[APWSLMembers 250] Fwd: PRESS RELEASE: People's movement for democracy in Nepal and Thailand highlighted

[parat nanakorn]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: prakash <prakash at forum-asia.org>
Date: May 8, 2006 5:59 PM
Subject: PRESS RELEASE: People's movement for democracy in Nepal and
Thailand highlighted
To: siewhwa at cawinfo.org, deepa at cawinfo.org, maneka_1999 at yahoo.com,
wulanbdg at hotmail.com, chanya at cawinfo.org, nanakornp at gmail.com,
adtu06 at yahoo.com, dyaowapa at yahoo.com, icemthai at yahoo.com, snonsee at yahoo.com,
lek at thailabour.org, usawadee at thailabour.org, khamaoi at yahoo.com,
x.irene at tm.net.my, kratae at csloxinfo.com, p_kratae at hotmail.com,
andaman2 at hotmail.com, p.thammarak at yahoo.com, altaf <altaf at forum-asia.org>

 THAI SOLIDARITY GROUP FOR DEMOCRATIC MOVEMENT IN NEPAL



7 May 2006

*PRESS RELEASE*



*People's movement for democracy in Nepal and Thailand highlighted*



(Bangkok, 7 May 2006) Political leaders and civil society representatives
stressed the regular monitoring of the situation in Nepal and sought strong
solidarity for democratic movement in both the countries in Bangkok,
Thailand.



Speaking at a brainstorming and seminar on 'Fighting for Democracy:
Experiences of People's Movement in Nepal and Thailand', organised by the
Thai Solidarity Group for Democratic Movement in Nepal, Sulak Sivarak,
senior civil society member and democratic activist in Thailand, highlighted
the role of monarchy and democracy in various countries. "Institutions are
for the people, but neither for the constitution nor the sake of
continuation of royal governance. The future of Nepal has to be determined
along with the spirit of the people's movement", he said.



Professor Surat Horachaikul, Director of South Asia Institute, Chulalongkorn
University, Bangkok, emphasized people to people contact to make sure that
their issues would reflect at the new constitution in Nepal. However, the
sustainable democracy cannot be guaranteed merely by the constitution. There
are many issues such as civic education and reflection of people's agenda in
the state systems to lay people to develop free will, he said.



Professor Jaran Dita-apichai, Member of the National Human Rights Commission
(NHRC), Thailand said that the new political scenario in Nepal should
reflect people's demands in its reality and the international community has
to be constant vigilance. "Thai democracy could be meaningful if we look at
the general willingness of the people", he said while illustrating the
people's movement for democracy in Thailand.



Speaking at the programme, Surapong Jayanama, Former Ambassador of Thailand,
pointed out the geo-political position of Nepal and the importance of
international concern in determining the status of democratic system.
"People's movement and the international concern have forced the king to
give up the powers and accept the agenda of the political parties", he
added. People's movement in both the countries is directed towards
democracy, where the people are struggling against the king in Nepal, and
against the government of Thaksin Shinawatra in Thailand, Surapong compared
the movement in the two countries.



Somsak Kosaisuk, Leader of the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD),
Thailand said, "People's understanding has to be reflected in the process
and they should not be left behind". Speaking at the programme, Ekraj Sabur,
of Youth Coordination Centre International stressed the importance of
effective regular monitoring of the situation for true benefit of the
Nepalese people.



Sarba Khadka, Ph D student at the Asian Institute of Technology (AIT),
Thailand presented a paper on the political situation and people's movement
for democracy in Nepal. Similarly, Somkiat Pongpaiboon, Lecturer at the
Rajapat Nahorn Ratchasima University, Bangkok explained about the political
situation, and formation and strategies of the People's Alliance for
Democracy (PAD) in Thailand.



Other speakers of the programme include Rawai Pu-paka, of the International
Federation of Chemical, Energy, Mine and General Workers' Unions
(ICEM)-Thailand, Somyot Pruksakasemsuk, of  the Alliance of Democratic Trade
Unions (ADTU), Thailand, Supawadee Petcharat, of the Thousand Women for
Nobel Peace Prize 2005, and Chalida Tajaroensuk, of the Asian Forum for
Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA). About one hundred and fifty
participants attended the seminar.



*Thai Solidarity Group for Democratic Movement in Nepal is a network of
trade unions, human rights organisations and women's labour organisations in
Thailand, dedicated to support the democratic movement of Nepalese people.*

[ENDS]
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://misc.labornetjp.org/pipermail/apwslmembers/attachments/20060508/416ea432/attachment.html