Now I’m trying to turn to Dharma, particularly the 3 characteristics of all things, Anicca (impermanence), Dukkha (suffering), and Anatta (illusion of self). I’ve been trying to seek freedom like a fish stuck in a net; the more you struggle, the tighter it gets. Looking around, I see other convicts still smile, laugh and make jokes among themselves. But I feel tortured. My wife cries. I don’t know how my children are living. I cry each time I think of them. I feel sorry for my youngest child who has yet to learn about this [lese majeste conviction] because his mother has not told him, sparing him the pain that his brother and sister have felt.

– Quote from lese majeste convict Suwicha Thakor (р╕кр╕╕р╕зр╕┤р╕Кр╕▓ р╕Чр╣Ир╕▓р╕Др╣Йр╕н), reported in “Suwicha Thakor’s life after sentencing” (also available in Thai), Prachatai, 13 May 2009.

Previous New Mandala coverage of Suwicha Thakor and his predicament is available here and here. As I wrote last month, “There are now the inevitable efforts to ensure that Suwicha is quietly forgotten. I don’t think that should be allowed to happen. His story would be of great interest to the many millions who have recently seen Thailand on their television screens and who are wondering where the deeper faultlines actually lie.”

Thanks to the always on-the-ball Political Prisoners in Thailand for bringing this outstanding Prachatai work to my attention. At least in their editorial offices Suwicha has not been forgotten.

But surely his case, and its clear public interest components, merits a detailed report in the international media? Or is Suwicha going to be put in the too hard basket? Do we only care when it is Australians and Swiss doing hard time for lese majeste?