Will Thailand be the next country Wikipedia gets blocked in? Thailand
recently slipped on a mediafreedom list published by a Paris based
mediawatchdog from 50 something to 100 something. A slip of 50 places.
Thailand now ranks behind Cambodia! On that list.
Thaksin (our beloved despot) said he couldn't believe it as the Thai
press was free according to him. Today these 2 messages were in the press:
From:www.2bangkok.com:
*The real harm to country's image
<http://www.bangkokpost.com/News/01Nov2005_news17.php>*
/Bangkok Post/, November 1, 2005
[This is the kind of tough editorial that used to only be in /The Nation/.]
/...Proof of that, if any were needed, was supplied by the minister
himself in a report by the government's official mouthpiece, Radio
Thailand. Mr Suranand, just back from a trip to China, told the radio
service he praised the Chinese system of media control extensively, and
apparently had not a word to say about the official protection of press
freedom in Thailand. Mr Suranand said he was strongly impressed with
China's ``state-of-art technology system'' which is used to monitor
citizens, control the media and block access to thousands of internet
websites which the Chinese find inconveniently democratic, including
several in Thailand.
According to Mr Suranand, some media ``make problems for society'' and
he signed an agreement with China to cooperate on this issue. Mr
Suranand made no attempt to defend his country's democratic system and
constitutional protection of free speech and press. Instead, he publicly
agreed with the statements of his hosts, who represent a dictatorship
with no pretence of press freedom. He agreed with the Chinese that the
government should ``play a more important role in examining the members
of the press who trigger problems to the society''. That seems a good
reason to downgrade Thailand's press freedom and harm Thailand's image
yet again.
The climate of harassment is well known. Last year, police in the South
invited reporters to a news conference on the Tak Bai homicides, then
locked them in the room and demanded notes, photos and video footage. Mr
Thaksin has claimed several times that the press is hurting the image of
the country by certain news coverage or commentary. On the contrary, it
is clear the government is harming the country's image abroad by
creating an environment of badgering that has caused a huge loss of
respect for Thai media independence. And it is using state agencies,
including security forces, to help...
/From:www.2bangkok.com:
/*Thairath
*/(translation of Thai newspaper articles)/*
*After the by-election in four areas and knowing the official vote, the
opposition parties are happy that opposition MPs now reach 125. This
means they will be able to call no-confidence debates on ministers
concerning corruption issues. Meanwhile Thaksin Shinawatra said during
his mobile cabinet meeting at Nakornsawan Province that Nakornsawan is
the province that trusts TRT and select all TRT MPs so this province
will get privileges to help specifically. Provinces that trust TRT less
will be helped later in a queue. He said this frankly and revealed to
the media what he thought.
/