The 2011 floods that ravaged one-quarter of Thailand have not, surprisingly, adversely affected overall rice production. That should be good news for the government. Since rice has become one of the most politicized commodities, keeping rice farmers happy has also become a policy priority. But the Yingluck administration is facing a rough road ahead with its flagship rice mortgage scheme, partially because of the programme’s popularity but also because it is not likely to be sustainable given short-term market conditions.

Thai authorities should "vigorously pursue perpetrators of hate speech directed at Nitirat and other peaceful critics," say Amnesty International (AI).

Forever to blame the bearer of bad news as the bad news itself, those who don’t like to hear the truth, or at least a great speech about it and why it’s occasionally necessary to be told the truth, often resort to little tricks to as quickly as possible extinguish growing embers before they become searing flames burning up centuries of lies and deceit.

As he shuffled into the court room in central Thailand wearing leg chains that dragged across the wooden floor I saw the same warmth in the greeting that I had seen 30 years ago.  This was Somyot Pruksakasemsuk who was the first Thai person I ever met – at that time he had been organising Thai factory workers near Bangkok and I was arriving for a meeting of workers from throughout the Asia region.