(TJA/IFEX) – The following is a 15 July 2002 TJA press release: TJA Protests Rangoon’s blacklisting of 15 Thai Journalists On Saturday, the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) protested Rangoon’s decision to blacklist fifteen Thai journalists working for local dailies, saying the dictatorial move would block Thai media from having comprehensive views on Burma and worsen […]
(TJA/IFEX) – The following is a 15 July 2002 TJA press release:
TJA Protests Rangoon’s blacklisting of 15 Thai Journalists
On Saturday, the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) protested Rangoon’s decision to blacklist fifteen Thai journalists working for local dailies, saying the dictatorial move would block Thai media from having comprehensive views on Burma and worsen the relationship between the two countries at both the government and citizen levels.
TJA said the move was another example of the usual habit of dictators, who are inclined to shield any abnormality within their own country from the outside.
Rangoon’s move on Friday targeted 15 journalists and columnists from The Nation, Bangkok Post, Thai Rath, Thai News, Daily News, Siam Rath, Matichon and Kao Sod.
The move is considered to be Rangoon’s biggest retaliatory step so far to the Thai government’s earlier visa ban on two Burmese columnists who wrote badly about Thailand and the monarchy, in relation to past hostility between Thailand and Burma.
TJA defended the Thai media, saying their reports and comments about Burmese foreign policy towards Thailand were a common duty under a democratic system, not to be dictated by the Burmese government.
The organisation noted that, at the same time, the Thai media was also critical of the Thai government’s handling of its relations with Rangoon.
TJA pointed out that the Thai media’s coverage of Burma has been multi-dimensional and enabled Burmese views to be articulated in the Thai press. “Thus, blacklisting Thai journalists will block [an] opportunity for Thai media to have comprehensive views on Burma,” it said.
TJA urged Rangoon to reverse this decision, saying it will only worsen the on-going conflict between the two governments. “Rangoon’s continued use of its own media as [a] propaganda mouthpiece will only propel Burmese citizens’ hatred toward their Thai counterparts and Thailand,” the statement said.
TJA said it also condemned any government’s abuses of power and efforts to curtail the media’s right to present facts and express opinions.
