Athiwat Chaiyanurat

A coalition government led by the People Power Party crumbled in December in the face of intense months-long street protests. As demonstrations reached a crescendo in late November, violence spread across the capital, Bangkok, and protesters laid siege to domestic and international airports. Media outlets were targeted by both pro- and antigovernment protesters.

The Bangkok Post has coverage of our alert from last night that called for a full government investigation into the killing of Thai journalist Athiwat Chaiyanurat.

Also out of Thailand, reaction to President Bush's speech in Bangkok takes center stage across the news media today. CNN.com outlines Bush's comments and China's response. The New York Times also weighs in with coverage of the president's trip as does England's The Independent. Bloomberg updates its coverage from yesterday. CPJ sent a letter to the Bush yesterday, urging him to push for the release of imprisoned journalists in China, which is still the world's leading jailer of journalists, with CPJ's research putting the total at 26.

In the Philippines, reports are surfacing about the death of another radio broadcaster. Agence France-Presse is reporting that Martin Roxas, program director of Radio Mindanao Network, was shot and killed yesterday in the city of Capiz. Colleague Dennis Cuesta, who was shot on Monday, is still in critical condition.

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.