Thailand

New York, December 24, 2008--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the ongoing legal harassment of BBC correspondent Jonathan Head. Police Lt. Col. Wattanasak Mungkandee filed a third criminal complaint this year against Head on December 23, alleging he had insulted the Thai monarchy in his reporting. 

New York, December 18, 2008—For the sixth consecutive year, Iraq was the deadliest country in the world for the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists found in its end-of-year analysis. The 11 deaths recorded in Iraq in 2008, while a sharp drop from prior years, remained among the highest annual tolls in CPJ history.

New York, December 1, 2008--As Thailand's political crisis deepens, the Committee to Protect Journalists urgently calls on both sides of the conflict to end their attacks on reporters and media outlets and allow all journalists to report freely on breaking news. 

New York, September 30, 2008--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Thai authorities to launch an immediate investigation into the shooting death of Jaruek Rangcharoen, a journalist with the daily Thai-language newspaper Matichon.

New York, August 26, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns an attack led by anti-government protesters against state-run National Broadcasting Service of Thailand (NBT) television news station.

The People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD) protest group ambushed and seized control of the station’s headquarters in Bangkok early this morning as part of several ambush-style attacks on government buildings across the Thai capital. Protesters forced their way through police blockades to enter the station, according to international news reports.   

Chalee was killed by a car bomb that apparently targeted people arriving at the scene of a blast that occurred minutes earlier in the town of Sungai Kolok on the Malaysian border, according to local and international news reports. At least 30 people were injured in the second explosion, which occurred 20 minutes after a smaller motorcycle bombing that left no casualties, according to The Associated Press. The attacks, attributed to local insurgents in a region rife with Muslim separatist violence, occurred outside a restaurant near the local police station, news reports say.

THAILAND:
New York, August 6, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on Thailand’s government to launch an independent investigation into the recent shooting death of Athiwat Chaiyanurat, a reporter with the Thai-language daily newspaper Matichon and a stringer for the army-owned Channel 7 television station. A local press freedom group said he had been threatened for his reporting.

June 20, 2008

His Excellency Samak Sundaravej
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Royal Government of Thailand
Bangkok, Thailand

Via facsimile: 011-662-629-8213

Dear Prime Minister Samak,

The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by recent government moves that represent a clear and present danger to press freedom and media reform in Thailand.

We were especially alarmed to learn about a June 13 directive issued by Interior Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung to provincial governors nationwide to order local cable television operators to stop carrying privately run television station ASTV or face possible imprisonment.

New York, June 6, 2008—The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by the legal harassment of BBC correspondent Jonathan Head in Thailand. A high-ranking police official, Lt. Col. Wattanasak Mungkandee, has filed two separate criminal complaints alleging that the journalist insulted the monarchy—charges that Head and the BBC have called unfounded.

Thai law allows any citizen to bring complaints against anyone they believe has insulted the country’s monarchy. Mungkandee reportedly brought the complaints in a personal capacity. Violations of lese majeste laws are a criminal offense punishable by three to 15 years imprisonment.