(SEAPA/IFEX) – On 1 February 2006, the business news commentary program “Business Focus,” of the Army’s FM 101 radio station, was taken off the air because it devoted time to discussing the Shinawatra family’s controversial multi-million dollar stock transaction with Singapore’s Temasek Holdings. On 3 February, Bangkok’s English daily “The Nation” quoted program host Sudathip […]
(SEAPA/IFEX) – On 1 February 2006, the business news commentary program “Business Focus,” of the Army’s FM 101 radio station, was taken off the air because it devoted time to discussing the Shinawatra family’s controversial multi-million dollar stock transaction with Singapore’s Temasek Holdings.
On 3 February, Bangkok’s English daily “The Nation” quoted program host Sudathip Charuchinda-indara as saying she had received the official notification from the Army of the program’s termination on 31 January.
Prior to that, the program host and business expert said she had received warnings and threats from people known to be Thaksin’s supporters and from the government house. “Radio Army told me not to touch Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra,” she told “The Nation.”
Sudathip said she started receiving the threats after she began discussing reports, published in January, asserting that the Shinawatra family planned to sell its shares in telecom giant Shin Corp. to Temasek. The 73 billion baht ($US1.8 billion) agreement was eventually signed and has become the subject of public outcry.
The daily “Business Focus” program, produced by “The Nation Channel,” used to air on FM 101 between 9 and 11 am (local time).
A week prior to the radio program’s cancellation, the website Corruption Watch, which also reported extensively on the Shinawatra family’s stock sale, was ordered removed from a local service provider effective 1 February. The website switched to an overseas service provider in order to continue operation.
The government has denied involvement in the closure order but this disclaimer is considered dubious, as all Internet providers in Thailand come under the supervision of government-owned telecommunication enterprise CAT Telecom.
In a related development, on 2 February the Central Administrative Court instructed CAT Telecom to stop blocking the signal of ASTV, a satellite television network which broadcasts “Thailand Weekly”, a political talk show hosted by media mogul and Thaksin critic Sondhi Limthongkul.
After it was cut from government-owned Channel 9 in September 2005 for being critical of Thaksin and the government, the mobile talk show has been held every Friday in public places.
According to a 3 February report in the “The Bangkok Post”, the court ruled that the signal suspension affected freedom of expression and that the Public Relations Department (PRD), which had ordered CAT Telecom to block the signal, may be at risk of violating the radio and television broadcasting law.
The court’s injunction followed a complaint filed by Sondhi, asking the court to order CAT Telecom to lift the signal suspension.
PRD has claimed that the broadcast by ThaiDay Dotcom, a company under Mr Sondhi’s Manager Media Group, had violated the broadcast law. But the court argued that CAT Telecom and the department could not suspend the satellite and Internet broadcasting signals of ThaiDay Dotcom because they had failed to file a charge against the firm for violating the law.
