La’or Biathong, 56, and his wife Bunchu. La’or was caught up in the fighting.

Nicholas Farrelly - 14 Sep, 2008

Asia, Thailand, Bangkok, Violence, La’or Biathong, 56, and his wife Bunchu. Both came from a village near the provincial town of Korat to the pro-government UDD protest against PAD with 30 relatives and friends. La’or was caught up in the fighting: “I was not armed, i tried to hold back other unarmed protesters, and pull out injured. I came here because i love democracy, and cannot accept that the PAD wants to have only 30% elected, and 70% appointed representatives in the parliament. I wish both sides could forget and make up, because i country gets destroyed.” La’or was during the fights beaten by a group of PAD fighters with clubs, he has fractured both arms, 26 stitches on his scalp and his back is covered by marks from slingshot projectiles. 5/9/2008, (c) 2008, Nick Nostitz/Agentur Focus

About the Author
Nicholas Farrelly
Dr Nicholas Farrelly is the co-founder of New Mandala. A graduate of the Australian National University and the University of Oxford, over the past 20 years he has undertaken research in Thailand, Myanmar, Bangladesh, China and India. Nicholas is Head of the School of Social Sciences at the University of Tasmania and formerly the Associate Dean of the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, where he also led the ANU Myanmar Research Centre from 2015 to 2017.
New Mandala is supported by the Australian National University (ANU), a world-leading centre of research and teaching on Southeast Asia that has hosted the site since its founding in 2006. New Mandala's editors make editorial decisions independently of the ANU, and the views expressed at New Mandala are solely those of contributors and do not represent the institutional position(s) of the ANU or any of its constituent parts.
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