Committee to Protect Journalists - Thailand

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Regulating the Internet

2012-02-22T04:36:01Z

Legislation for Internet security can quickly turn into a weapon against the free press. Cybercrime laws are intended to extend existing penal codes to the online world, but they can easily be broadened to criminalize standard journalistic practices. By Danny O'Brien

Attacks on the Press in 2011: Thailand

2012-02-21T05:23:00Z

Journalists faced significant restrictions, particularly online, despite democratic elections and a change in government. Outgoing Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva cracked down on partisan media, shutting radio stations and detaining Somyot Preuksakasemsuk, editor of a newsmagazine aligned with the anti-government United Front for Democracy Against Dictatorship. New premier Yingluck Shinawatra wielded the country's strict lèse majesté laws by censoring websites and Facebook pages, and harassing Internet users who posted online material critical of the monarchy. Chiranuch Premchaiporn, editor of the news website Prachatai, faced a possible 50 years in prison under the draconian 2007 Computer Crimes Act for anonymous anti-royal remarks that were posted to one of her site's comment sections. The case was pending in late year. A reporter was killed in September while covering bombings in the country's insurgency-plagued southern region, a fatality that continued the country's recent spate of media deaths. The government opened a new inquiry into the fatal shooting of Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto during 2010 protests in Bangkok, but authorities left unresolved the case of a second international journalist killed in the 2010 unrest, Italian photographer Fabio Polenghi.

Newspaper reporter shot, killed in Thailand

2012-01-12T19:56:09Z

New York, January 12, 2012--The Committee to Protect Journalists calls for a thorough investigation into today's killing of a newspaper reporter in the Thai city of Phuket.

Thailand tries to censor site devoted to flood news

2011-10-25T18:22:41Z

Bangkok, October 25, 2011 - The Committee to Protect Journalists is alarmed by reports that Thai Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's government has tried to censor the citizen-journalist website Thaiflood, which has provided crucial news and information about massive flooding that has inundated one-third of the country's provinces. At least 350 people have been killed and millions dislocated by the natural disaster.

Thai journalist dies from bomb blast injuries

2011-09-26T19:09:59Z

New York, September 26, 2011--The Thai government must bring to justice the perpetrators of the September 16 bomb attacks that killed a journalist and five other people in the country's insurgency-plagued southern region, the Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Editor faces anti-royal charges in Thailand

2011-07-28T18:12:47Z

Bangkok, July 28, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is gravely concerned by the anti-royal charges filed against Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a political activist and former editor-in-chief of the Voice of Taksin and Red Power partisan newsmagazines.

Media targeted in Thai political transition

2011-07-07T17:38:25Z

Bangkok, July 7, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the raid and seizure of broadcasting equipment by police at six community radio stations in Thailand's northeastern Nakhon Ratchasima province. The raids were staged two days after caretaker Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's government lost to the opposition Peua Thai party in general elections held on July 3.

Amid a crackdown, editor detained in Thailand

2011-05-03T20:00:58Z

Bangkok, May 3, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists condemns the arrest and detention on lese majeste charges of Somyot Prueksakasemsuk, a political activist and editor-in-chief of the Thailand-based Voice of Taksin and Red Power news magazines.

Thai officials close 13 radio stations, detain staff

2011-04-27T19:18:38Z

Bangkok, April 27, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists strongly condemns the closure by government authorities of at least 13 community radio stations in Thailand and calls on the government to cease its campaign of harassment against opposition-aligned media immediately.

Thailand dismisses role in Reuters photographer's death

2011-03-24T19:55:40Z

New York, March 24, 2011--A Thai police investigation concluded today that government security forces did not kill Reuters photographer Hiro Muramoto, left, during political violence in Bangok on April 10, 2010. But the Committee to Protect Journalists, expressing concerns that the investigation was not transparent, has called for a full, independent investigation into the Japanese journalist's death.

Concerns of Thai whitewash in killing of Reuters' Muramoto

2011-02-28T21:23:57Z

Bangkok, February 28, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is concerned by inconsistencies in Thailand's official investigation into the killing of Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto, who was killed by gunfire while covering clashes between anti-government protesters and security forces last April 10 in Bangkok.

Thailand

's Department of Special Investigation told reporters today that its investigations showed that Muramoto was apparently not shot by security forces. The findings contradict the state agency's preliminary conclusions about the journalist's death released and reported by news agencies late last year. Those findings indicated the shots that hit Muramoto came from a direction where troops were positioned at the time and were fired from an M-16 assault rifle. The agency denied it had been pressured to clear the army of responsibility.

Attacks on the Press 2010: Asia Analysis

2011-02-15T05:53:00Z

Partisan Journalism and the Cycle of Repression

by Bob Dietz and Shawn W. Crispin

Lal Wickramatunga's family and publishing house, Leader Publications, have paid dearly in Sri Lanka's highly charged political climate. While Leader's newspapers, including the weekly Sunday Leader, are widely known for tough, independent reporting, they have been caught up in a partisan media environment, one filled with violence and censorship. Wickramatunga's brother has been murdered, his company has been sued, and his journalists face intimidation.

Attacks on the Press 2010: Thailand

2011-02-15T05:14:01Z

Top Developments
• Using emergency decree, government blocks access to thousands of websites.
• CPJ faults government, protesters for lethal violence against media.

Key Statistic
2: Journalists killed during violent clashes between security forces and protesters in Bangkok.

Armed clashes between anti-government protesters and state security forces resulted in 91 deaths and more than 1,800 injuries, a toll that deepened Thailand's debilitating five-year-old political crisis. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva invoked an emergency decree to contain the protests and employed its discretionary powers to sharply curb press freedom, which included far-ranging Internet censorship.

Photojournalists face deportation in Thailand

2011-01-21T16:17:06Z

Bangkok, January 21, 2011--The Committee to Protect Journalists is deeply concerned about the charges and threatened deportation of Thailand-based freelance photojournalists John Sanlin, a Burmese passport holder, and Pascal Schatterman, a Belgian national.

Reuters: Thailand says troops may have killed journalist

2010-12-10T18:28:35Z

New York, December 10, 2010--Investigators in Thailand now believe that troops may have been responsible for the shooting death of Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto, at left, on April 10, according to a leaked preliminary state probe by Thailand's Department of Special Investigation (DSI), Reuters reported from Bangkok today.

Thai government investigators said in the report that the death of Muramoto, a 43-year-old Japanese national based in Tokyo, "was caused by a high-velocity bullet as gunfire flashed from the direction of soldiers." Thailand's government has not released the report into Muramoto's death despite intense diplomatic pressure from Japan.