AUGUST 15, 2005
Posted: August 18, 2005
Kowit Sanandang, Bangkok Post
Post Publishing
LEGAL ACTION
Two state-owned firms filed criminal defamation complaints against the editor of the English-language daily Bangkok Post, Kowit Sanandang, and the newspaper’s parent company, Post Publishing Plc. The charges carry penalties of up to two years in prison and a fine of 200,000 baht (US $4,900), according to news reports.
Government-owned Airports of Thailand (AoT) and New Bangkok International Airport (NBIA) filed the lawsuit in response to an August 9 front-page story in the Bangkok Post. The companies allege that the story harmed the international image of the new Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, Somsak Toraksa, the plaintiff’s lawyer, told reporters.
The Bangkok Post, citing unnamed sources, reported that U.S. aviation experts hired by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had recommended reconstruction to repair large cracks in an airport runway. The newspaper retracted the report and ran a front-page apology the next day.
The Post‘s retraction stated that while there were small cracks on the shoulders of the runway, its source wrongly claimed that experts believed the runway needed reconstruction.
On Wednesday, Thaksin lashed out at the newspaper, calling the report “seriously damaging to the country.”
The state-owned firms asked the court to order the defendants to pay to publicize the verdict in major international dailies, and to advertise the results of the case on local and international television channels for 15 consecutive days. A Bangkok court is scheduled to hear the case beginning September 19.
The Bangkok Post reported yesterday that NBIA is also preparing a civil lawsuit against the newspaper, seeking one billion baht (US $24,400) in damages.
Thai corporations have increasingly used legal action against media critical of their business activities.