Freedom of the press – Thailand, media under siege
Is Thailand still a Democracy? According to the Freedom House 2010 report, “Thailand can no longer even be considered an electoral democracy”, and the shutdown of 13 radio stations linked to the United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD)–the opposition umbrella organisation, also known as the ‘Red Shirts’–seems to confirm this trend.
According to English language Thai media, on 26 April government officials from Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC), the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC), Crime Suppression Division (CSD), and the local police armed with a court order searched community radio stations which were allegedly in breach of the law, especially those 13 stations which had not not received a license. Seven were in Bangkok and six were in surrounding provinces.
This repressive operation came a few days before World Press Freedom Day (3 May). As Human Rights Watch underlined in a statement released on 27 April, “the crackdown followed the government’s announcement that it would dissolve parliament on May 6, 2011,” in preparation for national elections. “This government came into office saying it was committed to protecting rights, but it has become the most prolific censor in recent Thai history,” said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
The recent shutdown is just the last one of a long series of restrictions on traditional and online media imposed by the Abhisit’s government. Last year, after the military crackdown against the UDD, when 92 persons were killed, the authorities have severely harassed the media aligned with the Red Shirts. By 19 of May the government imposed the state of emergency in 24 provinces out of 76. This emergency law grants authorities the power to ban demonstrations, detain suspects without charge for up to 30 days, and close down media for security reasons.
As stated by the last report (Thailand: The Calm before Another Storm?) released by International Crises Group (ICG), during the state of emergency the Centre for the Resolution of Emergency Situations (CRES), an ad hoc body set up to oversee the state of emergency and run by the military, “was granted sweeping powers to shut down media deemed a threat to national security.” Blanket censorship was imposed on many online media, while PTV satellite station, which broadcasted live the UDD protest, was pulled off the air. At least 38 community radio stations in different provinces were closed and four Red Shirt-aligned magazines–Voice of Taksin, Truth Today, Thai Red News, and Wiwatha–were banned.
This is what has happened during the last year. Now the decision to shut down 13 radio stations could be the straw that broke the camel’s back for three different reasons. Firstly because the raid comes before the dissolution of the Parliament. This means an ominous restriction on freedom of the press and freedom of expression at a time when the political parties need to launch their campaigns in view of new elections.
Secondly because the law that regulates radio licences is still not clear, despite the present government’s promise to improve the media law.
As noted by Ricefield Radio–a non commercial community radio station and an affiliate station of FSRNews and Democracy Now!–there are officially no licensed community stations in Thailand. “Two years ago all community stations were given temporary 300 day licenses with the stipulation that they would then be upgraded if their programming was ‘appropriate’. To this day, two years later, there has never been an issuance of anything that could be construed as rules to follow to have ‘appropriate’ content.”
Last but not least, the problem is what the UDD activists call the “double standard”. Since the 2006 coup d’etat that ousted former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, “the government and judiciary have been acting with a double standard with respect to us and PAD (People’s Alliance for Democracy, also know as ‘Yellow Shirts’). We want justice, asking for a unique standard”, said by phone to PlanetNext Prathan, a UDD activist. On the other hand, the ICG stated in its report that “The difference in the government’s treatment of the media aligned with the UDD and the PAD is stark…While the Red Shirt media has been suppressed, no action has been taken against its Yellow Shirt equivalent.” In any case, closing down media violates the 2007 Constitution.
This environment is certainly not appropriate for an electoral campaign that should lead to new elections between June and July. “If the Democratic Party will win the upcoming election and can form a government there are low possibilities for an other coup d’etat. On the contrary, if Pheu Thai Party (a Thai political party originally founded by Thaksin) wins the election there will be two means to get rid of them: the party dissolution or a coup,” said by e-mail to PlanetNext ‘Belle’, a Red Shirts activist in Bangkok.
