Company seeks massive damages in defamation cases
Bangkok, Thailand, July 28, 2005—A Thai company with ties to a former government official has filed criminal defamation complaints seeking massive damages from two daily newspapers owned by the Matichon media company. The Committee to Protect Journalists said today it is deeply concerned about the cases, part of a troubling trend toward litigation against the…
CPJ condemns threats to media freedom in Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand, July 19, 2005—Thailand’s cabinet today imposed emergency rule empowering the prime minister to censor the media in the country’s three Muslim-dominated, insurgency-hit southern provinces. The measure also gives the government power to detain suspects without trial, tap telephones, monitor e-mail exchanges, and confiscate suspects’ property in Yala, Narathiwat and Pattani provinces.
CPJ condemns censorship of two Web sites
New York, June 28, 2005—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the Thai government’s censorship of two political news Web sites and the harassment of outspoken radio journalist Anchalee Paireerak, who quit as host of the program “Thailand Review” and intends to go into exile in response to the intimidation. “Shutting down two Web sites that…
THAILAND
JUNE 18, 2005 Posted: June 30, 2005 thai-insider.com and fm9225.comCENSORED The Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT) issued an order to shut down www.thai-insider.com and www.fm9225.com for allegedly threatening national security and disturbing public order, and for allegedly failing to register the owners’ names properly, according to local and international news reports.
Attacks on the Press 2004: Asia Analysis
Overviewby Abi Wright Threats to press freedom spiked throughout Asia in 2004, even as the news media claimed significant accomplishments. Across the region, 2004 was an election year, with citizens casting ballots in nations such as Afghanistan, whose landmark vote was peaceful and orderly, and India, where more than 370 million went to the polls.…
Attacks on the Press 2004: Thailand
ThailandPopulist Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s press freedom record has been less than stellar since he took office in 2001. His political and financial interference, legal intimidation, and coercion continued to have a chilling effect on critical voices in the Thai press in 2004.
Provincial journalist shot dead
New York, February 15, 2005—Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Pongkiat Saetang, editor of the bimonthly newspaper Had Yai Post, near a market in Had Yai, in southern Thailand’s Songkhla Province yesterday. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating to determine whether he was killed for his journalistic work. Two assailants shot Pongkiat twice in the…
THAILAND
FEBRUARY 14, 2005 Posted: February 15, 2005 Pongkiat Saetang, Had Yai Post, KILLED—UNCONFIRMED Unidentified gunmen shot and killed Saetang, editor of the bimonthly newspaper Had Yai Post, near a market in Had Yai, in southern Thailand’s Songkhla Province. The Committee to Protect Journalists is investigating to determine whether he was killed for his journalistic work.