The controversial amnesty bill has been rejected yesterday. The bill was widely seen as a go-back-to-home chance for the expelled former PM, Thaksin Shinawatra. Indeed, the bill could also exonerate another former PM of Thailand, Abhisit Vejjajiva, who is now being charged with murder in the 2010 red-shirt protest. It can be said the bill itself was a good attempts to reach reconciliation between yellow and red in Thailand.
For people who interested in the process of the bill, here is a summary of news articles related to the issue.
News reports:
Nov 15, 2013
The 2013/11/15 printed issue of the Economist has a entry about the the politics of the whole amnesty bill:
Banyan: Blowing the whistle | The Economist
http://econ.st/HVpees or
http://www.economist.com/news/asia/21589873-thailands-former-prime-minister-thaksin-shinawatra-loses-battle-winning-war-blowing
Nov 13, 2013
Nov 11, 2013
Nov 9, 2013
Nov 7, 2013
Nov 6, 2013
Nov 5, 2013
Nov 1, 2013
Sep 28, 2013
Quotes from scholars:
"If Mr. Thaksin and other leaders had not been added to the amnesty bill coverage, the majority of the people would have agreed to give amnesty to the ordinary people affected (in the conflict)," said Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, a law professor at Bangkok's Thammasat University. In Thai Senate kills contentious amnesty bill
Nov 11, 2013
"If the bill fails, then Thaksin will have to recalculate his strategy," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun, an associate professor at Kyoto University. "The next step is to heal the rift that he has created among the Red Shirts," he said. "He wants to come home, he wants his money back." in Thai Senate to Stop Amnesty Bill to Quell Unrest: Southeast Asia
Nov 6, 2013
"Now, for the first time, you can see the split in the Red Shirts," says Pavin Chachavalpongpun, a professor the Centre for Southeast Asian Studies at Kyoto University. "They now have an opportunity to distinguish themselves as being separate from Mr. Thaksin and emerge as a serious pro-democracy, pro-justice movement."Few Thais expect the likes of Messrs. Nattawut and Weng to throw their lot in with the opposition Democrat Party, though. So far, they have tempered their criticism to the amnesty bill itself. It will also take them a considerable amount of time for them to create their own political party, if indeed that has ever been their long-term aim, Mr. Pavin says. in Thaksin's Thai Amnesty Plan Could Prove to Be a Strategic Blunder
Southeast Asia Real Time - WSJ
"It was a major part of his strategy, using his party and majority vote in parliament," Ora-Orn Poocharoen, an assistant professor at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore, said of Thaksin. "Unfortunately, he hasn't got buy-in from everybody, and even people in his party and the coalition party -- they're shaking their heads saying why did we do this? Why did we stab ourselves when the government was actually doing quite well?" in Thai Senate to Stop Amnesty Bill to Quell Unrest: Southeast Asia
Nov 6, 2013
Messrs. Abhisit and Suthep have rejected the amnesty, saying they prefer to clear their names in court, and their adversaries in the Red Shirt camp are eager to help. They are leading their own rallies to ensure that Messrs. Abhisit and Suthep are put on trial."The amnesty issue seems to be bringing people from all sides of the political divide together, even if they are doing it for different reasons," said Pavin Chachavalpongpun at Kyoto University's Center for Southeast Asian Studies.The conflict over the proposed amnesty shows how far Thailand still has to go in reconciling Mr. Thaksin's populism with a more conservative, technocratic style of government encouraged by Thailand's armed forces and royalist bureaucrats. in Backlash Over Thai Amnesty Bill Spreads
Updated Nov. 4, 2013
The amnesty bill seems to be the final nail in the coffin for these hopes. Abhisit and his then Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban have been charged with murder but will not face trial, and the UDD is incensed that Pheu Thai is "climbing over the bodies of the Red Shirts so Thaksin can come home," says Pavin Chachavalpongpun, associate professor at Kyoto University's Centre for Southeast Asian Studies. in Thailand's Amnesty Bill Unites Political Foes Against Government
Nov. 01, 2013
In 2011, Thaksin's sister Yingluck Shinawatra was elected Prime Minister as head of the Pheu Thai Party largely on the back of huge Red Shirt support. Calls for restitution for the victims of 2010 — the military incursion was ostensibly ordered by then Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of the PAD-backed Democrat Party — reverberated throughout the UDD rank and file. "They want justice for the violence that claimed their loved ones," says Thitinan Pongsudhirak, professor of political science at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok. in Thailand's Amnesty Bill Unites Political Foes Against Government
Nov. 01, 2013
"Puea Thai is risking making more enemies and losing support from traditional allies if it doesn't listen," said Prinya Thaewanarumitkul, a law professor at Thammasat University. in Contested Amnesty Bill Advances to Let Thai Ex-Leader Return
Oct. 31, 2013
