Thailand

New York, September 14, 2009—The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns a Thai criminal court decision on Thursday to sentence media owner, television commentator, and political activist Sondhi Limthongkul to two years in prison in connection with criminal libel charges filed by a former government minister. 

New York, July 16, 2009--Distributors blocked the July 4-10 edition of The Economist from entering Thailand for an article that covered the mounting threat of lese majeste complaints to the country's Internet freedom and freedom of expression, according to a local distributor and international news reports. 

New York, July 2, 2009--The Committee to Protect Journalists rejects the politically motivated lese majeste charges filed on Tuesday by a private citizen against board members of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT). Violations of lese majeste laws are a criminal offense in Thailand, punishable by three to 15 years in prison.

The media have become part and parcel of Thailand's intensifying political conflict: Two privately held satellite television news stations are openly aligned with competing political street movements, and state-controlled outlets are under opposition fire for allegedly misrepresenting recent crucial news events. 

New York, April 17, 2009--Amid Thailand's continuing political chaos, the Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the assassination attempt against media owner, television commentator, and political activist Sondhi Limthongkul today and calls on Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government to ensure a quick investigation.

New York, April 14, 2009--As part of its declaration of a state of emergency on Sunday, the Thai government issued a decree that empowered officials to censor news considered a threat to national security, according to international and local news reports. The Committee to Protect Journalists calls on the government to immediately rescind this order of censorship.

New York, April 10, 2009--Both sides in Thailand's escalating political conflict should refrain from targeting the press and should guarantee the security of journalists covering the street protests that have paralyzed traffic in the capital, Bangkok, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Bangkok, March 6, 2009--On the same day that Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva told a meeting of news editors of his intention to restore Thailand's press freedom reputation, police officials raided the offices and arrested the executive director of a popular online news site, Prachatai. 

New York, February 23, 2008--The Committee to Protect Journalists welcomes the release from a Thai detention facility of Australian writer Harry Nicolaides but calls upon authorities to reform the draconian lese majeste laws under which he was sentenced.  

China's media-control model s being embraced in Southeast Asian nations as diverse as communist-led Vietnam, military-run Burma, ostensibly democratic Thailand, and predominantly Muslim Malaysia. By Bob Dietz and Shawn W. Crispin