[Foundation-l] Sideline on the China issue .... Thai minister praises China's mediacontrol

[Walter van Kalken]

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.


/