The couple from Mueang District, Tak province, met 10 months ago when Ms. Woon was working as a volunteer cook at the Wat Lan Huai Dua Temple Fair. According to Ms. Woon, when Mr. Suthin first came to visit her, her family was really against it.

“I had been a widow for 10 years, after my former husband died.” Ms. Woon recalled, “and when I started to see Mr. Suthin, my family said it is shameful that I start seeing someone when I am this old”

However, Mr. Suthin did not give up, and his persistence paid off after he had been dating Ms. Woon for the next 10 months.

He proposed to Ms. Woon. This time, Ms. Woon′s family was no longer against Mr. Suthin anymore, because, they said, they trust that Mr. Suthin can look after Ms. Woon as they grow old together.

Today, the groom paid a dowry of 9 baht to Ms. Woon′s family. He believed that number 9 would bring his new family success. He then paid another 20 baht to the ?gatekeepers?, relatives of the bride according to Thai wedding tradition, to enter his bride’s house before taking her to the ceremony.

At the wedding, monks gave the newlywed couple blessings. The family then asked Mr. Suthin to show his love by kissing Ms. Woon on her cheek. Ms. Woon, obviously a traditional and shy woman, refused, but Mr. Suthin kept trying many times, until both the groom and the bride were exhausted. Ms. Woon’s daughter had to pass her an inhaler, as they feared Ms. Woon would pass out.

Both Mr. Suthing’s and Ms. Woon’s families wished the groom and the bride happiness, and hoped that they would look after each other well for the rest of their lives.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Surapong Tovichakchaikul said in the statement that the Thai
government is deeply concerned by the heavy handed crackdown on the supporters of former President
Mohammed Morsi. He called for an end to violence from all sides and a peace dialogue so that Egypt
can move toward democratic transition.

From our own experience, the use of violence does
not solve any differences, the statement said.

In 2010, Thailand saw its worst political
violence in decades in which more than 90 people were killed, after the military launched a
crackdown on the protests of the Redshirts.

Officials at Ministry of Foreign Affairs said
there are around 2,100 Thai nationals residing in Egypt, most of them students living in Cairo.
The Ministry said there are no immediate plans to evacuate Thai nationals from Egypt, but it has been
cooperating closely with its officials in Cairo for emergency events.

Yesterday (15 August),
a group of activists also rallied in front of Sorachai building in Bangkok′s Ekkamai Road, where the
Egyptian Embassy is housed, to protest the police crackdown on pro-Morsi supporters, Prachatai
reports.

Ms. Jittra Kongdej, a labour activist who led the protest, told Prachatai that the
unrestrained violence against the protesters in Egypt is a result of the military coup which deposed
Mr. Morsi in July, and demanded that Egypt hold an election as fast as possible.

Coups only
lead to dictatorship, Ms. Jittra was quoted as saying.

Ms. Thong (lastname undisclosed), 51, said when she noticed it was already late in
the night that her daughter, identified as Ms. Khaek, did not come home, she started to search for
her.

Later, one of Ms. Khaek′s friends reportedly told Ms. Thong that she was kidnapped by
her ex-boyfriend, Mr. Oor, who was dating Ms. Khaek 4 years ago.

Ms. Thong said that she
believed Mr. Oor was upset once he knew that Ms. Khaek is going to marry her new boyfriend in a few
months. According to Ms. Thong, Ms. Khaek complained that her former boyfriend was a useless
man.

Ms. Thong said that Ms. Khaek contacted her and said she was in the woods, but failed
to identify the place. Ms. Khaek then became unreachable, causing Ms. Thong to worry that she might
be dead.

Mr. Oor had beaten Ms. Khaek before, Ms. Thong said, so she feared that her
daughter might get killed this time.

The group charged that the report from NHRC about the military crackdown on the
Redshirts protesters in 2010 was distorted and biased.

Mr. Suphat Asasri, the
secretary-general of the SFT, said that the report implied that that the government under then-Prime
Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva could rightfully use the military force against the
protesters.

They also criticised how the committee members were chosen by the junta-backed
government in the wake of the military coup in September 2006.

Obviously, they are
obstructing the progress of democracy in Thailand, Mr. Suphat said.

Mr. Suphat continued,
“The work of the NHRC is widely unacceptable because they apply double standard.  We are asking
the committee to resign, and we would like the next committee board to come from a public
election.”

After a while, Mr. Khanchai Konsane, the secretary of the NHRC, came out to meet
the protesters. The group then read their statement before tearing the report on 2010 unrest to
pieces.

The student also performed a short skit depicting how the military personnel shot
dead civilians in 2010 before dispersing peacefully.

“It seems like the report from NHRC
killed those deaths twice” said one of the protesters explained during the skit.

Some of the
banners proclaim that “The National Committee Protecting the Privileges Rights”, “Quit NHRC! You
abused the dead” and “What are they telling us? NHRC knows nothing about Human Rights” – the last
one is a reference to the remark of Ms. Amara Pongsapitch, the chairwoman of the NHRC.