BANGKOK — Politicians allied to the former government have formally announced an anti-coup organisation in exile on the 82nd anniversary of Thailand's democratic revolution.

The formation of the group, called The Organization of Free Thais for Human Rights and Democracy (FTHD), was announced this morning in a video published on social media.

In the video, Jarupong Ruangsuwan, former chairman of Pheu Thai Party and Minister of Interior Affairs, read the group's founding statement in Thai, explaining that the FTHD is committed to opposing the military junta's National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO), which staged a coup against the Pheu Thai-led government on 22 May.

The former minister also promised that his group will seek to guarantee civil rights, promote a free and fair economy, nurture democratic values in Thai society, and improve the quality of life for Thai citizens. 

Another founding member of the group, former Minister to the Prime Minister's Office Jakrapob Penkair, read the statement in English in a separate video. Both videos, posted on Youtube, have since been blocked in Thailand. The group's Facebook account is similarly inaccessible. 

It is not clear where the videos were recorded and where the organisation will be based, but Mr. Jakrapob and Mr. Jarupong, along with a number of Redshirt activists, are believed to be currently residing in Cambodia. Mr. Jakrapob fled to Cambodia in 2009 after he was accused by conservative politicians of insulting the Thai Royal Family, while Mr. Jarupong is understood to have left the country soon after the coup.

The formation of the FTHD has been anticipated by many. In previous interviews to the foreign media, Mr. Jakrapob has hinted that he might found a group to coordinate resistance against the NCPO from abroad. He also floated the idea of forming a government-in-exile.

The NCPO has yet to publicly respond to the anti-coup organisation's founding,  but Asawin Withusiri, deputy chairman of the Democrat Party, said today that Mr. Jakrapob and Mr. Jarupong are merely struggling to win back the power they lost because of the coup.

"I agree with NCPO for stepping in and returning peace to the country," said Mr. Asawin, moments after he attended a ceremony to swear an oath of reconciliation in Pichit province. At the ceremony members of opposing political groups, summoned by the NCPO, drank sacred water and swore to lay aside their political differences.

The launching of FTHD also coincides with the 82nd anniversary of the 24 June 1932 Revolution that overthrew the Absolute Monarchy and installed a constitutional democracy in Thailand, known as Siam at the time. 

Early this morning a group of activists quietly commemorated the anniversary at Royal Plaza in Bangkok, where the 1932 revolutionaries announced the end of Absolute Monarchy 82 years ago.

Participants were told to sign their names for the police before any activity could take place, and were instructed not to "mention politics." While last year's commemoration of the 24 June Revolution was accompanied by political speeches and other colourful activities, this year the activists were forced to remember the democratic revolution with a low-profile vigil and laying of flowers. 

When an activist attempted to release balloons into the sky — to represent the quest for freedom — a high-ranking police officer intervened and told him he not could release the balloons because the objects might fall into the nearby Royal Residence.

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BANGKOK — A Redshirt activist who has been missing for three weeks was released from military custody today, after being detained by the army at an undisclosed location for nearly a month.

Kritsuda Khunasen, 27, was released at the Army Club in Bangkok's Thewes district at around 1 pm today. She was seen leaving the compound on a pick-up truck with her boyfriend and fellow activist, Abhirat Sripatsamet, who had also been briefly detained by the military.

Ms. Kristuda, aka Comrade Suud Soi (the end of the alley), was arrested on 28 May in Chonburi province. The military did not cite reasons for her arrest and refused to say where Ms. Kritsuda was being held for weeks, despite calls for clarification from a number of rights groups including the New York-based Human Rights Watch (HRW).

HRW, among other groups, pointed out that martial law only allows the military to detain people without charges for a maximum of seven days.

Concerns for Ms. Kritsuda grew when she was summoned, along with 33 others, by the military junta's National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) on 18 June to report to the Army Club in Bangkok. She had not been seen since she was arrested by soldiers three weeks earlier. 

Three days later, NCPO spokesperson Col. Winthai Suwaree broke the silence and told a Bangkok Post "military reporter" that Ms. Kritsuda was being detained by the military. He reportedly claimed that the military was holding her at a secret location so that she could "meditate, restore consciousness, and reconsider many things, so that we can adjust [her] understanding." 

After rumours that Ms. Kritsuda might have been killed while in military custody started to spread on social media, the NCPO broadcasted a video of the Redshirt activist speaking about her condition and reuniting with her boyfriend, Mr. Abhirat. The pair had lunch together in front of the camera.

In the video, which was aired last night on army-owned TV channels, Ms. Kritsuda said she was "happy" with her living conditions while in military custody.

Ms. Kritsuda was released less than 24 hours later. 

Since staging a coup on 22 May, the NCPO has summoned and detained more than 300 politicians, activists, and academics. A vast majority of those summoned have been allied to the Redshirt movement, like Ms. Kritsuda, who campaigned actively for freedom of political prisoners who are imprisoned for their alleged role in the political violence that occured during the Redshirt protests in 2010. 

The military also released a group of student activists today who were detained for staging a small rally against the military regime at a shopping mall in Bangkok on Sunday. 

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