Censorship in Thailand
Encyclopedia
Freedom of speech
in Thailand
was guaranteed in the articles 39, 40, 41 in the 1997 Constitution
.
According to those articles, censorship
may be imposed to preserve national security
, maintain public order, preserve the rights of others, protect public morals, and prevent criticism of the royal family
and insults to Buddhism
. In addition, criticism of the King is banned by the Constitution, although most lèse majesté cases have been directed at foreigners, or at Thai opponents of political, social and commercial leaders.
The Thai government has a long history of censorship. This is attributed to a culture of authoritarianism and the absolute monarchy predating the 1932 transition to parliamentary democracy. Mechanisms for censorship have included strict lèse majesté laws, direct government/military control over the broadcast media, and the use of economic and political pressure.
Harassment, manipulation, and strict control of political news was common in the Thaksin government (2001–2006) but even more so in the Abhisit era. Reporters Without Borders
worldwide press freedom index 2005 ranked Thailand 107th out of 167 countries dropped from 59th in 2004. Restrictions and media harassment worsened after a military junta overthrew the Thaksin government in a coup.
Special Branch has the authority to issue warnings to publications for various violations such as disturbing the peace, interfering with public safety, or offending public morals.
However, the first book censorship in Thailand occurred with the advent of the first printing press in the country. Thailand's first law book was banned and all copies and the original manuscript were ordered destroyed. According to a study by the Political Science Library at Thammasat University
, from 1850 to 1999, 1057 books and periodicals were officially banned by publication in the Royal Gazette, including many books considered one of the 100 books every Thai should read. Many titles reflect their era of anti-Communist fervor but were published both in Thailand and abroad in Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Bahasa, English, German, French and Spanish.
Historically, this and other acts have been used to severely restrict press freedom, especially during the military governments of Plaek Pibulsonggram
, Sarit Dhanarajata
, and Thanom Kittikachorn
(up to 1973). Books on Thai feudalism
, the monarchy, and religion viewed by the Thai government as disruptive were banned and their authors imprisoned. A student-led uprising in 1973 led to a brief period of press freedom, until a violent military crackdown in 1976 resulted in a major clamp-down. The 1980s saw the gradual thawing of press censorship.
Sarakadee magazine has published an excellent overview of book censorship in Thailand.
Unless critical of the royal family, monarchy or sensitive government issues, foreign and domestic books normally are not censored and circulate freely. All public discussion of the death of 20-year-old King Ananda Mahidol
, the present king's elder brother, of a single gunshot wound to the head is discouraged and not taught in schools even to history majors.
The Devil's Discus by Rayne Kruger (London: Cassell, 1964), a result of investigative reporting, which examines the case of King Ananda, was immediately banned and its author barred from Thailand. Curiously, neither the book's Japanese translation nor Thai in 1972 have been banned. However, the first 16 pages of all extant copies of The Devil's Discus in Thai have been excised and seem to have no missing text correspondent to the English original.
Incidentally, the premise of The Devil's Discus merely suggests three possibilities for the death of the young king: regicide
, suicide
or accident, perhaps involving the king's younger brother, Bhumipol. Both boys were fond of playing with weapons and this particular handgun had been a gift to the king by a friend who was an American OSS
(forerunner of the CIA) station agent in Bangkok, attached to the U.S. Embassy.
Widely considered to be the father of Thai democracy, Pridi Banomyong was a writer of the first Thai constitution in 1932 which changed Thailand from an absolute monarchy
to a constitutional monarchy
. In addition, he was twice Prime Minister, a wartime underground hero against the Japanese occupation of Thailand and the founder of Thammasat University
.
However, Pridi was brought under suspicion of regicide in the death of King Ananda by his chief political rival, strongman military Prime Minister Plaek Pibulsonggram
and was forced to flee into exile with his chief aide-de-camp (and Ananda's), Vacharachai Chaisittiwet. Vacharachai's brother became the Thai translator of The Devil's Discus in an attempt to clear his name. Most Thais today have forgotten that Pridi Banomyong, the father of Thai democracy, died in exile.
Three trusted Royal servants were executed without warning and in secrecy for regicide in 1955, nine years after King Ananda's death, after many acquittals and subsequent prosecution appeals with little evidence, old or new, but which resulted in fresh convictions for all three in Thailand's highest court. The entire legal case appears to have been predicated on hearsay and the motivation political, purely to keep Pridi out of the picture. H.M. King Bhumibol, a young, untested monarch at the time, failed to exercise his Royal prerogative of pardon for the three prisoners, despite the many questionable facets to the case.
The Revolutionary King by William Stevenson
(London: Constable, 1999) was actually initiated by H.M. King Bhumibhol as a semi-official hagiography. King Bhumibhol had translated Stevenson's book, A Man Called Intrepid, into Thai and reportedly admired Stevenson's work. In any case, Stevenson was granted unprecedented personal access to both the King himself and members of the Royal family.
However, when the published book appeared, not only was it riddled with simple inaccuracies but shocked many Thai readers by referring to His Majesty throughout the book by his childhood nickname, Lek. The book also presented a unique new theory of Japanese involvement in the death of King Ananda; it is unknown whether this theory originated with King Bhumibhol.
The book was unofficially banned in Thailand from the date of its publication. However, in 2005, reportedly through Royal intervention, the book could be ordered from bookstores in Thailand but no bookstore has been willing to stock it.
A more recent controversy has occurred over The King Never Smiles
(New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2006) by a former Bangkok-based correspondent, Paul Handley, described by its publishers as an "interpretive biography" of King Bhumiphol. The book itself was banned in Thailand on its publication in July 2006 but websites relating to sales of the book were blocked from November 2005. As no advance reading copies or excerpts of the book were made available by its publishers, the book appears to have been banned as a precaution due to its title alone.
One example of censoring media of foreign origin is the case of Bangkok Inside Out, a tourist guide, which, according to the Ministry of Culture, "taints the image of Thailand and its people," most book censorship is of books in Thai published in Thailand. At the same time, most books since 1999 are banned "unofficially" which makes gathering data on censorship harder to do.
A good example of this modern variety of unofficial Thai censorship is the book The Images of Pridi Banomyong and Thai Politics 1932-1983, written by Morakot Jaewjinda as her Master's degree thesis in history at Srinakharinwirot University. Although Morakot's thesis was published in 1987, the criminal defamation case against her by Khunying (a Thai Royal decoration of recognition) Nongyao Chaiseree, former rector of Thammasat University
, is only starting to be heard in court in 2007.
A 2002 issue of The Economist
was withheld because it made an "inappropriate" reference to the monarchy.
Fah Diew Kan, a political and social commentary magazine was prohibited and sellers charged with lèse majesté under the military junta-appointed government of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont
. Defamation and lèse majesté laws are commonly used for censorship and political suppression in Thailand, as is a law prohibiting discussion or criticism of Thai court decisions. Ajarn Sulak, perhaps predictably, wrote a review of The King Never Smiles in English for his Seeds of Peace
magazine published by the International Network of Engaged Buddhists in Bangkok \.
Self-censorship
is also a growing trend in Thailand. In February 2007, Chula Book Centre, bookstore of Chulalongkorn University, refused to carry the book The September 19 Coup: A Coup for a Democratic Regime Under the Constitutional Monarchy, an anthology critical of Thailand's 2006 military coup d'état written in Thai by leading intellectuals and academics, including Nidhi Eoseewong, Somsak Jeamtheerasakul, Thongchai Winichakul and Ajarn Sulak. A few Thai language bookstores did sell the book, however, and reported brisk sales. Later in the month, Chula Book Centre and CU Books reneged on their agreement to both sell and distribute A Coup for the Rich primarily because some of the sources quoted were from The King Never Smiles. The book was written by Dr. Giles Ji Ungpakorn
, professor at Chula's Faculty of Political Science. On March 6, Thammasat University Bookstore followed suit in refusing to sell the book even though it has not been officially banned, although the university's rector overturned that decision and the book is now for sale at the university bookstore. The wide conclusion at a panel held at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand on the book was that it should be anticipated A Coup for the Rich would be confiscated and banned.
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) has initiated the Banned Books Project to scan as many books banned in Thailand as possible for free publication on the Web, beginning with books in several languages about the death of King Ananda.
Newspapers have also been censored for publishing news damaging to the monarchy. In 2006, Tongnoi Tongyai, the private secretary to Crown Prince
Maha Vajiralongkorn, was about to be appointed to the Board of Directors of Shin Corporation
when his appointment was shot down by the palace. Post Today, a Thai-language sister paper of the Bangkok Post
, had to pull thousands of copies off the printer after publishing a story quoting a leftist academic asking the press to investigate why Tongnoi was dismissed in such a strange manner. Vajiralongkorn called a group of reporters to the palace, where he reportedly asked them: "Do you have a problem with me?". However, no one spoke.
in May 2007.
Thailand is on Reporters Without Borders
list of countries Under Surveillance in 2011.
Thailand is listed as "Not Free" in the Freedom on the Net 2011 report by Freedom House
, which cites substantial political censorship and the arrest of bloggers and other online users.
Internet censorship is conducted by the Royal Thai Police
, the Communications Authority of Thailand
, and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT).
Prior to the September 2006 military coup d'état most Internet censorship in Thailand was focused on blocking pornographic websites. The following years have seen a constant stream of sometimes violent protests, regional unrest
, emergency decrees, a new cybercrimes law, and an updated Internal Security Act. And year by year Internet censorship has grown, with its focus shifting to lèse majesté
, national security
, and political issues.
Reasons for blocking:
URLs blocked by court order:
It is estimated that tens of thousands of additional URLs are blocked without court orders through informal requests or under the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations. Estimates put the number of websites blocked at over 110,000 and growing in 2010.
According to the Associated Press
, the Computer Crime Act has contributed to a sharp increase in the number of lèse majesté cases tried each year in Thailand. While between 1990 and 2005, roughly five cases were tried in Thai courts each year, since that time about 400 cases have come to trial—a 1,500 percent increase.
Websites are blocked by Uniform Resource Locator
(URL) and/or IP address
. However, only about 20% of blocked sites are identified by IP address; the remaining 80% are unable to be identified at a specific physical location. If these sites could be identified as being located in Thailand, legal action could be taken against their operators. Thus, lack of IP address is a major oversight.
MICT also blocks indirectly by informally “requesting” the blocking of websites by Thailand's 54 commercial and non-profit Internet Service Provider
s (ISPs
). Although ISPs
are not legally required to accede to these “requests”, MICT Permanent Secretary Kraisorn Pornsuthee wrote in 2006 that ISPs
who fail to comply will be punitively sanctioned by government in the form of bandwidth restriction or even loss of their operating license. This is a powerful compulsion to comply.
Censorship of the Internet in Thailand is currently for website access only. Thai Internet users are still able to interact with other users using e-mail
, Instant Messaging
, and Twitter
without being censored. This is likely to change by 2012 and Thailand will likely follow the current practices of China and India and require that the major international companies offering search and communications place servers for Thai users inside of Thailand. These servers will allow Thai government and police access to all traffic inside Thailand as well as to all international traffic into and out of Thailand and will likely use the same technologies as the U.S. Echalon system that monitors all local and international communications within the USA.
The judgment of Thai courts may not be criticized. After a controversial ruling in July 2006 in which the Criminal Court jailed three Election Commissioners, the court worked with the police to identify 16 individuals who were captured on TV news footage criticizing the judgement. The Court later found all the individuals guilty and gave jail terms to 4 of them. The maximum jail sentence for the offense is seven years.
Furthermore, the use of defamation laws was frequently used to silence dissidents during the Thaksin administration, often by the Prime Minister himself. This led to a backlog in the courts of defamation suits and countersuits.
After the military coup of September 2006
, the junta sent tanks and troops to secure all television stations. Junta leaders demanded the censorship of news reports and opinion polls that might be negative to the military. Thai television broadcasters did not air footage of demonstrations against the coup.
Local cable broadcasts of CNN
, BBC
, CNBC
, NHK
, and several other foreign news channels were censored, with any footage involving former Premier Thaksin
blacked out.
In November, an interview with Nuamthong Phaiwan
, a taxi driver who drove his taxi into a tank to protest the coup was broadcast by iTV. The broadcast came to an abrupt end after the director of Army-owned Channel 5 gave a warning telephone call. Although the station was already occupied by the military, an additional 20 soldiers were dispatched to the station. The junta also sent a letter to the six public TV channels summoning their news editors for instruction on "constructive reporting for peace of the nation."
The nine members of Board of Directors of MCOT
, a privatized state-owned media company, resigned on 26 September with effect as of 27 September in order to take responsibility for allowing Thaksin Shinwatra to shortly address the nation on MCOT-controlled Modernine TV (Channel 9). Seven months after the coup, the Bangkok Post
reported that military censorship of broadcast media was tighter than at any time in the past 15 years.
In May 1993, the military shut down an army-owned radio station leased to a private news group for three days after the station ran a commentary critical of the armed forces. In another incident in February 1993, government-run media attempted to protect a prominent Buddhist monk accused of sexual misconduct by prohibiting interviews with another well-known Buddhist on his views about the allegations and declined to air a video documenting the monk's overseas travels.
More recently, in March 2003 the Independent News Network
(INN
) radio broadcast was temporarily canceled after the network aired a Cabinet member's criticisms of the government. In response to public protests, the Government restored the broadcast and claimed that INN
's failure to renew their broadcast license was the reason for the temporary closure.
Community radio
stations – mostly unlicensed – have seen dramatic growth during the Thaksin
-government. There have been fears that the medium might be censored. In 2008, there are nearly 4,000 community radio stations operating in Thailand, mostly unlicensed. Community radio stations have been accused of causing interference with television, air traffic radio and other licensed radio stations. However, limited crackdowns on selected community radio stations have caused critics to accuse the government of political interference. The current Constitution of 2007 provides in Article 47 that "community" is guaranteed the right to offer "community broadcast". The new Broadcasting Act of 2008 provides that the broadcasting regulator is authorized to issue "community broadcast" license for station which offer non-commercial service to local audience. The Broadcasting Act of 2008 prohibits the community broadcaster from engaging in commercial activities or undertake any commercial undertaking. As of July 2008, no community broadcast license has been sought or issued.
The National Telecommunications Commission as a temporary regulator/licensor of CR and CTV in Thailand proposed a draft "Provisional License" for CR and CTV in May 2009. During June, NTC subcommittee on Broadcasting went around Thailand to "pre-register" prospective CR operators with the expectation that when the regulation becomes effective in July, the license process will be expedite. The "pre-registration" workshops were held in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khonkaen and Songkhla.
The Censorship Board initially banned the film Schindler's List
because of a nude scene. However, after a furor in the press, the Board reversed its decision. According to the office of the Film Censorship Board, of the 230 films submitted for review in 2002, 1 was banned. Out of the 282 films submitted for review in 2003, 4 were banned - 3 South Korean and 1 American. Officers at the censorship board cited sexual situations and nudity as the main reasons for banning the four films.
All versions of the story of Anna Leonowens
and King Mongkut
(Rama IV) have been banned in Thailand, including the 1956 musical The King and I
. More recently, the 1999 movie Anna and the King
was also banned for "several scenes that distort history and insult the King", despite the fact that a number of changes were made to the script. Censorship Board member Thepmontri Limpayom castigated the film, saying: "The filmmakers have made King Mongkut look like a cowboy who rides on the back of an elephant as if he is in a cowboy movie. In one scene Chow Yun-fat pushes the king's crown and his portrait down to the floor—that's totally unacceptable." Another board member added: "If we cut all the scenes which we consider mock the monarchy it would only run for about 20 minutes."
More recently, Thai Christian
groups protested the film The Da Vinci Code
and called for it to be banned. On May 16, 2006, the Thai Censorship Committee issued a ruling that the film would be shown, but that the last 10 minutes would be cut. Also, some Thai subtitles were to be edited to change their meaning and passages from the Bible
would also be quoted at the beginning and end of the film. However, the following day, Sony Pictures appealed the ruling, saying it would pull the film if the decision to cut it was not reversed. The censorship panel then voted 6-5 that the film could be shown uncut, but that a disclaimer would precede and follow the film, saying it was a work of fiction.
After controversy surrounded Apichatpong Weerasethakul
's film Syndromes and a Century
, the Free Thai Cinema Movement started to gain momentum in late April 2007. As a reaction to an unfavorable trip to the Censorship Board, which would not approve release in Thailand without specific cuts to be administered by the board, Apichatpong decided to cancel local release of the film. The censors, fearing that Apichatpong might show his film anyway, refused to return his print. These actions sparked a far-reaching discussion and a petition signed by artists and scholars alike and submitted to the legislative assembly of the Thai government.
As of 2007, the National Legislative Assembly was considering a proposed film ratings system, which is viewed by the film industry as even more restrictive, because in addition to a motion picture ratings system, the Board of Censors would remain in place, and would retain the power to cut or ban films.
has a long tradition in Thailand. It is used mostly out of fears of charges of lèse majesté.
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
has been repeatedly accused of using his political and economic power to silence dissenting voices and curbing freedom of speech based on the fact that he has direct authority over the state-owned TV stations while his family controls the other broadcast TV channels. However, responding to critics, he sold all of his family's interests in the broadcast media in 2006.
The allegations range from the frequent use of libel suits against critics to coercion
into self-censorship
. Self-censorship has been used as an excuse for the central government or administrative branch to interfere in people's communication sphere. Noted however, that all the radio and television stations in Thailand belong to government or government agencies.
In 2003, the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) rapped the spread of self-censorship as well as the "sophisticated and subversive means" used by the authorities to control the media, fearing it could turn into propaganda mouthpieces of the Thaksin government. On the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day 2006, the TJA's labeled the situation of press freedom in Thailand as an "era of fear and hatred"
The government of Thaksin Shinawatra
has filed numerous libel suits against government critics, in what the International Federation of Journalists
(IFJ) called "Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's continued use of criminal defamation charges to silence media criticism of his government", while Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch
's Asia Division, noted that "it's impossible to distinguish a libel suit from an attempt to silence the prime minister's critics. Thailand's once-vigorous free press is being slowly squeezed to death."
Prominent libel suits filed by Thaksin in this context include:
The suit by Shin Corporation
(at the time owned by Thaksin's family) against Supinya Klangnarong
, Secretary General of the Campaign for Popular Media Reform.
In an article, published in July 2003 in the Thai Post
, Supinya had indicated the rise in the Shin Corporation's profits since Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai
party had gained power in 2001 (approximately $US 980mn), might be a result of benefits to Shin Corp from the government's policies, which would amount to a conflict of interest
. The charges were dropped in March 2006 after Supinya received considerable Thai and international support and her case became a cause celebre for free speech and media freedom. Thus far, has not launched a countersuit for damages against the embattled PM-in-exile.
On April 4, 2006, People's Alliance for Democracy
(PAD) leader and fierce Thaksin critic Sondhi Limthongkul
was sued by Thaksin Shinatwatra for allegedly slandered him during an anti-Thaksin rally. In total, Sondhi has around 40 complaints lodged against him.
published a front-page story on cracks in Suvarnabhumi Airport
's western runway. Citing unnamed sources, the article that aviation experts recommended reconstruction to repair large cracks in the runway. A newspaper internal investigation found that while there were small cracks on the shoulders of the runway, its source wrongly claimed experts believed the runway needed reconstruction. The anonymous source, who claimed to be a businessman whose brother was close to some members of the Prime Minister's Thai Rak Thai
party, refused to confirm his comments. Chief reporter Sermsuk Kasitipradit and news editor Chadin Thepaval were found to have acted negligently in publishing the story and were fired. Some critics in the newspaper claimed that the source was pressured by the government not to confirm the details of the story.
Also in August 2005, Rungruang Preechakul, editor of Siam Rath Weekly News magazine, quit after covering alleged government mishandling of the bird flu
crisis.
On March 10, 2006 the then governor of Nakhonratchasima province, Mr. Pongpayome Wasaputi, during a regular scheduled press conference with the local media, asked Frank G Anderson, founder of the Korat Post newspaper, to "kindly refrain from carrying any more headlines regarding events at Watpa Salawan, because it is like irritating an old sore." The governor was referring to coverage of allegations of sexual impropriety against the temple's abbot Luang Pho Pherm, the latter whom had a considerable official following.
It was rumored that on 1 February 2006, a business news commentary program "Business Focus" was taken off the air from the FM 101 radio station because it devoted time discussing the Shinawatra family's controversial multi-million dollar share deal with Singapore's Temasek Holdings
.
In November 2006, the military junta canceled the most popular program on MCOT's Modernine TV, Khui Khui Khao. The anti-Thaksin movement, which had recently seized power in a military coup, claimed the program's host, prominent Thai political commentator Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda, was a supporter of the overthrown premier.
In January 2010, it was reported that as part of the Department of Special Investigations'(DSI)efforts to increase cyber-policing, it had expanded cooperation between ‘government agencies, research agencies and educational institutions’ in building digital forensic resources. DSI has partnered with two Thai universities to train students in assisting government cyber investigations. Despite the many threats to Thailand's cyber-space, even the Deputy Executive Director at the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (Nectec), Asanee Kawtrakul, acknowledged that most big computer crime cases in the past year involved violations of lèse majesté laws. It is hard to ignore the role academia is being asked to play in cyber-censorship.
In February 2007, Thai authorities, under a newly elected alleged "Thaksin nominee" government, canceled a popular FM radio program hosted by Fatima Broadcasting because the show's host was a regular critic of the former premier. While officials claim they did not pressure the station's owner, the show's host has published an account indicating otherwise.
On February 10, 2010 it was learned that the children of Thaksin Shinawatra
will petition the Supreme Court to gag the media on speculation of a pending judgment of the deposed prime minister's assets. Subsequently, popular English-language expatriate forums such as Thai Visa have broadcast warnings that they have been censored and to follow them on Twitter
and other social media platforms to receive related news.
US Department of State, released 8 April 2011
Freedom of speech
Freedom of speech is the freedom to speak freely without censorship. The term freedom of expression is sometimes used synonymously, but includes any act of seeking, receiving and imparting information or ideas, regardless of the medium used...
in Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
was guaranteed in the articles 39, 40, 41 in the 1997 Constitution
Constitution
A constitution is a set of fundamental principles or established precedents according to which a state or other organization is governed. These rules together make up, i.e. constitute, what the entity is...
.
According to those articles, censorship
Censorship
thumb|[[Book burning]] following the [[1973 Chilean coup d'état|1973 coup]] that installed the [[Military government of Chile |Pinochet regime]] in Chile...
may be imposed to preserve national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
, maintain public order, preserve the rights of others, protect public morals, and prevent criticism of the royal family
Lèse majesté
Lese-majesty is the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.This behavior was first classified as a criminal offence against the dignity of the Roman republic in Ancient Rome...
and insults to Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
. In addition, criticism of the King is banned by the Constitution, although most lèse majesté cases have been directed at foreigners, or at Thai opponents of political, social and commercial leaders.
The Thai government has a long history of censorship. This is attributed to a culture of authoritarianism and the absolute monarchy predating the 1932 transition to parliamentary democracy. Mechanisms for censorship have included strict lèse majesté laws, direct government/military control over the broadcast media, and the use of economic and political pressure.
Harassment, manipulation, and strict control of political news was common in the Thaksin government (2001–2006) but even more so in the Abhisit era. Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
worldwide press freedom index 2005 ranked Thailand 107th out of 167 countries dropped from 59th in 2004. Restrictions and media harassment worsened after a military junta overthrew the Thaksin government in a coup.
Books, the press and print media censorship
Under the 1941 Printing and Advertisement Act, the Royal Thai PoliceRoyal Thai Police
The Royal Thai Police are the national police of Thailand.-About:Primary responsibility for the maintenance of public order through enforcement of the kingdom's laws was exercised by the Thailand National Police Department , a subdivision of the Ministry of Interior...
Special Branch has the authority to issue warnings to publications for various violations such as disturbing the peace, interfering with public safety, or offending public morals.
However, the first book censorship in Thailand occurred with the advent of the first printing press in the country. Thailand's first law book was banned and all copies and the original manuscript were ordered destroyed. According to a study by the Political Science Library at Thammasat University
Thammasat University
Thammasat University , or in brief TU , is Thailand's second oldest university. Officially established on 27 June 1934, the university was originally named by founder Pridi Banomyong, University of Moral Science and Politics , reflecting the political fervor of the time...
, from 1850 to 1999, 1057 books and periodicals were officially banned by publication in the Royal Gazette, including many books considered one of the 100 books every Thai should read. Many titles reflect their era of anti-Communist fervor but were published both in Thailand and abroad in Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Bahasa, English, German, French and Spanish.
Historically, this and other acts have been used to severely restrict press freedom, especially during the military governments of Plaek Pibulsonggram
Plaek Pibulsonggram
Field Marshal Plaek Pibunsongkhram , often known as Phibun Songkhram or simply Phibun in English, was Prime Minister and virtual military dictator of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.- Early years :...
, Sarit Dhanarajata
Sarit Dhanarajata
Field Marshal Sarit Thanarat , was a Thai career soldier who staged a coup in 1957, thereafter serving as Thailand's Prime Minister until his death in 1963. He was born in Bangkok, but grew up in his mother's home town in Lao-speaking northeastern Thailand and considered himself a northeasterner...
, and Thanom Kittikachorn
Thanom Kittikachorn
Field Marshal Thanom Kittikachorn was a military dictator of Thailand. A staunch anti-Communist, Thanom oversaw a decade of military rule in Thailand from 1963 to 1973, until public protests which exploded into violence forced him to step down...
(up to 1973). Books on Thai feudalism
Feudalism
Feudalism was a set of legal and military customs in medieval Europe that flourished between the 9th and 15th centuries, which, broadly defined, was a system for ordering society around relationships derived from the holding of land in exchange for service or labour.Although derived from the...
, the monarchy, and religion viewed by the Thai government as disruptive were banned and their authors imprisoned. A student-led uprising in 1973 led to a brief period of press freedom, until a violent military crackdown in 1976 resulted in a major clamp-down. The 1980s saw the gradual thawing of press censorship.
Sarakadee magazine has published an excellent overview of book censorship in Thailand.
Unless critical of the royal family, monarchy or sensitive government issues, foreign and domestic books normally are not censored and circulate freely. All public discussion of the death of 20-year-old King Ananda Mahidol
Ananda Mahidol
Ananda Mahidol was the eighth monarch of Thailand under the House of Chakri. At the time he was recognized as king by the National Assembly, in March 1935, he was a nine-year-old boy living in Switzerland. He returned to Thailand in December 1945. Six months later, in June 1946, he was found shot...
, the present king's elder brother, of a single gunshot wound to the head is discouraged and not taught in schools even to history majors.
The Devil's Discus by Rayne Kruger (London: Cassell, 1964), a result of investigative reporting, which examines the case of King Ananda, was immediately banned and its author barred from Thailand. Curiously, neither the book's Japanese translation nor Thai in 1972 have been banned. However, the first 16 pages of all extant copies of The Devil's Discus in Thai have been excised and seem to have no missing text correspondent to the English original.
Incidentally, the premise of The Devil's Discus merely suggests three possibilities for the death of the young king: regicide
Regicide
The broad definition of regicide is the deliberate killing of a monarch, or the person responsible for the killing of a monarch. In a narrower sense, in the British tradition, it refers to the judicial execution of a king after a trial...
, suicide
Suicide
Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Suicide is often committed out of despair or attributed to some underlying mental disorder, such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, alcoholism, or drug abuse...
or accident, perhaps involving the king's younger brother, Bhumipol. Both boys were fond of playing with weapons and this particular handgun had been a gift to the king by a friend who was an American OSS
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(forerunner of the CIA) station agent in Bangkok, attached to the U.S. Embassy.
Widely considered to be the father of Thai democracy, Pridi Banomyong was a writer of the first Thai constitution in 1932 which changed Thailand from an absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
to a constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy
Constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a constitution, whether it be a written, uncodified or blended constitution...
. In addition, he was twice Prime Minister, a wartime underground hero against the Japanese occupation of Thailand and the founder of Thammasat University
Thammasat University
Thammasat University , or in brief TU , is Thailand's second oldest university. Officially established on 27 June 1934, the university was originally named by founder Pridi Banomyong, University of Moral Science and Politics , reflecting the political fervor of the time...
.
However, Pridi was brought under suspicion of regicide in the death of King Ananda by his chief political rival, strongman military Prime Minister Plaek Pibulsonggram
Plaek Pibulsonggram
Field Marshal Plaek Pibunsongkhram , often known as Phibun Songkhram or simply Phibun in English, was Prime Minister and virtual military dictator of Thailand from 1938 to 1944 and 1948 to 1957.- Early years :...
and was forced to flee into exile with his chief aide-de-camp (and Ananda's), Vacharachai Chaisittiwet. Vacharachai's brother became the Thai translator of The Devil's Discus in an attempt to clear his name. Most Thais today have forgotten that Pridi Banomyong, the father of Thai democracy, died in exile.
Three trusted Royal servants were executed without warning and in secrecy for regicide in 1955, nine years after King Ananda's death, after many acquittals and subsequent prosecution appeals with little evidence, old or new, but which resulted in fresh convictions for all three in Thailand's highest court. The entire legal case appears to have been predicated on hearsay and the motivation political, purely to keep Pridi out of the picture. H.M. King Bhumibol, a young, untested monarch at the time, failed to exercise his Royal prerogative of pardon for the three prisoners, despite the many questionable facets to the case.
The Revolutionary King by William Stevenson
William Stevenson
William Stevenson may refer to:* Sir William Stevenson , English poet* Sir William Stevenson , Governor of Mauritius* William Ford Stevenson , Fellow of the Royal Society* William E...
(London: Constable, 1999) was actually initiated by H.M. King Bhumibhol as a semi-official hagiography. King Bhumibhol had translated Stevenson's book, A Man Called Intrepid, into Thai and reportedly admired Stevenson's work. In any case, Stevenson was granted unprecedented personal access to both the King himself and members of the Royal family.
However, when the published book appeared, not only was it riddled with simple inaccuracies but shocked many Thai readers by referring to His Majesty throughout the book by his childhood nickname, Lek. The book also presented a unique new theory of Japanese involvement in the death of King Ananda; it is unknown whether this theory originated with King Bhumibhol.
The book was unofficially banned in Thailand from the date of its publication. However, in 2005, reportedly through Royal intervention, the book could be ordered from bookstores in Thailand but no bookstore has been willing to stock it.
A more recent controversy has occurred over The King Never Smiles
The King Never Smiles
The King Never Smiles is an unauthorized biography of Thailand's King Bhumibol Adulyadej by Paul M. Handley, a freelance journalist who lived and worked as a foreign correspondent in Thailand. It is published by Yale University Press and was released in 2006...
(New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2006) by a former Bangkok-based correspondent, Paul Handley, described by its publishers as an "interpretive biography" of King Bhumiphol. The book itself was banned in Thailand on its publication in July 2006 but websites relating to sales of the book were blocked from November 2005. As no advance reading copies or excerpts of the book were made available by its publishers, the book appears to have been banned as a precaution due to its title alone.
One example of censoring media of foreign origin is the case of Bangkok Inside Out, a tourist guide, which, according to the Ministry of Culture, "taints the image of Thailand and its people," most book censorship is of books in Thai published in Thailand. At the same time, most books since 1999 are banned "unofficially" which makes gathering data on censorship harder to do.
A good example of this modern variety of unofficial Thai censorship is the book The Images of Pridi Banomyong and Thai Politics 1932-1983, written by Morakot Jaewjinda as her Master's degree thesis in history at Srinakharinwirot University. Although Morakot's thesis was published in 1987, the criminal defamation case against her by Khunying (a Thai Royal decoration of recognition) Nongyao Chaiseree, former rector of Thammasat University
Thammasat University
Thammasat University , or in brief TU , is Thailand's second oldest university. Officially established on 27 June 1934, the university was originally named by founder Pridi Banomyong, University of Moral Science and Politics , reflecting the political fervor of the time...
, is only starting to be heard in court in 2007.
A 2002 issue of The Economist
The Economist
The Economist is an English-language weekly news and international affairs publication owned by The Economist Newspaper Ltd. and edited in offices in the City of Westminster, London, England. Continuous publication began under founder James Wilson in September 1843...
was withheld because it made an "inappropriate" reference to the monarchy.
Fah Diew Kan, a political and social commentary magazine was prohibited and sellers charged with lèse majesté under the military junta-appointed government of Prime Minister Surayud Chulanont
Surayud Chulanont
General Surayud Chulanont is a Thai political figure. He was the Prime Minister of Thailand and head of Thailand's Interim Government between 2006 and 2008...
. Defamation and lèse majesté laws are commonly used for censorship and political suppression in Thailand, as is a law prohibiting discussion or criticism of Thai court decisions. Ajarn Sulak, perhaps predictably, wrote a review of The King Never Smiles in English for his Seeds of Peace
Seeds of Peace
Seeds of Peace is a peacebuilding youth organization based in New York City. It was founded in 1993. As its main program, the organization brings youth from areas of conflict to its international camp in Maine. It also provides regional programming to support Seeds of Peace graduates, known as...
magazine published by the International Network of Engaged Buddhists in Bangkok \.
Self-censorship
Self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own work , out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority...
is also a growing trend in Thailand. In February 2007, Chula Book Centre, bookstore of Chulalongkorn University, refused to carry the book The September 19 Coup: A Coup for a Democratic Regime Under the Constitutional Monarchy, an anthology critical of Thailand's 2006 military coup d'état written in Thai by leading intellectuals and academics, including Nidhi Eoseewong, Somsak Jeamtheerasakul, Thongchai Winichakul and Ajarn Sulak. A few Thai language bookstores did sell the book, however, and reported brisk sales. Later in the month, Chula Book Centre and CU Books reneged on their agreement to both sell and distribute A Coup for the Rich primarily because some of the sources quoted were from The King Never Smiles. The book was written by Dr. Giles Ji Ungpakorn
Ji Ungpakorn
Giles Ji Ungpakorn Giles Ji Ungpakorn Giles Ji Ungpakorn (Thai: ใจ อึ๊งภากรณ์, pronounced (born 1953) is a Thai-British academic and political activist. He formerly worked as an associate professor at Faculty of Political Science, Chulalongkorn University, before he fled to the United Kingdom...
, professor at Chula's Faculty of Political Science. On March 6, Thammasat University Bookstore followed suit in refusing to sell the book even though it has not been officially banned, although the university's rector overturned that decision and the book is now for sale at the university bookstore. The wide conclusion at a panel held at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand on the book was that it should be anticipated A Coup for the Rich would be confiscated and banned.
Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) has initiated the Banned Books Project to scan as many books banned in Thailand as possible for free publication on the Web, beginning with books in several languages about the death of King Ananda.
Newspapers have also been censored for publishing news damaging to the monarchy. In 2006, Tongnoi Tongyai, the private secretary to Crown Prince
Crown Prince of Thailand
The Crown Prince of Thailand was a title held by the heir apparent to the Thai throne. First created by King Chulalongkorn in 1886, for his son Prince Maha Vajirunhis, the king's eldest son by a royal wife Princess Consort Savang Vadhana. Prior to this the Siamese throne did not have a law or...
Maha Vajiralongkorn, was about to be appointed to the Board of Directors of Shin Corporation
Shin Corporation
Shin Corporation is one of the largest conglomerates in Thailand.- History :It was founded in 1983 as Shinawatra Computer by Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand, and took on its current name in 1999, by using the first four letters of his last name...
when his appointment was shot down by the palace. Post Today, a Thai-language sister paper of the Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
The Bangkok Post is a broadsheet, English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. The first issue was sold on August 1, 1946. It had four pages and cost 1 baht, a considerable amount at the time....
, had to pull thousands of copies off the printer after publishing a story quoting a leftist academic asking the press to investigate why Tongnoi was dismissed in such a strange manner. Vajiralongkorn called a group of reporters to the palace, where he reportedly asked them: "Do you have a problem with me?". However, no one spoke.
Internet
Thailand is engaged in substantial Internet filtering in the social area, in selective filtering in the political and Internet tools areas, and no evidence of filtering was found in the conflict/security area by the OpenNet InitiativeOpenNet Initiative
The OpenNet Initiative is a joint project whose goal is to monitor and report on internet filtering and surveillance practices by nations. The project employs a number of technical means, as well as an international network of investigators, to determine the extent and nature of government-run...
in May 2007.
Thailand is on Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders
Reporters Without Borders is a France-based international non-governmental organization that advocates freedom of the press. It was founded in 1985, by Robert Ménard, Rony Brauman and the journalist Jean-Claude Guillebaud. Jean-François Julliard has served as Secretary General since 2008...
list of countries Under Surveillance in 2011.
Thailand is listed as "Not Free" in the Freedom on the Net 2011 report by Freedom House
Freedom House
Freedom House is an international non-governmental organization based in Washington, D.C. that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom and human rights...
, which cites substantial political censorship and the arrest of bloggers and other online users.
Internet censorship is conducted by the Royal Thai Police
Royal Thai Police
The Royal Thai Police are the national police of Thailand.-About:Primary responsibility for the maintenance of public order through enforcement of the kingdom's laws was exercised by the Thailand National Police Department , a subdivision of the Ministry of Interior...
, the Communications Authority of Thailand
CAT Telecom
CAT Telecom Public Company Limited is the state-owned company that runs Thailand’s international telecommunications infrastructure, including its international gateways, satellite, and submarine cable networks connections. As of February 2008, it had 5,562 employees.-Services:Until recently, CAT...
, and the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT).
Prior to the September 2006 military coup d'état most Internet censorship in Thailand was focused on blocking pornographic websites. The following years have seen a constant stream of sometimes violent protests, regional unrest
South Thailand insurgency
An ethnic separatist insurgency is taking place in Southern Thailand, predominantly in the Malay Pattani region, made up of the three southernmost provinces of Thailand. Violence has increasingly spilling over into other provinces...
, emergency decrees, a new cybercrimes law, and an updated Internal Security Act. And year by year Internet censorship has grown, with its focus shifting to lèse majesté
Lèse majesté
Lese-majesty is the crime of violating majesty, an offence against the dignity of a reigning sovereign or against a state.This behavior was first classified as a criminal offence against the dignity of the Roman republic in Ancient Rome...
, national security
National security
National security is the requirement to maintain the survival of the state through the use of economic, diplomacy, power projection and political power. The concept developed mostly in the United States of America after World War II...
, and political issues.
Reasons for blocking:
| Prior to 2006 |
2010 |
Reason |
| 11% | 77% | lèse majesté content (content that defames, insults, threatens, or is unflattering to the King, includes national security and some political issues) |
| 60% | 22% | pornographic content |
| 2% | <1% | content related to gambling |
| 27% | <1% | copyright infringement, illegal products and services, illegal drugs, sales of sex equipment, prostitution, … |
URLs blocked by court order:
Year | Court Orders | Blocked URLs |
|---|---|---|
| 2007 | 1 | 2 |
| 2008 | 13 | 2071 |
| 2009 | 64 | 28,705 |
| 2010 | 39 | 43,908 |
| |
||
| Total | 117 | 74,686 |
It is estimated that tens of thousands of additional URLs are blocked without court orders through informal requests or under the Emergency Decree on Public Administration in Emergency Situations. Estimates put the number of websites blocked at over 110,000 and growing in 2010.
According to the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
, the Computer Crime Act has contributed to a sharp increase in the number of lèse majesté cases tried each year in Thailand. While between 1990 and 2005, roughly five cases were tried in Thai courts each year, since that time about 400 cases have come to trial—a 1,500 percent increase.
Websites are blocked by Uniform Resource Locator
Uniform Resource Locator
In computing, a uniform resource locator or universal resource locator is a specific character string that constitutes a reference to an Internet resource....
(URL) and/or IP address
Internet Protocol
The Internet Protocol is the principal communications protocol used for relaying datagrams across an internetwork using the Internet Protocol Suite...
. However, only about 20% of blocked sites are identified by IP address; the remaining 80% are unable to be identified at a specific physical location. If these sites could be identified as being located in Thailand, legal action could be taken against their operators. Thus, lack of IP address is a major oversight.
MICT also blocks indirectly by informally “requesting” the blocking of websites by Thailand's 54 commercial and non-profit Internet Service Provider
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
s (ISPs
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
). Although ISPs
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
are not legally required to accede to these “requests”, MICT Permanent Secretary Kraisorn Pornsuthee wrote in 2006 that ISPs
Internet service provider
An Internet service provider is a company that provides access to the Internet. Access ISPs directly connect customers to the Internet using copper wires, wireless or fiber-optic connections. Hosting ISPs lease server space for smaller businesses and host other people servers...
who fail to comply will be punitively sanctioned by government in the form of bandwidth restriction or even loss of their operating license. This is a powerful compulsion to comply.
Censorship of the Internet in Thailand is currently for website access only. Thai Internet users are still able to interact with other users using e-mail
E-mail
Electronic mail, commonly known as email or e-mail, is a method of exchanging digital messages from an author to one or more recipients. Modern email operates across the Internet or other computer networks. Some early email systems required that the author and the recipient both be online at the...
, Instant Messaging
Instant messaging
Instant Messaging is a form of real-time direct text-based chatting communication in push mode between two or more people using personal computers or other devices, along with shared clients. The user's text is conveyed over a network, such as the Internet...
, and Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
without being censored. This is likely to change by 2012 and Thailand will likely follow the current practices of China and India and require that the major international companies offering search and communications place servers for Thai users inside of Thailand. These servers will allow Thai government and police access to all traffic inside Thailand as well as to all international traffic into and out of Thailand and will likely use the same technologies as the U.S. Echalon system that monitors all local and international communications within the USA.
Individual speech
Although freedom of speech was guaranteed by the 1997 Constitution, it was limited by several laws. The King may not be spoken ill of and lèse majesté laws are in force. In 1986, Deputy Interior Minister Veera Musikapong was convicted, imprisoned, and banned from politics for a campaign speech in which he noted that if he were born the Crown Prince, he "would be drinking whiskey instead of standing here getting pains in my knees."The judgment of Thai courts may not be criticized. After a controversial ruling in July 2006 in which the Criminal Court jailed three Election Commissioners, the court worked with the police to identify 16 individuals who were captured on TV news footage criticizing the judgement. The Court later found all the individuals guilty and gave jail terms to 4 of them. The maximum jail sentence for the offense is seven years.
Furthermore, the use of defamation laws was frequently used to silence dissidents during the Thaksin administration, often by the Prime Minister himself. This led to a backlog in the courts of defamation suits and countersuits.
Television
In television broadcasts, scenes displaying nudity, consumption of alcohol, smoking, drug usage and weapons pointed at human beings are commonly censored by blurring out respective areas. Like all media, criticism of the King is not allowed.After the military coup of September 2006
2006 Thailand coup d'état
The 2006 Thai coup d'état took place on Tuesday 19 September 2006, when the Royal Thai Army staged a coup d'état against the elected caretaker government of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra...
, the junta sent tanks and troops to secure all television stations. Junta leaders demanded the censorship of news reports and opinion polls that might be negative to the military. Thai television broadcasters did not air footage of demonstrations against the coup.
Local cable broadcasts of CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
, CNBC
CNBC
CNBC is a satellite and cable television business news channel in the U.S., owned and operated by NBCUniversal. The network and its international spinoffs cover business headlines and provide live coverage of financial markets. The combined reach of CNBC and its siblings is 390 million viewers...
, NHK
NHK
NHK is Japan's national public broadcasting organization. NHK, which has always identified itself to its audiences by the English pronunciation of its initials, is a publicly owned corporation funded by viewers' payments of a television license fee....
, and several other foreign news channels were censored, with any footage involving former Premier Thaksin
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
blacked out.
In November, an interview with Nuamthong Phaiwan
Nuamthong Phaiwan
Nuamthong Phaiwan was a Bangkok, Thailand taxi-driver who drove his taxi into a tank in protest after the military coup of 2006. He was later found hanging from a pedestrian footbridge. Officials found a suicide note and later ruled his death a suicide...
, a taxi driver who drove his taxi into a tank to protest the coup was broadcast by iTV. The broadcast came to an abrupt end after the director of Army-owned Channel 5 gave a warning telephone call. Although the station was already occupied by the military, an additional 20 soldiers were dispatched to the station. The junta also sent a letter to the six public TV channels summoning their news editors for instruction on "constructive reporting for peace of the nation."
The nine members of Board of Directors of MCOT
MCOT
MCOT Public Company Limited )) is a Thai media conglomerate. Its origins date back to the creation in 1955 of Thailand's first television broadcaster, The Thai Television Company Limited. In 1977, this company was reconstituted as a state enterprise, the Mass Communications Organization of Thailand...
, a privatized state-owned media company, resigned on 26 September with effect as of 27 September in order to take responsibility for allowing Thaksin Shinwatra to shortly address the nation on MCOT-controlled Modernine TV (Channel 9). Seven months after the coup, the Bangkok Post
Bangkok Post
The Bangkok Post is a broadsheet, English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. The first issue was sold on August 1, 1946. It had four pages and cost 1 baht, a considerable amount at the time....
reported that military censorship of broadcast media was tighter than at any time in the past 15 years.
Radio
Radio stations in Thailand must be government licensed and have traditionally been operated primarily by the Government and military. Ownership of radio outlets by government, military, and quasi-government entities have often undermined freedom of the media.In May 1993, the military shut down an army-owned radio station leased to a private news group for three days after the station ran a commentary critical of the armed forces. In another incident in February 1993, government-run media attempted to protect a prominent Buddhist monk accused of sexual misconduct by prohibiting interviews with another well-known Buddhist on his views about the allegations and declined to air a video documenting the monk's overseas travels.
More recently, in March 2003 the Independent News Network
Independent News Network
For the consortium of non-profit investigative news organizations, see .The Independent News Network, also known as INN, is a television news service based in Davenport, Iowa. It syndicates "localized" news programs for television stations across the country with little budget for news...
(INN
Independent News Network
For the consortium of non-profit investigative news organizations, see .The Independent News Network, also known as INN, is a television news service based in Davenport, Iowa. It syndicates "localized" news programs for television stations across the country with little budget for news...
) radio broadcast was temporarily canceled after the network aired a Cabinet member's criticisms of the government. In response to public protests, the Government restored the broadcast and claimed that INN
Independent News Network
For the consortium of non-profit investigative news organizations, see .The Independent News Network, also known as INN, is a television news service based in Davenport, Iowa. It syndicates "localized" news programs for television stations across the country with little budget for news...
's failure to renew their broadcast license was the reason for the temporary closure.
Community radio
Community radio
Community radio is a type of radio service, that offers a third model of radio broadcasting beyond commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting. Community stations can serve geographic communities and communities of interest...
stations – mostly unlicensed – have seen dramatic growth during the Thaksin
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
-government. There have been fears that the medium might be censored. In 2008, there are nearly 4,000 community radio stations operating in Thailand, mostly unlicensed. Community radio stations have been accused of causing interference with television, air traffic radio and other licensed radio stations. However, limited crackdowns on selected community radio stations have caused critics to accuse the government of political interference. The current Constitution of 2007 provides in Article 47 that "community" is guaranteed the right to offer "community broadcast". The new Broadcasting Act of 2008 provides that the broadcasting regulator is authorized to issue "community broadcast" license for station which offer non-commercial service to local audience. The Broadcasting Act of 2008 prohibits the community broadcaster from engaging in commercial activities or undertake any commercial undertaking. As of July 2008, no community broadcast license has been sought or issued.
The National Telecommunications Commission as a temporary regulator/licensor of CR and CTV in Thailand proposed a draft "Provisional License" for CR and CTV in May 2009. During June, NTC subcommittee on Broadcasting went around Thailand to "pre-register" prospective CR operators with the expectation that when the regulation becomes effective in July, the license process will be expedite. The "pre-registration" workshops were held in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Khonkaen and Songkhla.
Film
The censorship Board continues to operate on the 1930 Film Act, where theater owners and broadcasters must submit films that they plan to show to the Film Censorship Board for review. The Board is composed of officials representing the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of University Affairs, the military, the Department of Religious Affairs, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The board may ban films if its requirements that portions of the film be removed are not met. Reasons for censoring films include violating moral and cultural norms and disturbing the public order and national security. Theater owners and broadcasters frequently censor films themselves before submitting them to the board.The Censorship Board initially banned the film Schindler's List
Schindler's List
Schindler's List is a 1993 American film about Oskar Schindler, a German businessman who saved the lives of more than a thousand mostly Polish-Jewish refugees during the Holocaust by employing them in his factories. The film was directed by Steven Spielberg, and based on the novel Schindler's Ark...
because of a nude scene. However, after a furor in the press, the Board reversed its decision. According to the office of the Film Censorship Board, of the 230 films submitted for review in 2002, 1 was banned. Out of the 282 films submitted for review in 2003, 4 were banned - 3 South Korean and 1 American. Officers at the censorship board cited sexual situations and nudity as the main reasons for banning the four films.
All versions of the story of Anna Leonowens
Anna Leonowens
Anna Leonowens was an English travel writer, educator, and social activist. She worked in Siam from 1862 to 1868, where she taught the wives and children of Mongkut, king of Siam. She also co-founded the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design...
and King Mongkut
Mongkut
Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramenthramaha Mongkut Phra Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua , or Rama IV, known in foreign countries as King Mongkut , was the fourth monarch of Siam under the House of Chakri, ruling from 1851-1868...
(Rama IV) have been banned in Thailand, including the 1956 musical The King and I
The King and I
The King and I is a stage musical, the fifth by the team of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. The work is based on the 1944 novel Anna and the King of Siam by Margaret Landon and derives from the memoirs of Anna Leonowens, who became governess to the children of King Mongkut of Siam in...
. More recently, the 1999 movie Anna and the King
Anna and the King
Anna and the King is a 1999 biographical drama film loosely based on Anna and the King of Siam, the story of Anna Leonowens, who was an English schoolteacher in Siam, now Thailand, in the 19th century...
was also banned for "several scenes that distort history and insult the King", despite the fact that a number of changes were made to the script. Censorship Board member Thepmontri Limpayom castigated the film, saying: "The filmmakers have made King Mongkut look like a cowboy who rides on the back of an elephant as if he is in a cowboy movie. In one scene Chow Yun-fat pushes the king's crown and his portrait down to the floor—that's totally unacceptable." Another board member added: "If we cut all the scenes which we consider mock the monarchy it would only run for about 20 minutes."
More recently, Thai Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
groups protested the film The Da Vinci Code
The Da Vinci Code (film)
The Da Vinci Code is a 2006 American mystery thriller film directed by Ron Howard. The screenplay was written by Akiva Goldsman and based on Dan Brown's worldwide bestselling 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code...
and called for it to be banned. On May 16, 2006, the Thai Censorship Committee issued a ruling that the film would be shown, but that the last 10 minutes would be cut. Also, some Thai subtitles were to be edited to change their meaning and passages from the Bible
Bible
The Bible refers to any one of the collections of the primary religious texts of Judaism and Christianity. There is no common version of the Bible, as the individual books , their contents and their order vary among denominations...
would also be quoted at the beginning and end of the film. However, the following day, Sony Pictures appealed the ruling, saying it would pull the film if the decision to cut it was not reversed. The censorship panel then voted 6-5 that the film could be shown uncut, but that a disclaimer would precede and follow the film, saying it was a work of fiction.
After controversy surrounded Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong Weerasethakul
Apichatpong "Joe" Weerasethakul is a Thai independent film director, screenwriter, and film producer. His feature films include Uncle Boonmee Who Can Recall His Past Lives, winner of the prestigious 2010 Cannes Film Festival Palme d'Or prize; Tropical Malady, which won a jury prize at the 2004...
's film Syndromes and a Century
Syndromes and a Century
Syndromes and a Century is a 2006 Thai drama film written and directed by Apichatpong Weerasethakul. The film was among the works commissioned for Peter Sellars' New Crowned Hope festival in Vienna to celebrate the 250th anniversary of the birth of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart...
, the Free Thai Cinema Movement started to gain momentum in late April 2007. As a reaction to an unfavorable trip to the Censorship Board, which would not approve release in Thailand without specific cuts to be administered by the board, Apichatpong decided to cancel local release of the film. The censors, fearing that Apichatpong might show his film anyway, refused to return his print. These actions sparked a far-reaching discussion and a petition signed by artists and scholars alike and submitted to the legislative assembly of the Thai government.
As of 2007, the National Legislative Assembly was considering a proposed film ratings system, which is viewed by the film industry as even more restrictive, because in addition to a motion picture ratings system, the Board of Censors would remain in place, and would retain the power to cut or ban films.
Censorship at foreign creators
All the foreign companies have to apply for shooting permission to Film Board of Thailand. Some topics will be rejected by the Film Board of Thailand if the script is judged inappropriate. The Film Board of Thailand keeps checking if the films they approved follow the film script, the plot and details as agreed to by the Film Board.Self-censorship
Self-censorshipSelf-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own work , out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority...
has a long tradition in Thailand. It is used mostly out of fears of charges of lèse majesté.
Former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
has been repeatedly accused of using his political and economic power to silence dissenting voices and curbing freedom of speech based on the fact that he has direct authority over the state-owned TV stations while his family controls the other broadcast TV channels. However, responding to critics, he sold all of his family's interests in the broadcast media in 2006.
The allegations range from the frequent use of libel suits against critics to coercion
Coercion
Coercion is the practice of forcing another party to behave in an involuntary manner by use of threats or intimidation or some other form of pressure or force. In law, coercion is codified as the duress crime. Such actions are used as leverage, to force the victim to act in the desired way...
into self-censorship
Self-censorship
Self-censorship is the act of censoring or classifying one's own work , out of fear of, or deference to, the sensibilities of others, without overt pressure from any specific party or institution of authority...
. Self-censorship has been used as an excuse for the central government or administrative branch to interfere in people's communication sphere. Noted however, that all the radio and television stations in Thailand belong to government or government agencies.
In 2003, the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) rapped the spread of self-censorship as well as the "sophisticated and subversive means" used by the authorities to control the media, fearing it could turn into propaganda mouthpieces of the Thaksin government. On the occasion of the World Press Freedom Day 2006, the TJA's labeled the situation of press freedom in Thailand as an "era of fear and hatred"
Libel suits
The threat of libel suits has long been used to silence government critics.The government of Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
has filed numerous libel suits against government critics, in what the International Federation of Journalists
International Federation of Journalists
International Federation of Journalists, IFJ, is a global union federation of journalists' trade unions—the largest in the world. The organization aims to protect and strengthen the rights and freedoms of journalists...
(IFJ) called "Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's continued use of criminal defamation charges to silence media criticism of his government", while Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch
Human Rights Watch is an international non-governmental organization that conducts research and advocacy on human rights. Its headquarters are in New York City and it has offices in Berlin, Beirut, Brussels, Chicago, Geneva, Johannesburg, London, Los Angeles, Moscow, Paris, San Francisco, Tokyo,...
's Asia Division, noted that "it's impossible to distinguish a libel suit from an attempt to silence the prime minister's critics. Thailand's once-vigorous free press is being slowly squeezed to death."
Prominent libel suits filed by Thaksin in this context include:
The suit by Shin Corporation
Shin Corporation
Shin Corporation is one of the largest conglomerates in Thailand.- History :It was founded in 1983 as Shinawatra Computer by Thaksin Shinawatra, former Prime Minister of Thailand, and took on its current name in 1999, by using the first four letters of his last name...
(at the time owned by Thaksin's family) against Supinya Klangnarong
Supinya Klangnarong
Supinya Klangnarong is a Thai media rights advocate and current vice-chair of the . A graduate of Chulalongkorn University, she holds a BA from the Faculty of Communication Arts, a MA from the Faculty of Journalism and Mass Communication at Thammasat University and a MA in Communication Policy...
, Secretary General of the Campaign for Popular Media Reform.
In an article, published in July 2003 in the Thai Post
Thai Post
Thai Post is a daily Thai-language newspaper in Thailand. It is owned by the Thai Journal Group Co. Its circulation is in the 100,000-150,000 range...
, Supinya had indicated the rise in the Shin Corporation's profits since Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai
Thai Rak Thai
The Thai Rak Thai Party was a Thai political party that was officially banned on May 30, 2007, by the Constitutional Court of Thailand due to violations of electoral laws during the 2006 legislative elections. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under Prime Minister and its founder Thaksin...
party had gained power in 2001 (approximately $US 980mn), might be a result of benefits to Shin Corp from the government's policies, which would amount to a conflict of interest
Conflict of interest
A conflict of interest occurs when an individual or organization is involved in multiple interests, one of which could possibly corrupt the motivation for an act in the other....
. The charges were dropped in March 2006 after Supinya received considerable Thai and international support and her case became a cause celebre for free speech and media freedom. Thus far, has not launched a countersuit for damages against the embattled PM-in-exile.
On April 4, 2006, People's Alliance for Democracy
People's Alliance for Democracy
The People's Alliance for Democracy also called the National Liberation Alliance - กลุ่มพันธมิตรกู้ชาติ, Thai Patriots Network or the Yellow Shirts - เสื้อเหลือง - was originally a coalition of protesters against Thaksin Shinawatra, the former Prime Minister of Thailand. Its leaders include...
(PAD) leader and fierce Thaksin critic Sondhi Limthongkul
Sondhi Limthongkul
Sondhi Limthongkul is a Thai media mogul and leader of the right-wing People's Alliance for Democracy . He was elected for leader of the New Politics Party ....
was sued by Thaksin Shinatwatra for allegedly slandered him during an anti-Thaksin rally. In total, Sondhi has around 40 complaints lodged against him.
Further ways of censorship
Thai governments have been accused of pressuring the press to limit damaging coverage. In 6 August 2005, the Bangkok PostBangkok Post
The Bangkok Post is a broadsheet, English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. The first issue was sold on August 1, 1946. It had four pages and cost 1 baht, a considerable amount at the time....
published a front-page story on cracks in Suvarnabhumi Airport
Suvarnabhumi Airport
Suvarnabhumi Airport , also known as Bangkok International Airport, is an international airport serving Bangkok, Thailand. It was officially opened for limited domestic flight service on 15 September 2006, and opened for most domestic and all international commercial flights on 28 September...
's western runway. Citing unnamed sources, the article that aviation experts recommended reconstruction to repair large cracks in the runway. A newspaper internal investigation found that while there were small cracks on the shoulders of the runway, its source wrongly claimed experts believed the runway needed reconstruction. The anonymous source, who claimed to be a businessman whose brother was close to some members of the Prime Minister's Thai Rak Thai
Thai Rak Thai
The Thai Rak Thai Party was a Thai political party that was officially banned on May 30, 2007, by the Constitutional Court of Thailand due to violations of electoral laws during the 2006 legislative elections. From 2001 to 2006, it was the ruling party under Prime Minister and its founder Thaksin...
party, refused to confirm his comments. Chief reporter Sermsuk Kasitipradit and news editor Chadin Thepaval were found to have acted negligently in publishing the story and were fired. Some critics in the newspaper claimed that the source was pressured by the government not to confirm the details of the story.
Also in August 2005, Rungruang Preechakul, editor of Siam Rath Weekly News magazine, quit after covering alleged government mishandling of the bird flu
H5N1
Influenza A virus subtype H5N1, also known as "bird flu", A or simply H5N1, is a subtype of the influenza A virus which can cause illness in humans and many other animal species...
crisis.
On March 10, 2006 the then governor of Nakhonratchasima province, Mr. Pongpayome Wasaputi, during a regular scheduled press conference with the local media, asked Frank G Anderson, founder of the Korat Post newspaper, to "kindly refrain from carrying any more headlines regarding events at Watpa Salawan, because it is like irritating an old sore." The governor was referring to coverage of allegations of sexual impropriety against the temple's abbot Luang Pho Pherm, the latter whom had a considerable official following.
It was rumored that on 1 February 2006, a business news commentary program "Business Focus" was taken off the air from the FM 101 radio station because it devoted time discussing the Shinawatra family's controversial multi-million dollar share deal with Singapore's Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings
Temasek Holdings is an investment company owned by the government of Singapore. With an international staff of 380 people, it manages a portfolio of about S$193 billion at end of March 2011, focused primarily in Asia...
.
In November 2006, the military junta canceled the most popular program on MCOT's Modernine TV, Khui Khui Khao. The anti-Thaksin movement, which had recently seized power in a military coup, claimed the program's host, prominent Thai political commentator Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda, was a supporter of the overthrown premier.
In January 2010, it was reported that as part of the Department of Special Investigations'(DSI)efforts to increase cyber-policing, it had expanded cooperation between ‘government agencies, research agencies and educational institutions’ in building digital forensic resources. DSI has partnered with two Thai universities to train students in assisting government cyber investigations. Despite the many threats to Thailand's cyber-space, even the Deputy Executive Director at the National Electronics and Computer Technology Center (Nectec), Asanee Kawtrakul, acknowledged that most big computer crime cases in the past year involved violations of lèse majesté laws. It is hard to ignore the role academia is being asked to play in cyber-censorship.
In February 2007, Thai authorities, under a newly elected alleged "Thaksin nominee" government, canceled a popular FM radio program hosted by Fatima Broadcasting because the show's host was a regular critic of the former premier. While officials claim they did not pressure the station's owner, the show's host has published an account indicating otherwise.
On February 10, 2010 it was learned that the children of Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra
Thaksin Shinawatra is a Thai businessman and politician, who was Prime Minister of Thailand from 2001 to 2006, when he was overthrown in a military coup....
will petition the Supreme Court to gag the media on speculation of a pending judgment of the deposed prime minister's assets. Subsequently, popular English-language expatriate forums such as Thai Visa have broadcast warnings that they have been censored and to follow them on Twitter
Twitter
Twitter is an online social networking and microblogging service that enables its users to send and read text-based posts of up to 140 characters, informally known as "tweets".Twitter was created in March 2006 by Jack Dorsey and launched that July...
and other social media platforms to receive related news.
See also
- Cinema of ThailandCinema of ThailandThe cinema of Thailand dates back to the early days of filmmaking, when King Chulalongkorn's 1897 visit to Bern, Switzerland was recorded by Francois-Henri Lavancy-Clarke. The film was then brought to Bangkok, where it was exhibited...
- Communications in ThailandCommunications in ThailandTelecommunications in Thailand are based on an extensive network of telephone lines covering the country. TOT Public Company Limited and True Corporation operate the majority of the telephone network in the Bangkok metropolitan area while TOT Public Company Limited and TT&T Public Company Limited...
- List of Thailand-related topics
- Media in Thailand
External links
- Freedom on the Net 2011 - Thailand report, Freedom House
- 2010 Human Rights Report: Thailand, 2010 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor,
US Department of State, released 8 April 2011
- Thailand reports, Reporters Without Borders
- Thailand archive, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ)
- "Website Censorship in Thailand – 2008-2011", Daily News and Views, 2Bangkok.com, 31 July 2010
- Freedom of expression and the Media in Thailand, ARTICLE19 and Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, December 2005, ISBN 1-902598-79-2
- Asian Media Barometer - Thailand 2010, Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung Thailand, ISBN 978-616-90646-1-9
- Freedom Barometer Asia 2010, Friedrich Naumann Foundation for Liberty
- Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) - an active group on Internet censorship issues in Thailand