Thailand / Asia

Twenty years after the Khmer Rouge genocide, Khmer journalism is showing signs of life.

Your Excellency: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is dismayed by the recent assassination attempt against Amnat Khunyosying, owner and editor of the newspaper Phak Nua Raiwan, which is published in the northern city of Chiang Mai.

By Kavita Menon and A. Lin NeumannMuch of Asia remained hostile to a free, independent media, despite the growing consensus that Asian political and economic stability depends in great measure on governments’ willingness to improve transparency and lift restrictions on the press. In China, Burma, Vietnam, and even Malaysia, government suppression of the media is…

Thailand’s journalists enjoy one of the freest presses in the developing world, and a new constitution implemented in 1997 provides some of the broadest press protections in Asia. The 1997 Official Information Act, which is modeled on the U.S. Freedom of Information Act, gives the public the right to access information that was once routinely…

Mahathir wins election, stifles media Also in this report: A. Lin Neumann discusses the Malaysian press on the eve of elections in a news analysis. In an exclusive essay for CPJ, Far Eastern Economic Review correspondent Murray Hiebert recounts his ordeal at the hands of the Malaysian legal system.

Dear Ms. Cooper, I wish to refer to your letter dated July 15 1999, concerning the unexpected act of intimidation against the Thai Post newspaper by Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankiri’s private secretary during the night of Tuesday 13 July 1999. We have brought your concerns to the attentions of HE Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai and I have subsequently been asked to make the following clarification regarding the Government’s position:

August 2, 1999 Secretariat of the Prime Minister Government Spokesman Bureau Government House Bangkok 10300 Dear Ms. Cooper, I wish to refer to your letter dated July 15 1999, concerning the unexpected act of intimidation against the Thai Postnewspaper by Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankiri’s private secretary during the night of Tuesday 13 July 1999.

July 15, 1999 His Excellency Chuan Leekpai Prime Minister Government House Bangkok, Thailand Your Excellency, The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is concerned over a recent attempt to intimidate the staff of the Thai Post that was directed by an aide to Deputy Prime Minister Trairong Suwankhiri. We do, however, welcome Your Excellency’s pledge today to…

Thai Newspaper Editor is First Chairman of Regional Free Press AllianceThai Newspaper Editor is First Chairman of Regional Free Press Alliance A senior Thai newspaper editor was named the first chairman of the newly formed Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) on May 22, as the group announced plans to begin monitoring conditions for working journalists…