FACT - Freedom Against Censorship Thailand

[FACT comments: Note that we're talking here about a future coup!]

Jakrapob censorship slammed: Military, coup victims urge press freedom
Bangkok Post: May 12, 2008

http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/12May2008_news07.php

PM’s Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair is under fire after banning state media outlets from carrying news reports in favour of a coup…After Mr Jakrapob banned Public Relations Department (PRD) staff from reporting such stories, military leaders, academics and relatives of coup victims have criticised him for being undemocratic…Mr Jakrapob, who supervises the PRD, said he would take disciplinary action against PRD staff who report any news or information supporting the coup.

[FACT comments: Old enough to kill, old enough to be maimed and die, far from home and loved ones, but  private reading material somehow violates military "honor and decency"?!? Give us a break--does anyone doubt politicians are capable of irony?]

Proposed Ban on “Porn” Angers Soldiers
by Richard Blair
The All Spin Zone: May 7, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/blogs/peek/84733/

Should congress ban the sale of Playboy and Penthouse at U.S. military installations? Rep. Paul Broun (R-Ga) thinks this is a big enough problem that he needed to introduce legislation to promote a ban on such men’s magazines as “porn”. Soldiers aren’t too happy about it…Legislation that would restrict the sale of certain men’s magazines on U.S. military bases around the world would be bad for morale, according to soldiers at Grafenwöhr, Germany…The politician has introduced legislation that would close a loophole in the current law that allows the sale of some sexually explicit material on military bases by lowering the threshold required to deem material “sexually explicit.”…A Department of Defense committee that reviews materials sold on bases ruled last year that magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse are not pornographic. But Broun’s Military Honor and Decency Act includes language that could make those magazines eligible for the ban.

[FACT comments: The Internet Archive is one of the 'net's largest copyright-free resources and host to FACT's Banned Books Project. No more book burnings!]

ACLU Wins Challenge to Patriot Act NSL Provision
American Civil Liberties Union: May 9, 2008

http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nationalsecurityletters/internetarchive.html
Video: http://blog.aclu.org/index.php?/archives/676-Gag-Lifted,-Brewster-Speaks!.html

The ACLU won a hard-fought victory in another legal challenge to the national security letter (NSL) provision of the Patriot Act. As the result of a settlement agreement, the FBI this week withdrew an unconstitutional national security letter issued to the Internet Archive and agreed to unseal the case, finally allowing the Archive’s founder to speak out for the first time about his battle against the record demand…The NSL, issued in November of 2007, asked for personal information about one of the Archive’s users, including the individual’s name, address, and any electronic communication transactional records pertaining to the user. Brewster Kahle, founder and digital librarian of the Internet Archive <http://www.archive.org/>, decided to fight the NSL because it exceeded the FBI’s limited authority to issue such demands to libraries. The lawsuit is the first known challenge to an NSL served on a library since Congress amended the national security letter provision in 2006 to limit the FBI’s power to demand records from libraries.

[FACT comments: Smut is in the eyes of the beholder! If you get turned on by 12-year olds in thong bikinis, it's you who has the problem! Unlike Western countries, explicit pornography is illegal in Japan. So should we ban ice cream cones or thong bikinis?!?]

Photos of preteen girls in thongs now big business
By JUN HONGO
Japan Times: May 3, 2007

http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20070503f1.html

The latest trend of preteen girls striking provocative poses in slinky bathing suits has some people questioning whether this is child pornography…Japan has tended to be more open about sex and sex culture…There are a large number of shops with Junior Idol and U-15 (Under 15) signs in Tokyo…Although there is no full nudity, the scantily clad children are often pictured seductively blowing on the end of a flute or licking an ice cream cone…”Japan has slowly been implementing legal measures against child pornography, but the ambience, culture and religion of the country makes people less uncomfortable about such issues compared with Western societies.”

[See for yourself! Asuka Izumi http://www.izumiasuka.com/info.html, U-15 http://www.imouto.tv/]

[FACT comments: This must be a national security issue, a plot to destabilise Thailand by distributing textbooks filled with false information!!! Seriously, aren't there important issues to work on?]

Two arrested in fake textbook bust
WASSAYOS NGAMKHAM
Bangkok Post: March 28, 2008

http://www.bangkokpost.net/News/28Mar2008_news16.php

Economic and Technology-related Crime Suppression Division raided a house in Roi Et, arrested Sawat Singthawat and Samorn Singthawat in connection with the production of fake school textbooks and seized more than 31,000 fake textbooks in their possession.

[FACT comments: Information just wants to be FREE! Internet Archive is a FACT partner.]

The Internet Archive Keeps Book-Scanning Free
By Dave Bullock
Wired: March 19, 2008

http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/multimedia/2008/03/gallery_internet_archive

Google has made headlines over the last two years for scanning thousands of copyrighted works for its Book Search project, but Internet Archive is quietly digitizing around 1,000 public domain titles every day…With monastic diligence, workers sit in book-scanning stations and manually turn pages all day long. The process is labor-intensive, but surprisingly efficient: The text collection on archive.org is the world’s largest online collection of free books, with nearly 350,000 titles and growing…It’s still unclear whether the courts will allow copyrighted books scanned by Google to stay online, but the titles scanned at the Internet Archive will always be free and available. You can even order copies to be printed on demand and shipped to your home, paying only for production costs.

Yemen: Support the Freedom of Expression Movement
Article 19: March 14, 2008

ARTICLE 19 strongly condemns the recurring attacks against freedom of the expression in Yemen and supports the local campaign for freedom of expression hosted by the Sisters’ Arab Forum for Human Rights. In recent months, websites and newspapers have been blocked, and trails against Al-Share’ newspaper and Editor Abdul-Kareem Al-Khaiwani have continued.

On March 4, the Ministry of Information ordered the ban the newspaper Al-Sabah for allegedly “threatening the unity of Yemen and order”. Authorities have also continued censoring websites the last of which was YemenPortal.net that had its original and alternative domain blocked earlier this year. Further severe restrictions on freedom of the press in particular is the continuation of the trials of the newspaper Al-Share’ and of journalist Abdul-Kareem Al-Khaiwani. Al-Khaiwani is being tried before the Special Criminal Court on Terrorism where if convicted may face the death penalty. Read the rest of this entry »

[FACT comments: "Thai" is reputed to mean "free" but how we hate to take advice, even good advice, from overseas. This article is a very thoughtful consideration of the lèse-majesté issue.]

THAILAND’S REFEREE
A king’s lessons in democracy
Stanley A. Weiss
International Herald Tribune: March 11, 2008

The dramatic return to Thailand of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra - after 17 months of self-imposed exile following a bloodless military coup - marks the next round in the bare-knuckled free-for-all that characterizes this country’s deeply polarized politics. Read the rest of this entry »

[FACT comments: We always think the US State Department's annual human rights reports are curious anomalies--the US, of course, never comments on its own human rights record. Nevertheless, many issues are examined and this report would not have been possible were it not for the contributions of many Thai activists and NGOs. All of us are trying to bring about a better Thailand for everyone. FACT emphasis and commentary added below.]

Thailand–Country Reports on Human Rights Practices  - 2007
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
U.S. Department of State
March 11, 2008

Thailand Report: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/100539.htm
Full report by country: http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/index.htm

Thailand is a constitutional monarchy with a population of more than 65 million. The king is revered and exerts strong informal influence. The interim prime minister, appointed by military leaders of the September 2006 coup, who called themselves the Council for National Security (CNS), continued to govern together with a cabinet consisting mostly of technocrats. A royal command on January 1 convened a Constitutional Drafting Assembly, whose members were chosen by the CNS, to draft a new constitution. On August 19, a majority of voters approved the new constitution in a referendum that observers generally considered free and fair. On December 23, the interim government held multiparty elections for the lower house of Parliament in which the People’s Power Party, led by Samak Sundaravej, won a plurality of seats. The election process was generally viewed as free and fair, but there were widespread allegations of vote buying. The interim civilian authorities appointed by the September 2006 coup leaders generally maintained effective control of the security forces, although the military continued to play a role in maintaining internal security. Read the rest of this entry »

Exclusive: Tesco sues writer for 100M

Kamol Kamoltrakul, senior activist and columnist and an expert on globalisation and human rights is now facing civil defamation charges filed by the Tesco-Lotus megastore and distribution company.

In  his October 2007 column reprinted in full below in English translation, he questioned the impact of megastores which are rapidly emerging in local areas and then inevitably forcing 40% of local shops to close by undercutting their prices. Will Tesco want to sue FACT for reprinting?

Tesco-Lotus is demanding 100 million Thai baht (approx. three million USD) in compensation. Kamol is looking for both legal defense and funding to fight these spurious charges. Read the rest of this entry »