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.
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…
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.
Around the world, 122 journalists were in prison at the end of 2004 for practicing their profession, 16 fewer than the year before. International advocacy campaigns, including those waged by the Committee to Protect Journalists, helped win the early release of a number of imprisoned journalists, notably six independent writers and reporters in Cuba.
New York, August 25, 2004—The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) condemns the civil libel suit filed this week by the telecommunications giant Shin Corporation against media activist Supinya Klangnarong. The lawsuit seeks damages of Bt400 million (US$10 million). The Thai-language newspaper the Thai Post and three of its editors—Thaweesin Sathitrattanacheewin, Roj Ngammaen, and Kannikar Wiriyakul—are…
Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is gravely concerned that Thailand’s criminal defamation laws are being used to suppress critical voices. In June, a court ruled that telecommunications giant Shin Corporation could sue media reformer Supinya Klangnarong for criminal libel. On July 5, London Times’ Bangkok correspondent Andrew Drummond was convicted of criminal libel in a separate suit.
For the last two years, Thailand’s powerful and freewheeling media have been reeling from the effects of a popular and savvy prime minister who seems intent on using his absolute majority in Parliament to control the press. The process has been as subtle as it has been painful, with journalists saying that most pressure is…
There were 138 journalists in prison around the world at the end of 2003 who were jailed for practicing their profession. The number is the same as last year. An analysis of the reasons behind this is contained in the introduction on page 10. At the beginning of 2004, CPJ sent letters of inquiry to…
Bangkok, January 21, 2004—A court in northern Thailand today declared four soldiers not guilty in the April 2000 attempted slaying of newspaper publisher Amnat Khunyosying. Despite testimony from Amnat (who is referred to by his first name) and others naming the four soldiers, the Chiang Mai Court said there was insufficient evidence in the long-running…