.

For a hefty fee, these centres guarantee acceptance into an elite Ivy League institution in the US.

Their methods include ghost-writing application essays, coaching interview sessions, and in some cases falsifying transcripts or creating fake outreach projects to pad a candidate's application.

To middle- and upper-class Thai parents, the fee – which can exceed 30,000 dollars – is worth it. Attendance at prestigious overseas universities is seen as a symbol of status and gives parents bragging rights when talking about their child.

"You have to understand for Thais, education is very important," said Eed, a parent who asked not to give her full name.

"Getting into a top university is paramount otherwise we fall behind the other families. The centres have guaranteed us there is no cheating involved," said Eed, whose daughter is enrolled with one such programme.

But admissions officers are doubtful, the Fortune report said, indicating that the spread of application service providers has made colleges more wary of applications from Thailand. 

Tufts University in the United States threw out a quarter of Thai applications for suspected cheating in 2013, the article quoted an admissions officer as saying.

"These parents need to realize that there is no need to cheat," said a college admissions advisor at an international high school in Thailand.

The source argues that these centres also undermine the long-term development of students and could cause problems academically in college as students enter the top universities unprepared.

"What's worse is the example these parents and guidance centres are setting for these students. They go into life thinking that cheating and shortcutting are normal and that is a horrible thing to teach a child."

By Cod Satrusayang

BANGKOK (DPA) —  When Nui snuck into her professor's office to get the answers for an upcoming exam, she wasn't doing it to rise to the top of her university class, she said, but simply not to be left behind.

"I did it because everyone else was doing it and it seemed like an easy way to get an A," said the 20-year-old student from the humanities department of Bangkok's Chulalongkorn University.

"I didn't cheat because I wanted to get ahead."

Nui, not her real name, is far from an exception in Thailand, where higher education has been blighted by plagiarism and cheating for years. But with the trend starting to tarnish the country's reputation, educators are beginning to address the issue seriously.

"Outside of China, Thailand is probably the worst offender in Asia in terms of plagiarism and falsified applications," an admissions officer at an American university told dpa.

He said that applications from Thailand are scrutinized for doctored transcripts and ghostwritten essays. He told the story of two essays he received, nearly identical in style and terminology.

When he investigated he found that both applications originated from the same agency offering support services to applicants.

"It seems in both countries [China and Thailand] plagiarism is a serious epidemic and it needs to be dealt with."

Thai universities are also taking steps. On Thursday, Chulalongkorn made available to other universities a computer programme it designed to check thesis papers for plagiarism.

The Thai Office for Higher Education said all higher education institutions must use the internet-based Turnitin programme to check for plagiarism in all academic papers from September.

"I think any kind of attempt to combat plagiarism is a good thing," said Panuwat Panduprasert, a lecturer at Chiang Mai University.

"Universities have not been cracking down on hard enough. State universities are pretty slow to adapt because of bureaucracy."

To some students cheating is justified because of the pressure to excel.

"Cheating is considered normal among Thai students," said Thanawat Kheawdoknoi, a 22-year-old graduate from Thammasat University.

"They have always been taught that having great grades means you're smart and affects how people think of you.

"It doesn't matter how you get there as long as you do."

Lecturers like Panuwat said that universities' longstanding acceptance of cheating has created a prisoner's dilemma.

"Students think that everyone is doing it and if they don't they will lose out," he said.

But the universities are starting to clamp down. "I've had students repeat a year for bringing in a cheat sheet," said Narudh Areesorn, a former lecturer at Mahidol University in Bangkok.

Narudh said instances of bringing notes into lectures are rare. Students more frequently steal exam papers from professors, which he regards as "soft cheating."

Thais are increasingly criticized for misrepresenting themselves in applications to universities overseas, often with the connivance of specialized agencies, Fortune Magazine reported in February.

For a hefty fee, these centres guarantee acceptance into an elite Ivy League institution in the US.

Their methods include ghost-writing application essays, coaching interview sessions, and in some cases falsifying transcripts or creating fake outreach projects to pad a candidate's application.

To middle- and upper-class Thai parents, the fee – which can exceed 30,000 dollars – is worth it. Attendance at prestigious overseas universities is seen as a symbol of status and gives parents bragging rights when talking about their child.

"You have to understand for Thais, education is very important," said Eed, a parent who asked not to give her full name.

"Getting into a top university is paramount otherwise we fall behind the other families. The centres have guaranteed us there is no cheating involved," said Eed, whose daughter is enrolled with one such programme.

But admissions officers are doubtful, the Fortune report said, indicating that the spread of application service providers has made colleges more wary of applications from Thailand. 

Tufts University in the United States threw out a quarter of Thai applications for suspected cheating in 2013, the article quoted an admissions officer as saying.

"These parents need to realize that there is no need to cheat," said a college admissions advisor at an international high school in Thailand.

The source argues that these centres also undermine the long-term development of students and could cause problems academically in college as students enter the top universities unprepared.

"What's worse is the example these parents and guidance centres are setting for these students. They go into life thinking that cheating and shortcutting are normal and that is a horrible thing to teach a child."

BANGKOK —The Department of Health has advised street vendors and cooks across Thailand to stop blotting oily foods with tissue paper, as it may cause cancer.

Pornthep Siriwanarangsan, director of the Department of Health, explained that the practice infuses food with whitening chemicals in tissue paper that contain cancer-inducing dioxins.

"Dioxins have been identified as cancer-causing elements in human bodies by international cancer research institutions," said Mr. Pornthep. "When bodies receive the substances, they won't cause sudden symptoms, but they will gradually escalate and may become fatal."

Other substances in the tissue paper, such as the corrosive sodium hydroxide, will react when they encounter protein and fat in oily foods and lead to irritation in the respiratory system, Mr. Pornthep warned. He said the chemical reaction could cause sneezing, throat pain, runny noses, lung infection, difficult breathing, and an irritated stomach.

The other common practice of packaging street food in newspaper may also lead to health hazards if oil in the food absorbs chemicals from the paper’s ink, Mr. Pornthep said.

Vendors should therefore only blot food with papers that have been certified by international standards to be safe for customers.

"Although customers cannot inspect the quality of paper used by vendors to dab the oil, they can avoid oily and deep fried food altogether, to avoid the risk of receiving [hazardous] chemicals and to maintain a good health," the Department of Health director said.

BANGKOK —The Department of Health has advised street vendors and cooks across Thailand to stop blotting oily foods with tissue paper, as it may cause cancer.

Pornthep Siriwanarangsan, director of the Department of Health, explained that the practice infuses food with whitening chemicals in tissue paper that contain cancer-inducing dioxins.

"Dioxins have been identified as cancer-causing elements in human bodies by international cancer research institutions," said Mr. Pornthep. "When bodies receive the substances, they won't cause sudden symptoms, but they will gradually escalate and may become fatal."

Other substances in the tissue paper, such as the corrosive sodium hydroxide, will react when they encounter protein and fat in oily foods and lead to irritation in the respiratory system, Mr. Pornthep warned. He said the chemical reaction could cause sneezing, throat pain, runny noses, lung infection, difficult breathing, and an irritated stomach.

The other common practice of packaging street food in newspaper may also lead to health hazards if oil in the food absorbs chemicals from the paper’s ink, Mr. Pornthep said.

Vendors should therefore only blot food with papers that have been certified by international standards to be safe for customers.

"Although customers cannot inspect the quality of paper used by vendors to dab the oil, they can avoid oily and deep fried food altogether, to avoid the risk of receiving [hazardous] chemicals and to maintain a good health," the Department of Health director said.