ARCHIVES: Thailand
In a mounting clampdown on press, Internet, and social media freedoms, a new military directive in Thailand has barred any critical reporting or commentary about the ruling National Council for Peace and Order junta. The Committee to Protect Journalists called for an immediate reversal of the freedom-curbing edict and all other measures that promote self-censorship and have been imposed since the military seized power in May. Army commander and coup leader General Prayuth Chan-ocha imposed... MORE
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is deeply concerned about reports of increasing control by the Thailand Military Junta over news and information on radio, television, printed and online media that is sent abroad and the implications this has for freedom of expression in the country. The Thai military junta has set-up five inter-agency subcommittees to inform the media and the public of the work of the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) and to monitor content that... MORE
The International Federation of Journalists (IF) expresses growing concern over the treatment of local and international media in Thailand in the six days since martial law was imposed by the military and calls for the immediate release of media detained in recent days. Along with four media groups, the IFJ has called for the military to respect the role of the media in Thailand and allow free passage of reporting. On Sunday May 25, the senior reporter of The Nation, Pravit Rojanaphruk, was... MORE
All independent television and radio broadcasts in Thailand, including transmissions from foreign stations such as the BBC, Fox and CNN, have been suspended since Thursday’s military coup, replaced by a military-run TV and radio broadcast that has been playing throughout the country. Print media, Internet and news apps are still running and available, but social media websites are reported to be monitored by a special force in the Thai military looking for anti-coup sentiments and other... MORE
A Thai court Thursday formally charged two journalists for the local Phuketwan news website with criminal defamation, according to news reports. The charges were brought by a Thai navy official. Alan Morison , an Australian national, and Chutima Sidasathian , a Thai national, were detained for five hours Thursday in Phuket while their bail application was processed, according to an email from Morison to CPJ and others. Court authorities also seized Morison's passport, the message said. The... MORE
The state of emergency imposed today by Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinwatra threatens to curb media coverage of recent anti-government protests in the national capital, the Committee to Protect Journalists said. The decree was passed in the wake of a double grenade attack on the site of a protest on Sunday that injured a Thai reporter, among 27 other citizens, according to local press reports. Nine people have been killed and hundreds injured since anti-government protests started in early... MORE
Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed concern over the fate of Somyot Pruksakasemsuk , editor of the magazine Voice of Thaksin , who was arrested by the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) on April 30 and was placed in pre-trial custody Monday by a Bangkok criminal court on a charge of lèse-majesté. A request for release on bail was rejected. “This arrest confirms that a crackdown on the opposition media is under way,” RSF said. “Once again it is a... MORE
A dozen community radio stations linked to the opposition “Red Shirts” were shut down in a major police operation on April 26 in Bangkok and the surrounding provinces, according to Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF). An exact list of the radio stations raided by the police is not yet available. “Coming just a few months before general elections, this crackdown is very disturbing,” RSF said. “If opposition media are no longer allowed to operate, coverage of the... MORE
Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has deplored Thailand Department of Special Investigation director-general Tharit Pengdit’s suggestion that the investigation into Japanese cameraman Hiroyuki Muramoto’s death could be "delegated" to his employer, the Reuters news agency. “By doing this, any witness to the crime might be daring enough to provide tip-offs to Reuters more than they would to the state officials,” Tharit said after meeting with two of the British news... MORE
The findings from the official investigation into Japanese cameraman Hiro Muramoto’s death during clashes between government forces and anti-government “Red Shirts” in Bangkok on April 10, 2010 are being seen as “utterly unsatisfactory.” The provisional conclusion one year after the event that the security forces did not fire the shot that killed Muramoto, who worked for Reuters, betrays a reluctance to shed light on the circumstances of his death and identify those responsible, Paris-based... MORE
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