Thread: Censorship in Thailand

Censoring opponents

The Abhisit Vejjajiva government now ranks head an shoulders above any previous civilian government in one area: media control and censorship. Every day new websites are close for allegedly being anti-government or anti monarchy.This is remarkable when it is considered that Abhisit regularly proclaims his government to be legitimate, in place through parliamentary means, and that it values democracy.

Almost all red shirt electronic and broadcast media have been closed or blocked. Just in the past couple of days, the English version of the UDD Thailand Facebook group has been shut down, as was a new page that was created to replace it. The Thai versions had earlier been shut down.

Yesterday PPT reported a new lese majeste arrest based on a Facebook page.

Meanwhile, Prachatai’s Facebook page was blocked on 28 April by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT). This follows the 8 April blocking of Prachatai’s web pages and the charges brought against Chiranuch Premchaiporn, Prachatai’s executive director. Prachatai is an independent news outlet but the Abhisit government considers it oppositional. It can still be accessed in Thailand but only via proxy servers and mirror sites.

According to Prachatai, two other websites were closed in the aftermath of the clash between security forces and Red Shirt protesters on 27 April. Chiranuch said that another news website, www.springnewstv.com,which provides news content to satellite TV channels, was also blocked after it ran a video clip of the 27 April violent confrontation between soldiers and policemen and red shirts near Don Muang. Vimeo, Video Sharing For You was also shut down, apparently for running video footage of the same clash.

Updated: Censoring opponents Political Prisoners in Thailand

This is getting really quite scary.

I think you should be criticizing 'martial law' and the reason for imposing it, not what it entails.

Under martial law these sorts of actions are quite normal.

^ Thailand has not imposed a state of martial law though. Yet.

^from what I see if you say anything opposing the govt then you are blocked.

Originally Posted by britmaveric

^from what I see if you say anything opposing the govt then you are blocked.

Quite possibly true, which would be a shame but hey as I said, I am not surprised, are you ?

Originally Posted by bangkokbonecollector

if it was ensighting violence against the state then you could say the Gov have a case.

I'm certainly not privy to the contents of 65K blocked websites, many in Thai. But the UDD is calling for elections, not the violent overthrow of the government.

Prachathai, for example, is not even a pro- UDD website. It's crime, it appears, is giving voice to anti as well as pro-government viewpoints.

The fiasco at the Bridge.
The truth coming out about the Chula Hospital thing
The CRES pulling in students for questioning, and unsubstantiated accusations of Plots against Opposition figures
Unprecedented and heavy handed media censorship.

It seems to me the governments handling of this situation has slipped from inept to calamitous.

Anyone read George Orwell recently?

could it not be that the government is erring on the side of caution before declaring martial law!!because no matter what decision it makes it will always be the long one

Originally Posted by sabang

The fiasco at the Bridge.
The truth coming out about the Chula Hospital thing
The CRES pulling in students for questioning, and unsubstantiated accusations of Plots against Opposition figures
Unprecedented and heavy handed media censorship.

It seems to me the governments handling of this situation has slipped from inept to calamitous.

Anyone read George Orwell recently?

Sabang none of these have been reported by major news agencies, so are you saying that we as the general public should be believing blogs ?

Please point me to any articles of the above that have been confirmed/reported by any news agency. Sorry I am probably not following this as much as I should be.

Chulalongkorn Hospital – an alternative account

New Mandala was established in June 2006 by Andrew Walker and Nicholas Farrelly.

Andrew’s current work focuses on village-level political life and economic transformation in a lowland area of northern Thailand. His other research interests include environmental politics, regional trade and village ritual.

Hmmmmmmm, Northern of Thailand, regardless of whether or not the mods of this blog are picking what articles/reports to keep or discard, I still do not see how you can take reports written on sites like these as fact.

Originally Posted by sabang

Whatever ones views of the Reds, I think we all know we get a very watered down version of the 'News' in the Notion and the Bangkok Paste.

Indeed, I am always against the blocking of sites and drowning of the average civilians voice but I do feel that maybe some of this is being done to avert more bloodshed.

We will have to see how this all turns out and just what is the Governments plan.

This is not a recent news article, it was written late last year. It describes a climate of fear in Thailand. Not sure how long it will be available though-
About us Political Prisoners in Thailand

From the NY Times, 2/5/10, no less:-


BANGKOK — Viewers of Thai soap operas now have a choice: they can follow the over-dramatized acting and weepy plot lines of shows like “The Glass Around the Diamond” or they can read pro-government political messages scrolling on the bottom of the screen.

“The Thai people love peace but when we go to war, we are not fearful,” reads one of the dozens of messages broadcast on two government channels exhorting people to oppose the protest movement that has paralyzed parts of Bangkok for more than seven weeks.

“Sometimes the Thai people have to fight bad Thai people,” says another.


.... After a failed crackdown on the so-called red-shirt protesters last month, the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is leading a two-pronged campaign it hopes will strangle support for the protest movement. The government is sharpening its public relations message while trying to shut down the opposition’s media, a plan that in some parts of the country appears to be backfiring.


....Officials are also accusing red shirts of trying to overthrow the monarchy, an incendiary charge that protest leaders reject.

In an interview with foreign correspondents on Sunday, Mr. Abhisit suggested that the government would try to shut down community radio stations, which have multiplied throughout the country in recent months, especially in the populous red-shirt stronghold of the northeast.

He accused the radio stations of being “command centers” for the red shirts and playing a “coordinating role” in the unrest.

.... One military intelligence officer described the red shirt movement as spreading “like a virus” in the northeast.

The red shirts broadcast their message using community radio stations and, until recently, the satellite television station PTV, which was shut down by the government last month.

Their public-relations campaign has focused on a few key words, notably the “double standards” in Thai society applied to the poor compared with the rich and well-connected. They also call the Abhisit government illegitimate because it came after court decisions that barred two prime ministers from the opposition camp.

Message Battle Heats Up in Thai Crisis - NYTimes.com


Is treating people like children a way for a government to gain credibility??

The fact that the site, Political Prisoners in Thailand, is not blocked is surprising to me. Though I resent not being able to read the other side of the argument, in some of these cases the government is doing the right thing. Giles Ungpakorn's blog is blocked with fairly good reason. There are others that advocate violence.

In any case, it is not difficult to go around the blocks.

Message Battle Heats Up in Thai Crisis
THOMAS FULLER
Poypiti Amatatham contributed reporting.
May 2, 2010

BANGKOK — Viewers of Thai soap operas now have a choice: they can follow the over-dramatized acting and weepy plot lines of shows like “The Glass Around the Diamond” or they can read pro-government political messages scrolling on the bottom of the screen.

“The Thai people love peace but when we go to war, we are not fearful,” reads one of the dozens of messages broadcast on two government channels exhorting people to oppose the protest movement that has paralyzed parts of Bangkok for more than seven weeks.

“Sometimes the Thai people have to fight bad Thai people,” says another.

Thailand’s political crisis is playing out on the streets here, where antigovernment protesters, who are demanding new elections, are defending their fortified encampment in the commercial heart of the city. But political battles are also being waged through television, Facebook, community radio stations and Internet chat rooms.

After a failed crackdown on the so-called red-shirt protesters last month, the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva is leading a two-pronged campaign it hopes will strangle support for the protest movement. The government is sharpening its public relations message while trying to shut down the opposition’s media, a plan that in some parts of the country appears to be backfiring.

A constant crawl at the bottom of television screens, which started running in March on two government-owned stations, makes the case that “malevolent” protesters are hurting the country and should go home. And an advertisement implores: “Thais should love each other because we all live in the same country.”

At the same time the government has shut down an opposition television station and at least 420 Web sites affiliated with the red shirt movement.

Officials are also accusing red shirts of trying to overthrow the monarchy, an incendiary charge that protest leaders reject.

In an interview with foreign correspondents on Sunday, Mr. Abhisit suggested that the government would try to shut down community radio stations, which have multiplied throughout the country in recent months, especially in the populous red-shirt stronghold of the northeast.

He accused the radio stations of being “command centers” for the red shirts and playing a “coordinating role” in the unrest.

“We are trying to restore order,” he said. “I’m not going to say that no media is allowed to attack or comment on the other side. But certainly no media should be allowed to play the role of inciting violence.”

The prime minister also said he had not ruled out using force to end the standoff in Bangkok. “We are now in the process of cutting off support and sealing the area off before we actually move in,” he said.

But a crackdown does not appear imminent, especially after 25 people died and 800 were injured in the botched attempt to clear protesters on April 10.

Mr. Abhisit said Sunday that he remained patient and that the “best solution is one that does not involve violence or confrontation or conflicts.” An aide said the prime minister would soon release a “political roadmap” that could bring reconciliation to the country after four years of turmoil.

The overarching strategy for the government appears to be demonizing the protesters and hoping that public opinion swings against them, a process that could take months. Mr. Abhisit and his advisers warn of “terrorists” among the protesters.

So far, the public relations campaign has had mixed results. In Bangkok there is growing anger at the red shirts over the barricaded streets and their incursion last week into a hospital, which caused panic in the wards. But there is also deepening frustration over the government’s inability to drive out the protesters.

“The government is good at building up their image from these messages on television, but no one is taking any action to solve the problem,” said Yont Klomkleaw, a manager for a market research company in Bangkok.

On Sunday, the prime minister’s Facebook page had about 600 comments, many of them supportive; “fight! fight!” was a common refrain. But there were also critical postings. “Sometimes, words alone may not be enough,” wrote one commenter, Anyarporn Tansirikongkol.

In the provinces, especially the red shirts’ base in the north and northeast, the government’s efforts may be backfiring, with many villagers rejecting the messages as spin and propaganda, a view encouraged by the movement’s leaders.

“The government is just lying to the people,” said Jarungkiat Chatchawat, who runs a food stall in the northeastern city of Khon Kaen. “It doesn’t have any influence on me.”

One military intelligence officer described the red shirt movement as spreading “like a virus” in the northeast.

The red shirts broadcast their message using community radio stations and, until recently, the satellite television station PTV, which was shut down by the government last month.

Their public-relations campaign has focused on a few key words, notably the “double standards” in Thai society applied to the poor compared with the rich and well-connected. They also call the Abhisit government illegitimate because it came after court decisions that barred two prime ministers from the opposition camp.

The red shirts say they want to bring genuine democracy to Thailand, a message that sells well in the north and northeast, where many farmers and villagers feel their voice was muted by the 2006 military coup.

In Bangkok there is more skepticism about the protesters’ motives.
“This is not about democracy, it’s about thuggery,” Voranai Vanijaka, a columnist for The Bangkok Post, wrote in the Sunday edition of the newspaper. “It’s about nothing less than forcing the government to bend to their every whim and every will.”

Mr. Voranai suggested the red shirt movement was a vendetta by Thaksin Shinawatra, the billionaire who was removed as prime minister in the 2006 coup, after a court in February ordered a large share of his assets seized by the state.

Although the references are often oblique, Mr. Thaksin and his allies appear to be the target of many of the government’s messages. One message running on the bottom of television screens warns:

“Don’t become a tool, don’t be naive and don’t hurt the country for the sake of only one person.”

nytimes.com

Originally Posted by sabang

Censoring opponents

The Abhisit Vejjajiva government now ranks head an shoulders above any previous civilian government in one area: media control and censorship. Every day new websites are close for allegedly being anti-government or anti monarchy.This is remarkable when it is considered that Abhisit regularly proclaims his government to be legitimate, in place through parliamentary means, and that it values democracy.

Almost all red shirt electronic and broadcast media have been closed or blocked. Just in the past couple of days, the English version of the UDD Thailand Facebook group has been shut down, as was a new page that was created to replace it. The Thai versions had earlier been shut down.

Yesterday PPT reported a new lese majeste arrest based on a Facebook page.

Meanwhile, Prachatai’s Facebook page was blocked on 28 April by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT). This follows the 8 April blocking of Prachatai’s web pages and the charges brought against Chiranuch Premchaiporn, Prachatai’s executive director. Prachatai is an independent news outlet but the Abhisit government considers it oppositional. It can still be accessed in Thailand but only via proxy servers and mirror sites.

According to Prachatai, two other websites were closed in the aftermath of the clash between security forces and Red Shirt protesters on 27 April. Chiranuch said that another news website, www.springnewstv.com,which provides news content to satellite TV channels, was also blocked after it ran a video clip of the 27 April violent confrontation between soldiers and policemen and red shirts near Don Muang. Vimeo, Video Sharing For You was also shut down, apparently for running video footage of the same clash.

Updated: Censoring opponents Political Prisoners in Thailand

It happens everywhere

President Lincoln suspends the writ of habeas corpus during the Civil War — History.com This Day in History — 5/25/1861

Originally Posted by sabang

I'm certainly not privy to the contents of 65K blocked websites, many in Thai. But the UDD is calling for elections, not the violent overthrow of the government.

Not according to our resident expert Dr B0b; what we are looking at is a Revolution aimed at the overthrow of the current political system.

Originally Posted by sabang

Originally Posted by bangkokbonecollector

if it was ensighting violence against the state then you could say the Gov have a case.

I'm certainly not privy to the contents of 65K blocked websites, many in Thai. But the UDD is calling for elections, not the violent overthrow of the government.

Prachathai, for example, is not even a pro- UDD website. It's crime, it appears, is giving voice to anti as well as pro-government viewpoints.

I don't agree with censorship, but......

Storming gov't buildings, calling for the death of the PM, having rifles and grenades, as well as sharpened bamboo and rocks. That sounds like a violent overthrow to me.

^ You're right and the PAD should never have resorted to that kind of violence.