[FACT comments: Forgive us if we’re dense but we don’t see what this man’s income has to do with lèse majesté. Do police expect us to believe he was paid to post lèse majesté content?!? Utter nonsense! The first report of this incident stated he was charged with lèse majesté under the Computer Crimes Act which not only affords lighter penalties but has a court precedent for granting bail until the case is heard; in Thailand, that’s often some years. Do any readers have information on where this webmaster is being held and more specifics of his case?]
Thai man arrested for posting internet messages insulting monarchy
Mass Communication Organization of Thailand: April 1, 2010
http://www.mcot.net/content/40274
Police arrested a man for allegedly posting messages insulting Thailand’s monarchy on websites.
Thanthawut Thaweewarodomkul, 38, was arrested at a condominium in Bangkok’s Bangkapi area and was charged with lese majeste, an offence which is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.
Police searched his living place and found quantities of documents with political content which were deemed insulting to the monarchy. His computer was seized for further investigation to find other associates.
Mr Thanthawut confessed to posting messages received from a person using a pseudonym on eight websites.
He said no one hired him but he did it out of his own political ideology to fight for democracy and said he thought that it benefitted people.
Mr Thanthawut said his action was not connected with the current movement of the anti-government Red Shirt protesters.
However, preliminary police investigation found he received 100,000 baht (about US$3,000) per month from undisclosed sources and consequently he was charged with lese majeste. (TNA)
| More Lèse-Majesté Charges in Thailand |
Asia Sentinel: April 1, 2010
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http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2377&Itemid=185 |
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| The jailing Wednesday in Bangkok of Chiranuch Premchaiporn, the webmaster of the popular independent Thai online news portal Prachatai, is another example of the stringent crackdown on any comment about the country’s monarchy as the process to succeed the ailing 83-year-old King Bhumibol Adulyadej grows more intense.
Chiranuch was released after paying a Bt300,000 (US$9,269) bond and spending four hours in jail. The arrest was made under the Computer Crimes Act for not quickly removing public comments from her website that were deemed offensive to the monarchy. The website has become home to serious dissent and discussion of the situation in the country, which has been wracked by political turmoil, rallies, strikes and violence since former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was ousted in a royalist coup in September of 2006. Prime Minister Abhisit Vejajiva, in comments after a March 2009 speech at St John’s College, Oxford in the UK, said he had “sorted out Chiranuch’s case and it was a misunderstanding by the police.” The raid on Prachatai came shortly after Abhisit, who had only been prime minister since December of 2008, had told an audience of media people that his government respected freedom of the press. Now the case has been taken up again, with or without Abhisit’s authority, raising questions whether the military and the right wing are feeling their oats and about to engineer a tightened crackdown against the press and critics. Given that Abhisit had specifically referred to Chiranuch’s case on several different occasions, saying it was “troubling,” it also raises questions about his own authority within the government. Pressure has been growing on authorities to crack down on any dissent given the serious illness of the king, the world’s longest-serving monarch and a linchpin for Thai society. “There is growing concern about the royal succession in Bangkok now that Thaksin and his republican supporters are willing to fight with the Bangkok elites in the open since his assets were seized,” said a Bangkok source with access to the palace. “It is apparent because the king is very ill and the Red Shirts show no signs of giving up.” After a brief appearance for his birthday, the king quietly returned to the hospital, where he has been virtually nonstop since falling ill in September last year. “We in Thailand know he might be counting his days,” the source said. Vajiralongkorn, the crown prince, is regarded as erratic and virtually incapable of ruling. However, his sister, the crown princess Maha Chakri Sirindorn, the next possible heir and a favorite of many Thais, reportedly has told her servants she wants nothing to do with the throne, perhaps because she is worried over her personal safety, the source added, asking that his name not be used for fear of also being charged with lèse-majesté, or insulting the monarchy. The queen has recently become more and more involved with politics. One theory making the rounds in Bangkok is that if the king dies, she would act as regent, bypassing Vajiralongkorn for the crown prince’s fifth son, Prince Dipangkorn Rasmijoti, who is now less than five years old. The queen has come under considerable subterranean criticism for her involvement in politics, particularly with the royalist Yellow Shirts, however. Against that troubled background, attacks on the press or any other critics have increased. As many as 50,000 websites have been blocked in Thailand, including Asia Sentinel, which has been blocked intermittently for more than a month although some Thai readers apparently have been able to access it through different Internet providers. Meanwhile the arrests continue. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, “Former journalist and UDD activist Daranee Charnchoengsilpakul was convicted in August on three counts of Lèse-Majesté and sentenced to 18 years in prison for anti-royal comments made during a public protest in 2007. Suwicha Thakor, an oil rig engineer, was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison under the 2007 Computer Crimes Act for sending pictures over the Internet that pilloried King Bhumibol Adulyadej and heir apparent Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn. Suwicha’s sentence was commuted to 10 years after he pleaded guilty.” Also, a police complaint has been filed by a private citizen against the entire board of directors of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand for selling DVD copies of a 2007 speech by a Thaksin supporter that touched on the monarchy. The police at this point have taken no action against the FCCT. The speaker, Jakropob Penkair, has since fled Thailand, as has Giles Ji Ungpakorn, a former sociology professor and critic of the monarchy. Chiranuch, the operator of Prachatai, faces her first hearing in the Criminal Court in Bangkok on May 31. She was first arrested last March under the computer offense law, which was first used against an earlier blogger who was later given 20 years in jail. Six more people have been arrested since, although prosecutors have yet to file charges against any of them. |
Website editor facing 50 years in jail
Reporters without Borders: April 2, 2010
http://www.rsf.org/Website-editor-facing-50-years-in,36939.html
Reporters Without Borders calls for the withdrawal of all charges against journalist Chiranuch Premchaipoen, the editor of Prachatai.com website, who is facing up to 50 years in prison under the computer crimes for failing to remove comments from her site with sufficient speed. Posted by visitors, the comments are deemed to have insulted the monarchy.
Arrested and charged on 31 March, Chiranuch was released after three hours when her sister stood guarantee for the 300,000 bahts (6,000 euros) in bail demanded by the judicial authorities.
“Once again, the lèse majesté and computer crimes laws are being used politically to control and intimidate people with dissenting views,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Amid the current political tension, the Thai public has greater need than ever to receive the kind of objective and quality news that Prachatai.com provides.”
The press freedom organisation added: “The charges brought against Chiranuch constitute a serious violation of free expression. They are not in accordance with the promises the authorities gave last January to combat abuses of the lèse majesté law.”
Chiranuch’s trial is due to start on 31 May. She has been charged before a criminal court under articles 14 and 15 of the computer crimes act. The charges concern comments posted on the website in 2008, which Chiranuch removed quickly as soon as they were brought to her attention.
Reporters Without Borders also calls on the government to explain yesterday’s arrest of Tantawut Taweewarodomkul, the webmaster of two websites (www.norporchorusa.com and http://www.norporchorusa2.com/) that support the “Red Shirts” opposition movement. He is also accused of violating the lèse majesté and computer crimes laws.
Around 10 bloggers have been prosecuted or charged under the lèse majesté law. One of them, Suvicha Thakor, is serving a 10-year jail sentence for allegedly posting content considered offensive to the king.
Thailand is on the list of “Countries under surveillance” in the report on “Enemies of the Internet” which Reporters Without Borders issued on 11 March. The report noted that in the absence of improvements in the near future, Thailand risked being moved from the “Countries under surveillance” to the “Enemies of the Internet” list.
ALERT
Online censorship amid mounting political tension
Reporters Without Borders/Thai Journalists Association/Freedom of Information Exchange: April 1, 2010
http://www.ifex.org/thailand/2010/04/01/asia_sentinal_blocked/
INCIDENT DETAILS
Website blocked
Asia Sentinel, Internet/website
Reporters Without Borders joins the Thai Journalists Association and the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association in condemning grenade attacks on two Bangkok TV stations on the night of 27 March. It is vital that the different political groups abstain from taking revenge on media that do not support their cause, as happened during the violence at the end of 2008.
“This new political crisis is making it harder for certain news media to function properly,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Even if state-owned media opt for pro-governmental editorial polices, that does not in any way justify this kind of violence. The political tension must not be allowed to affect media freedom. If the authorities and opposition get into this appalling habit, the press freedom situation in Thailand will get steadily worse.”
The press freedom organisation added: “We urge the government to guarantee the security of media premises and to quickly investigate these attacks.”
The two targeted stations were Channel 5 (which is owned by the army) and NBT TV (Channel 11), a public television service. M65 grenades were thrown at the Channel 5 building, injuring several soldiers posted outside. A few hours later, an M79 grenade-launcher was used to fire grenades at Channel 11′s headquarters. In all, around 10 people, including the sentries, were injured in the two attacks.
It is not yet known whether the attacks were linked to the ongoing “Red Shirt” demonstrations in support of ousted Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The Bangkok police suspect a “political provocation.”
Reporters Without Borders also condemns the government’s censorship of the Internet. More than 50,000 websites and web pages are currently blocked in Thailand. The latest to join the list is Asia Sentinel ( http://www.asiasentinel.com/ ), an independent news website that is apparently being punished for posting a long and detailed series of analyses of the political situation since the 2006 military coup.
It is believed to have been the first website to mention the possibility of an agreement between Thaksin and the courts that would allow him to keep his fortune. It is not the first time that the site’s editors have encountered this kind of obstruction. Its editor in chief, John Berthelsen, was denied entry to Singapore in April 2009 because of Asia Sentinel’s generally outspoken tone.
The Ministry of Information and Information Technology has requested an allocation of 50 million baht (more than 1 million euros) for 2011 to fund its Internet censorship and surveillance activities. An official recently claimed that the authorities were blocking more than 150 websites a day for alleged hostility towards the monarchy.
Thailand was ranked 130th out of 175 countries in the latest Reporters Without Borders press freedom index. It is also listed as one of the “Countries under surveillance” in the survey of Internet censorship that Reporters Without Borders issued earlier this month.
[FACT comments: We really don’t think Puea Thai has much credibility regarding media freedom. Its predecessors were Thai Rak Thai and PPP both of which were big censors. When they commit to NO censorship, we will start to listen.]
Puea Thai calls for press freedom
- Bangkok Post: April 14, 2010
- http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/174691/puea-thai-calls-for-press-freedom
The opposition Puea Thai Party has issued its third statement calling on the government to stop interfering in the media and allow it freely and independently report the ongoing situation.
Deputy leader Plodprasop Surassavadee said the government continued to use state media to provide information from the government side.
Puea Thai has assigned Bangkok MP Anudit Nakornthap to organise a mobile exhibition showing photos of the April 10 clash between the military and the red-shirts, he said.
Mr Plodprasop also called on the media to demand the government take responsibility for having ordered the use of force against the protesters.
Australian documentary on Thai royals sparks outrage
- Bangkok Post: April 16, 2010
- http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/asia/174876/australian-documentary-on-thai-royals-sparks-outrage
Thailand has protested to the Australian government over the airing of a documentary critical of the Thai royal family and warned that the broadcast could affect ties between the nations.
A senior representative from the Thai embassy met with officials from Australia’s Department of Foreign Affairs on Thursday to express his concern at the programme aired by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC).
“The concern is that it might affect the good relations between Thailand and Australia, especially the people to people relations,” Saksee Phromyothi, minister-counsellor at the Royal Thai Embassy, told AFP.
“We consider this an issue matter of national security… because the royal family, the monarchy, in our constitution is above politics.”
Thailand’s ambassador designate Kriangsak Kittichaisaree has also written to ABC managing director Mark Scott to complain about the programme which could breach Thailand’s lese-majeste laws which prohibit criticism of the royals.
“I regret that an organisation of the ABC’s stature has lowered its own standard by airing the said documentary which is presented in a manner no different from tabloid journalism,” he wrote.
The programme, which aired late Tuesday, was broadcast on the state-funded station only in Australia and cannot be viewed over the Internet outside the country.
But Thailand’s diplomatic missions in Australia say they have received complaints about the programme on the monarchy — which Kittichaisaree said was “the soul” of the nation and cherished by Thais from all walks of life.
“I presume that once you have decided to put this hyper-sensitive programme on air, a protest letter like mine, which I hope you will seriously heed, should come as no surprise,” Kittichaisaree wrote to Scott.
“I strongly express both resentment and disappointment with the poor decision you have made.”
The ABC could not immediately be reached for comment. But a report in the Australian newspaper said the ABC had effectively shut down its Bangkok office, sending its local staff home until further notice.
A spokesman for Australia’s Department for Foreign Affairs and Trade confirmed that Thai embassy officials had complained about the ABC programme and noted that the Thai monarchy was a much revered institution.
“However, the Australian government does not and cannot control content run by Australian media organisations,” he told AFP.
Breaking Thailand’s rules on the monarchy have seen prison sentences of up to 18 years handed down, and Australian writer Harry Nicolaides was in 2009 sentenced to three years in jail under the law over a self-published novel.
[FACT comments: Will everyone who has not seen those titties before, please raise your hands!]
Reflections on Eric Campbell’s royal report
Andrew Walker and Nicholas Farrelly
New Mandala: April 14, 2010
http://asiapacific.anu.edu.au/newmandala/2010/04/14/reflections-on-eric-campbells-royal-report/
Download video: http://www.mediafire.com/?nuknyn1m0o2
This is not the time for a full account of Eric Campbell’s Foreign Correspondent report, which was broadcast on ABC television last night (and is available here on ABC iView).
Nor is it the right time for a comprehensive rehearsal of the background to the evidence and arguments that were presented. Those New Mandala readers who caught the program will probably feel, like us, that there was little substantively new in the coverage. It painted a picture that is all too familiar to academics, analysts and others who follow Thai political life closely.
Nonetheless Eric Campbell’s report was exceptional, and exceptionally brave, in a number of ways.
First, it provided a coherent and unflinching account of the current moment in Thai politics with video footage to illustrate its main points. Within the first few minutes the notorious birthday party video of the Crown Prince and his wife was broadcast into hundreds of thousands of Australian living rooms. The video was shown to highlight concerns within Thailand about the reputation, status and public behaviour of the Crown Prince.
Second, the report was punctuated by comments from the king’s unauthorised biographer, Paul Handley. Handley, as readers of this New Mandala interview will know, has continued to make incisive points about the Thai royal family since the publication of The King Never Smiles back in 2006. He was in particularly good form in this interview. No doubt Handley’s involvement contributed to the quality of Campbell’s final analysis.
Third, Campbell took the time to interview people who tend not to get enough international attention. He sought out both Chotisak Oonsong and Chiranuch Premchaiporn who have both been charged under Thailand’s draconian laws that protect the monarchy. Campbell’s conversations with them were poignant, and firsts for Australian television. Campbell also interviewed Kittichai, the brother of lese majeste prisoner Darunee Charnchoensilpakul. This was, again, powerful television.
Finally, Campbell directly confronted the hypocrisy of Thailand’s media establishment through an interview with The Nation’s Thanong Khanthong. It was a spectacular ambush. It started with Thanong declaring that lese majeste laws do not influence what he publishes. It ended with Campbell asking Thanong why he hasn’t reported on the notorious birthday party video. Thanong had no answer, except some clearly uncomfortable words about not reporting on private matters.
And so ended a remarkable contribution to Australian, and perhaps now international, understanding of Thailand’s current political strife.
Inside Thailand, people may never get an opportunity to appreciate the coherence and compassion of Campbell’s report. That is, in itself, a tremendous pity.
ABC reporter risks jail over Thai report
Erik Jensen
The Age: April 14, 2010
Download video: http://www.mediafire.com/?nuknyn1m0o2
THE ABC broke Thai laws last night by screening a report critical of the royal family, exposing reporter Eric Campbell to a possible 18 years in prison.
It is believed the network’s Bangkok bureau was evacuated prior to the screening but it was not clear whether claims that journalists there were not involved would be enough to protect them from the lese majeste laws that prevent criticism of the country’s royals.
”It’s basically a story that can only be done by people who don’t live and work in Thailand,” Campbell said of the piece that aired on Foreign Correspondent. ”The downside is unfortunately I can never go back to Thailand.”
The program comes after a month of anti-government protests in Bangkok, which culminated in 21 deaths at the weekend. But the report was more concerned by problems inside the royal family – namely the succession from a popular king to his controversial son. The program played YouTube footage of Crown Prince Vajiralongkorn with his semi-naked royal consort, Princess Srirasmi, at a birthday party for his favourite poodle.
It spoke to the brother of a woman serving 18 years in prison for making comments critical of the king; to Chiranuch Premchaiporn, who faces 50 years in prison for running a veiled criticism of the king on her website; and another man who faces prison for not standing as the national anthem played in a cinema.
But the report did not go as far as a feature in The Economist last month which described Prince Vajiralongkorn as ”loathed and feared” and ”a poor substitute” for the king. The magazine wrote of his ties to ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra and his rumoured connections to the underworld.
Eric Campbell to be banned from Thailand after Foreign Correspondent report
ERIC CAMPBELL, FOREIGN CORRESPONDENT, HARRY NICOLAIDES, RED SHIRTS, THAILAND
Andrew Crook
Crikey: April 13, 2010
History is speeding up in Thailand. After 21 protestors died on the weekend, the country’s electoral commission handed anti-government “red shirts” a victory yesterday by asking the ruling party, led by Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva, to resign. The head of the military, General Anupong Paochinda, said new elections should be called to break the impasse.
Which makes tonight’s Foreign Correspondent doubly interesting, with reporter Eric Campbell, and possibly the ABC’s entire Bankgok bureau, likely to be black-banned from the country under its punitive lese majeste laws, which prohibit criticism of the monarchy.
Campbell will be the first television reporter to bust through the media taboo over lese majeste, which has led to foreign reporters tip-toeing around statements critical of King Bhumibol Adulyadej and his acolytes, for fear of arrest. In fact, any public comment that’s considered insufficiently deferential can lead to 20-years in the clink. The laws famously snared struggling Australian author Harry Nicolaides, when he was arrested at Bangkok airport in August 2008 for daring to write a few lines bagging the monarchy in a book that sold 7 copies.
But in recent weeks, the lese majeste facade has began to slip. Last month, The Economist published an article on the background to the riots that often goes unexamined — the imminent succession of unpopular Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn to the throne when his 82-year old father finally succumbs to respiratory illness. On Monday, The Guardian ran a prominent op-ed by Giles Ji Ungpakorn, a Thai academic who fled to the UK to avoid prosecution under the laws.
Campbell told Crikey that his report, filmed three weeks ago, and brought forward in the wake of the weekend’s bloodshed, will look at the background to the protests, which have seen pitched battles between the red shirts and an increasingly besieged military.
“The king is been is hospital for months his successor the Crown Prince is as unpopular as the king is an apparent living God. But under the draconian lese majeste laws, the full story hasn’t really been broadcast.”
In promotions for the program, the ABC says the story will deliberately examine the “crisis of succession and the intimidating use of a potent law to silence dissent and debate.”
Campbell’s report contains a controversial interview with the editor of dissident website Prachatai.com, Chiranuch Premchaiporn. Police thugs raided the Prachatai website on 6 March — this morning, the website was mysteriously offline. Last month, the webmaster of another pro-red shirt website, www.norporchorusa.com, was carted away under lese majeste.
Campbell said the subject matter was so controversial that he will never be able to return to the country and that he fears for the safety of journalists inside Thailand who flout the ban. As it stands, a Jetstar flight into Suvarnabhumi Airport could almost certainly land Campbell in the clink in the manner of Nicolaides.
In recent weeks, the situation in Thailand has taken on a more republican, populist, tone with red-shirt loyalty drifting away from thrice-elected tycoon Thaksin Shinawatra and towards a class-based movement, Real Democracy, targeting the military and the government. The protestors have been careful in the past to direct their criticism away from the King and towards his advisors in the Privy Council.
The four-man ABC Bangkok bureau could also suffer dire consequences. Asia Correspondent Mark Willacy has been filing reports on the protests, but is under strict instructions to avoid overt criticism of the King. Campbell said he was careful to compile his report without the assistance of the bureau.
Foreign bureaux have a history of being tailed, and targeted. In 2008, the BBC’s Bangkok correspondent Jonathan Head faced charges under lese majeste, before finally fleeing to Turkey to avoid arrest.
[FACT comments: This would not be clear lèse majesté if said in Thailand. Govt claims Kasit was stating his personal views. However, govt paid for his ticket and expences and the PM was actually the Thai representative invited. Therefore, Kasit was speaking for the Thai govt no matter how they try to spin it.]
Thai minister makes unprecedented call for monarchy debate
Didier Lauras
Agence France-Presse: April 13, 2010
http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/Thai-Minister-Unprecedented-Call-t355955.html
Thailand’s foreign minister has broken a taboo by advocating reform of the monarchy, unprecedented in a country where the king is hugely revered and any criticism of the royals is a serious crime.
Kasit Piromya said in Washington that any resolution to the political crisis gripping the kingdom might see the role of royalty revamped, with greater involvement in the political arena given to the rural poor.
“It is a process that we have to go through and I think we should be brave enough to go through all of this and to talk about even the taboo subject of the institution of the monarchy,” he said at a seminar on Monday.
The monarchy’s role remains one of the most sensitive subjects in the kingdom, where violent clashes between the army and anti-government “Red Shirts” Saturday — Thailand’s bloodiest for 18 years — left 21 people dead.
“I think we have to talk about the institution of the monarchy, how it would have to reform itself to the modern globalised world,” Kasit said, citing the examples of Britain and the Netherlands as countries where the role of the royal family has adapted.
“Everything is now becoming in the open,” he added. “Let’s have a discussion. What type of democratic society would we like to be?”
The debate, he said, should address many questions left unanswered by Thai society over the past decades.
“What would be the role of the military? What would be the prerequisite of the political parties? How do you channel the wishes of the farmers, the workers, the office workers?” he said.
Insulting the royal family is a serious crime in Thailand, punishable by up to 15 years in prison, and Thai politicians rarely dare to speak about the matter overtly.
Government spokesman Panitan Wattanayagorn said he would not confirm Kasit’s comments “until we verify his statements”.
“The government usually does not make any comment about the monarchy. Academics can. I think it is the same in England. The prime minister does not make any comment on the queen. We have the same practice,” he told AFP.
King Bhumibol Adulyadej, 82, has no official political role but is revered as a demi-god by many Thais and seen as a unifying figure in a country that is frequently riven by political unrest.
During a 1992 uprising, he chastised both the military and protest leaders, effectively bringing an end to the violence.
Earlier this year Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva said Thailand would be better off if it stopped relying on the widely revered king to intervene in times of difficulty, although he said it would “take time”.
He also said a new advisory board on legisation concerning lese majeste would “create clarity”. Rights activists have criticised a rise in the number of accusations of insulting the monarchy.
After Saturday’s deadly clashes, a Red Shirt leader called on the monarch to intervene in the latest crisis to prevent further bloodshed.
But King Bhumibol, who is the world’s longest-reigning monarch, has been hospitalised since September and has not commented publicly on the latest turmoil.
In his last public appearance in February, television footage showed him in his wheelchair viewing the river in front of the Siriraj hospital in Bangkok, following his dog on a leash.
His wife Queen Sirikit and their son Crown Prince Maha Vajiralongkorn on Monday attended a Buddhist ceremony for a colonel killed in the weekend’s bloody clashes with protesters.
But the royal couple will offer financial support to the wounded and families of those killed, both civilians and soldiers, deputy prime minister Suthep Thaugsuban said.
A Bangkok-based Thai observer, who asked not to be named, said he did not think many from the ruling Democrat party would be ready to echo Kasit’s comments on the role of the monarchy.
“Don’t be surprised if you don’t read a line of these statements in the Thai press tomorrow because of the sensitivity of the matter,” he said.
