August 20, 2020 (Tony Cartalucci - ATN) - After weeks - if not months - of attempting to pretend ongoing protests in Thailand were being organized by "students" the protest's leader - middle aged lawyer Anon Nampa of the US government-funded front "Thai Lawyers for Human Rights" (TLHR) was bailed out after his most recent arrest by members of parliament from fugitive billionaire Thaksin Shinawatra's Pheu Thai Party and corrupt billionaire Thanathorn Juangroongruangkit's Move Forward Party (formally Future Forward until being disbanded for electoral law violations).
Bangkok Post in its article, "Nine, including Anon and 2 rappers, granted bail," would admit (emphasis added):
The Criminal Court has approved bail requests for nine people, including lawyer Anon Nampa and two rappers, arrested over the past 20 hours for their roles in the July 18 and Aug 3 rallies.The billionaire-led opposition of Thaksin and Thanathorn had vowed just months ago that they would put people into the streets. Despite openly admitting to this - the media has since dishonestly attempted to spin their subsequent protests as "organic," "spontaneous," and "student led." All mention of US government funding has been omitted entirely.
The court allowed the use of officials' positions as a guarantee for their temporary releases. Three Move Forward Party MPs, two Pheu Thai Party MPs and four academics were the guarantors.
READ MORE: The Complete Guide: US Government Role in Thailand's "Student Protests"
The Bangkok Post does however mention Anon Nampa's US government-funded front - Thai Lawyers for Human Rights - which it cited for information in its article. But the Post never mentions that Anon Nampa is a member of its staff or that it is funded entirely by foreign governments including the US government via the notorious regime change front, the National Endowment for Democracy.
If Thai authorities arrested Anon Nampa for what he is really doing - attempting to overthrow his nation's government on behalf of foreign powers - a crime known as treason - he would be facing charges many times more serious than he is now.
Despite Anon Nampa and his "student protest" depicting the current government as a "dictatorship" - it appears the government is exercising incredible patience and restraint.
In the future Thailand may want to consider security laws similar to those passed recently in Hong Kong that finally put an end to US-backed unrest there that left infrastructure destroyed and locals terrorized by regular violence and instability.
Thai Lawyers for Human Rights Isn't "Thai" and is not for "Human Rights"
TLHR's US government funding was openly displayed on the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) website in 2014.
Its name has since been removed from NED's website but continues to receive US funding through the NED via the "Union for Civil Liberty" (UCL) of which it is a member.
The UCL is still listed on NED's current webpage for programs it funds in Thailand. TLHR is listed as a member of UCL on its official website next to other recipients of US NED funding including the Cross Cultural Foundation, the Human Rights Lawyers Association, and the Asian Network for Free Elections (ANFREL).
Before TLHR and its members began leading rallies - founding members admitted TLHR is entirely funded by foreign governments.
Even the Bangkok Post previously reported this - despite apparently "forgetting" this fact more recently in its reporting.
The Bangkok Post in a 2016 article titled, "The lawyer preparing to defend herself," would admit (emphasis added):
...[TLHR] receives all its funding from international donors including the EU, Germany and US-based human rights organisations and embassies of the UK and Canada.Thus, a front posing as "pro-democracy" and representative of the Thai people receives none of its support from people actually living in Thailand and instead - from foreign capitals with obvious ulterior motives.
In addition to an award presented by the French Embassy, the US State Department awarded TLHR member Sirikan “June” Charoensiri the 2018 "International Women of Courage Award" presented by US First Lady Melania Trump.
The US embassy in Bangkok openly praised TLHR in its own post celebrating the award, exclaiming:
The U.S. Embassy in Bangkok is proud of Sirikan “June” Charoensiri’s work as a lawyer and human rights defender, and for being recognized by the Secretary of State as an International Women of Courage award recipient.Thus - an organization carefully cultivated by the US government for years - propped up financially and politically and even awarded for carrying out Washington's agenda in Thailand - is now leading protests aimed at overthrowing the elected government of Thailand.
Ms. Sirikan is a co-founder of Thai Lawyers for Human Rights (TLHR), a lawyers’ collective set up to provide pro bono legal services for human rights cases and to document human rights violations.
For those tempted to claim US government funding for protests aimed at overthrowing foreign governments is somehow "ok," the easiest way to illustrate that what the US National Endowment for Democracy (NED) does is wrong, is to note how if any other country did what it does, inside the US, it would be considered an act of war.
