Thailand

A 13-year jail sentence has been imposed by a Bangkok court on Thanthawut Taweewarodomkul, the administrator of website linked to the anti-government Red Shirt Movement, for three messages critical of the king that he allegedly posted on the site, called Nor Por Chor USA. Thanthawut, who has been detained since his arrest on April 1, 2010, was given a 10-year sentence under a section of the...

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over inconsistencies in Thailand's official investigation into the killing of Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto, who was killed by gunfire while covering clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces last April 10 in Bangkok. Thailand's Department of Special Investigation told reporters Monday that its investigations...

Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI) has concluded that Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto, who was killed during political protests last year, was not shot by security forces, the head of the DSI said Sunday. That conclusion contradicts a preliminary finding in a DSI report leaked to Reuters in December, which indicated the bullet that killed the Japanese journalist on April 10 came...

The Mae Sot Immigration office in Thailand freed John San Lin, a Burmese freelance journalist, and his colleague Pascal Schatterman, a Belgian national, on the evening of January 24, after they paid a fine of THB500 (US$16). The pair were fined for violating the Immigration Act and were released soon after, John San Lin told Mizzima. They were detained on January 20 in Mae Sot after returning to...

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has called on Thai authorities to release Sun Shucai, an 87-year-old refugee activist and journalist who was arrested in Bangkok on December 8. He is now in a Bangkok immigration detention centre after a judge fined him 3,000 Baht (75 euros) on December 9 and ordered the authorities to examine the possibility of deporting him. “We are...

Investigators in Thailand now believe that troops may have been responsible for the shooting death of Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto, on April 10, according to a leaked preliminary state probe by Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Reuters reported from Bangkok last week. Thai government investigators said in the report that the death of Muramoto, a 43-year-old Japanese national...

Paris-based press freedom group Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has expressed concern over the unprecedented harassment of Chiranuch Premchaipoen, the editor of the Prachatai news website. Detained at Bangkok airport on September 24, on her return from an international conference, she has been told she was arrested on a warrant issued in the northeastern city of Khon Kaen in September 2009 in...

Thailand authorities have arrested Chiranuch Premchaiporn, editor of the popular Thailand news website Prachatai, on charges of insulting the royal family, the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has reported. Prachatai said police at Suvarnabhumi Airport detained Chiranuch at 2:30 p.m. as she arrived from Hungary, where she had attended an Internet freedom conference. Police...

If you’re a journalist trying to capture footage of political unrest in Thailand, be warned. Only a few have escaped unscathed from the hands of death while being among the fierce battles between security forces and protesters. Two journalists died and several others were injured during the country’s political unrest. New York-based press freedom group Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has

Control of media that are affiliated to or support the Red Shirt movement has been reinforced considerably since a state of emergency was imposed in Bangkok and many other provinces. A TV station, radio stations, websites and newspapers have been censored, banned, forcibly closed or prosecuted. Most of these media supported the Red Shirt demonstrations, sometimes issuing forceful calls for...