(SEAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 1 April 2006 statement issued by the Thai Journalists’ Association: Four major Thai media associations jointly called for media solidarity and common strategies as the government has intensified its harassment against the media and its opponents. At an urgent meeting called on 1 April 2006, the Thai Journalists Association, […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – The following is a 1 April 2006 statement issued by the Thai Journalists’ Association:
Four major Thai media associations jointly called for media solidarity and common strategies as the government has intensified its harassment against the media and its opponents.
At an urgent meeting called on 1 April 2006, the Thai Journalists Association, the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association, the Press Council of Thailand, the Economic Reporters Association and media scholars agreed unanimously that media harassment has intensified under the leadership of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. They also agreed that the media must remain united and work together to combat against any attempt to undermine independent press and media rights to report.
The call for solidarity came following a series of attacks on the media in the week leading up to the national election on 2 April. The election, being hastily called by the government, was marred by anti-government protests aimed at ousting care-taker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinwatra, over his alleged abuses of powers to benefit his family business and cronies.
On 31 March, about 300 motorcyclists sympathetic with the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party surrounded the office of Manager Media Group in Bangkok, and demanded its owner Sondhi Limthongkul and a local daily, “Kom Chad Leuk”, belonging to its rival publisher the Nation Group, be taken to court on lese-majesty charges.
During the incident, some motorcyclists hurled bottles and rocks into the building. Witnesses at the Manager Group office identified one of the mob leaders as Narongsak Manee, a political canvasser of the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party spokesman Sita Divari.
On 30 March, some 3,000 demonstrators besieged the office of “Kom Chad Leuk” which published Sondhi’s remarks about the king deemed as lese-majesty in an apparent attempt to halt the newspaper’s operation.
Also on 30 March, supporters of Prime Minister Thaksin attacked Prachuab Wangjai, a new editor of subscriber TV network Nation Channel, at Chiang Mai University while he was covering a political rally of the opposition Democrats Party. Prachuab was punched in the head as he and his team were getting ready to leave the rally which abruptly ended when supporters of the ruling Thai Rak Thai Party almost lynched speakers from the Democrats, including party leader Abhisit Vejjajiva and senior advisor Chuan Leekpai.
The associations condemned the recent incidents as unacceptable acts aimed at harassing and threatening media freedom, particularly the media’s right to carry out its work.
The four associations also invited editors and publishers from all local media outlets to attend a meeting on 5 April to demonstrate their solidarity and discuss common strategies to counter this “unacceptable” press harassment.
At the end of the meeting, they jointly issued a 10-point joint communiqué containing measures they would carry out, aimed at bolstering freedom of the media and freedom of expression, as follows:
1. Reaffirm the media’s right to report.
2. Issue an open letter to the public to explain threats to the media.
3. Form a taskforce comprising media representatives and experts to keep the public informed of any future threats to media freedom.
4. Report regularly on threats to the media to journalists worldwide.
5. Hold a meeting among print and broadcast media editors to ask for cooperation in their fight against such threats.
6. Use the Thai Journalists Association’s Issara News Center to channel unbiased news reports to the public.
7. Use stickers and T-shirts to campaign on the importance of media freedom.
8. Hold a series of public forums to expose threats to the media in the past five years, which have become more severe during Thaksin’s administration.
9. Reveal irregularities behind some groups or movements which attempted to intimidate the media.
10. Seek alliances with other local non-governmental organisations including the Law Society of Thailand in case emergency assistance may be needed.
