ARCHIVES: Thailand
The Thai government has announced its plan to regulate the programme content of radio stations and cable and satellite TV stations in the country, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) has reported quoting media reports. The Bangkok Post quoted on May 14 Prime Minister's Office Minister Sathit Wongnongtoey as saying the government will ban any programme, whether broadcast over community radios or aired over cable and satellite TVs, that is politically "incendiary" and "offensive", whether... MORE
The media have become part and parcel of Thailand's intensifying political conflict: Two privately held satellite television news stations are openly aligned with competing political street movements, and state-controlled outlets are under opposition fire for allegedly misrepresenting recent crucial news events, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). As the conflict escalates and the government reverts to crude censorship and veiled threats, all kinds of journalists here are... MORE
Amid Thailand's continuing political chaos, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has strongly condemned the assassination attempt against media owner, television commentator, and political activist Sondhi Limthongkul on Friday and called on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government to ensure a quick investigation. According to local and international news reports, at around 5:30 a.m. armed assailants in a blue pick-up truck without license plates blocked Sondhi's vehicle and shot out... MORE
As part of its declaration of a state of emergency on Sunday, the Thai government issued a decree that empowered officials to censor news considered a threat to national security, according to international and local news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has called on the government to immediately rescind this order of censorship. On Monday, the government ordered the blocking of satellite news broadcaster D Station, which is widely recognized as affiliated with the anti-... MORE
Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva has turned down an international call for the reform of lèse-majesté law but hinted some amendment to the enforcement of the law could be considered to allow for expression of academic opinions, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) has reported. Speaking at the 54th anniversary of the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) on March 5, Abhisit said there was a need to maintain this law in order to protect the reputation of the kingdom's revered monarchy... MORE
Christoph Müller, a leading Swiss TV reporter and producer, was handcuffed and arrested on arrival in Thailand on February 27, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. He was freed on bail 24 hours later but the police confiscated his passport and he is not allowed to leave the country until further notice. His employer, the German-language Swiss TV station SF, has described the measures as a "judicial farce" and out of all proportion to his apparent offence. The authorities have not told... MORE
Christoph Müller, a leading Swiss TV reporter and producer, was handcuffed and arrested on arrival in Thailand on February 27, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. He was freed on bail 24 hours later but the police confiscated his passport and he is forbidden to leave the country until further notice. His employer, the German-language Swiss TV station SF, has described the measures as a “judicial farce” and out of all proportion to his apparent offence. The authorities have not told... MORE
Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has flown back home from Thailand after being granted a royal pardon on February 19. Press freedom groups have called upon authorities to reform the draconian lese majeste laws under which he was sentenced. On his arrival at Melbourne airport on February 21, a moved Nicolaides thanked his fellow Australians for their support during the more than five months in spent in a Bangkok prison. He was told he was being released just a few hours before being put on a... MORE
Thai authorities have blocked 2,300 websites for allegedly insulting the country's monarchy, with 400 more awaiting a court order to restrict them, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) has reported. The Economic Times Online quoted Information and Communication (ICT) Minister Ranongruk Suwanchawee as saying on January 6 that "The blocking of websites that disseminate content and pictures which insult the monarchy is one of the government's crucial policies." "We have blocked more than 2,... MORE
The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has condemned the ongoing legal harassment of BBC correspondent in Thailand, Jonathan Head. Police Lt Col Wattanasak Mungkandee filed a third criminal complaint this year against Head on December 23, alleging he had insulted the Thai monarchy in his reporting. The latest charges are related to a December 3 article in which Head speculated that the royal palace and figures close to the palace may have provided tacit backing to anti-government protest... MORE
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