“Now we are human,” says Jom Faiyen (pseud, 34) a political refugee from Thaila
nd. His dream used to be to build an aquarium. That changed after the military crackdown in 2010. He formed a political band: “We met in the mob,” he says. “We active with the song against the monarchy.” Four years later, they fled to Laos. “They said we are insulting the king,” he explains, adding that this could lead to up to fifty years in jail. They stayed underground and continued to share songs on YouTube, until they had to flee danger again: “The Thaï monarchy assassinated our friend… We scared, we very scared… We ask French embassy that help us to leave out from Laos.” Now living in Paris, he feels free. “We happy that we have the freedom to speak… Now we are human. When I live in Thailand, I didn’t think that me is a human.” In the younger generation of Thais though “we saw the hope,” he says. And “a chance to revolution.” He continues to share music and his dream is to “tell the world what’s happened in Thailand.”
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