By Veera Prateepchaikul
Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Post Publishing Co Ltd
for bangkokpost.com
Whatever the denial by the Council for National Security (CNS) chairman Sonthi Boonyaratkalin that he had nothing to do with the UBC pay television’s ”censorship” of former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra’s interview with CNN, the writing on the wall is too obvious to miss.
The CNS request for cooperation from the broadcast media – not to cover any activities of the deposed prime minister – has, apparently, driven the editor of UBC to apply self-censorship so as to avoid what one CNS member said bluntly: ”Use your discretion properly or we impose our own discretion”.
Whether this is described as just a ”request” or a veiled threat, it amounts to direct interference with the performance of the media, whose duty is only to provide the public with access to information in an unbiased, balanced manner. In so doing, the CNS is no different from Mr Thaksin who, during his past five years in office, has resorted to all the tricks to silence the media and journalists who are critical of him or his administration.
Shooting the messenger as the CNS is now doing is a big mistake. It is also deplorable as it goes against the spirit of democracy that the CNS earlier pledged to uphold.
Clearly, the CNS is over-nervous about Mr Thaksin, although the ex-premier is partly to blame for his seemingly endless politically related activities, by himself or through his lawyer, Noppadon Pattama, to wrestle control of the media space and airwaves.
Instead of blocking the CNN interview with Mr Thaksin in which he said nothing earth-shattering, the CNS should have allowed the broadcast and seized the opportunity to strike back. The CNS should also realise that there is no way to completely deprive the people of access to what Mr Thaksin actually said in the CNN interview or with the other media outlets.
A close scrutiny of Mr Thaksin’s interview revealed certain discrepancies which can be exploited to the benefit of the CNS. For instance, Mr Thaksin claimed he had ‘’sacrificed” his time and even his life throughout his six years in the government for the good of the country. His insistence of ‘’sacrifice” is questionable and, I hope, quite a few people will beg to differ. Perhaps, Mr Thaksin’s definition of ‘’sacrifice” is far different from the one which we have understood.
A person who prides himself of being sacrificial must, foremost of all, must be selfless. If Mr Thaksin really possesses such a quality, there should not have been all the scandals about his practice and acceptance of conflict of interests, let alone all the other corruption allegations against him, his family and cronies.
Then there was his appeal for the return to democracy and Press freedom – an appeal which made a mockery of his own authoritarian rule and wide practice of Press intimidation and even Press co-opting.
Mr Thaksin treated the media with contempt while he was in power and unnecessarily created enemy among the media. The CNS should not repeat this blunder by Mr Thaksin but should forge a cordial and friendly relationship with the media. Critical media, after all, provides a mirror for the CNS to reflect on itself.
Off the Air in Bangkok
Well, our tussle with the military junta here is almost becoming comical. CNN’s signal into Thailand is being blocked whenever our exclusive interview with deposed prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra is broadcast. Yet, the entire transcript has been carried on the front pages of all the papers here in Thailand, so quite why it is being censored on TV is mystifying me. Whenever the signal is blocked, a montage of photos of various Hollywood celebrities is put out on CNN instead. My cameraman cruelly suggested most viewers would prefer to see Brad Pitt to Dan Rivers any day of the week! We’ve also become increasingly concerned about a number of sinister phone calls to our office here in Bangkok, with callers repeatedly hanging up and asking for information on the whereabouts of my Thai producer. Several of our phone calls from the office have also been mysteriously cut off. It smacks of an intimidation campaign – of course I have no proof of that, just a journalistic hunch. But it’s clear our interview has caused waves. We interviewed Thaksin in Singapore, where he also met a senior politician. Our interview threw his visit to Singapore into the limelight – now the military regime in Thailand is furious with the Singaporeans – they’ve cancelled an official visit of the Singaporean foreign minister and cancelled a civil service exchange programme, because they dared to have a meeting with the deposed prime minister of Thailand…oh and because they didn’t prevent CNN from interviewing him there too. The Singaporean Ambassador has also been summoned to government house here for a reprimand. It’s not quite war, but it’s certainly a jolly angry spat. Its ironic that the undemocratic, authoritarian junta here in Thailand is trying to take the moral high ground with Singapore – itself not exactly a paragon of freedom. In my opinion, it all bodes ill for Thailand’s return to democracy. The military junta had promised to lift martial law by the end of 2006 – but now we’re in 2007, and martial law remains in place, CNN is being censored, local TV stations are self-censoring their output and there is a growing climate of anger, trepidation and fear…especially in the CNN office, where the anonymous, threatening calls keep coming!
Posted by Dan Rivers, CNN International Correspondent: 3:10 AM
http://edition.cnn.com/exchange/blogs/in.the.field/
การต่อสู้ของพวกเรากับเผด็จการทหารที่นี่เป็นเรื่องที่น่าตลกขบขัน ข่าวของCNNจะถูกบล็อกเมื่อไหร่ก็ตามที่เราแพร่ภาพการสัมภาษณ์อดีตนายกทักษิณ ชินวัตร แม้กระนั้น บทสัมภาษณ์ก็ยังไปปรากฎอยู่บนหนังสือพิมพ์ทุกฉบับของไทย ผมจึงค่อนข้างงงว่าทำไม TV ต้องถูกเซ็นเซอร์ เมื่อไหร่ก็ตามที่สัญญาณถูกบล็อก จะมีภาพของเหล่าดาราฮอลลีวู้ดขึ้นมาแทน ตากล้องของผมบอกผมอย่างตลกร้ายว่า ผู้ชมส่วนใหญ่ ชอบดู แบรด พีท มากกว่า แดน ริเวอส์! นอกจากนี้ เรายังได้รับโทรศัพท์ขู่จะทำร้ายเรา โทรเข้ามาที่ออฟฟิศที่กรุงเทพมากขึ้นทุกวัน ผู้ที่โทรเข้ามาจะถามซ้ำๆว่าผู้ผลิตรายการที่เป็นคนไทยอยู่ที่ไหน หลายครั้งที่โทรศัพท์จากออฟฟิศของเราถูกตัดอย่างลึกลับ มันเป็นการข่มขวัญ ผมไม่มีข้อพิสูจน์ มันเป็นเพียงลางสังหรณ์ของนักข่าวคนหนึ่ง แต่มันก็เห็นได้ชัดว่า การสัมภาษณ์ของเราสร้างความสนใจได้แค่ไหน เราสัมภาษณ์ทักษิณในสิงคโปร์ ที่ซึ่งเขาได้ไปพบผู้นำระดับสูง การสัมภาษณ์ของเราทำให้ประชาชนจับตามองการเดินทางครั้งนี้ ตอนนี้ เผด็จการทหารในไทยกำลังโกรธแค้นชาวสิงคโปร์ พวกเขาถอนคำเชิญของ รมว.ต่างประเทศสิงคโปร์ที่จะเยือนไทย และยกเลิกโครงการความร่วมมือระหว่างหน่วยงานข้าราชการพลเรือนไทย-สิงคโปร์ (CSEP) ด้วยเหตุผลว่า ชาวสิงคโปร์กล้าดีไปพบปะอดีตนายกฯของไทย โอ้.. และเพราะว่าสิงคโปร์ดันปล่อยให้ CNN ไปสัมภาษณ์ทักษิณที่นั่น รัฐบาลไทยได้เรียกเอกอัครราชทูตสิงคโปร์ประจำประเทศไทยมาที่ทำเนียบรัฐบาลเพื่อแสดงค
วามไม่พอใจอย่างรุนแรง มันไม่เชิงสงครามซะทีเดียว แต่มันก็เห็นชัดว่าพวกเขากำลังโกรธ มันเป็นเรื่องที่น่าตลกที่เผด็จการของไทยพยายามเรียกร้องศีลธรรมกับสิงคโปร์ ทั้งที่พวกเขาเองยังจำกัดสิทธิเสรีภาพอย่างมาก ตามความเห็นของผม มันป่วยการที่จะทำให้ประเทศไทยกลับสู่ประชาธิปไตย เผด็จการทหารให้สัญญาว่าพวกเขาจะยกเลิกกฎอัยการศึกเมื่อสิ้นปี 2006 แต่ตอนนี้ปี 2007 แล้ว กฎอัยการศึกก็ยังคงมีอยู่ในบางพื้นที่ CNN ก็ถูกเซ็นเซอร์ สถานีทีวีท้องถิ่นก็เซ็นเซอร์ตัวเอง นั่นทำให้บรรยากาศของความโกรธแค้น ความกลัวกำลังเพิ่มขึ้น โดยเฉพาะที่ออฟฟิศของCNN ที่ซึ่งมีคนพยายามขู่เราเสมอ!
แดน ริเวอร์
xxxxxkiekie ณ.บางไซ….แปล
Read more : Censorship in Thailand from Wikipedia
CNN Thaksin interview sparks row
POSTED: 1837 GMT (0237 HKT), January 17, 2007
Thaksin Shinawatra, seen in 2005, has traveled extensively since his ouster.
BANGKOK, Thailand (CNN ) — A diplomatic row has erupted between Thailand’s military junta and the government of nearby Singapore after CNN’s exclusive interview with ousted Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
Thailand’s army rulers issued a statement expressing dissatisfaction that Thaksin had been allowed to meet the Singaporean deputy prime minister.
The meeting was thrust into the limelight when Thaksin broke his four-month public silence by appearing on CNN from Singapore to say “Enough is enough,” promising to quit politics for good and expressing the desire to return from exile abroad to private life in Thailand.
Soon afterward, the foreign ministry in Bangkok announced that it was rescinding an invitation to Singaporean Foreign Minister George Yeo, scheduled for the end of January, and was freezing a civil-service exchange program with Singapore.
CNN’s transmission of the interview with Thaksin was blocked by satellite company UBC throughout Thailand after the military ordered the country’s news media to refrain from carrying any messages or images of him.
During the 30-minute interview, to be broadcast in full this weekend on CNNI’s “Talk Asia,” Thaksin denied a government claim that he was involved in a series of New Year’s Eve bombings in Bangkok in which three people were killed.
He described the allegation as “baseless,” adding that he had “no involvement at all” in the attacks and expressing “deepest sympathy for those who lost their loved ones and also all those injured.”
Asked if he will return to politics in Thailand, the 57-year-old former leader said, “No. No, enough is enough. Six years you serve the countries. You’ve been working hard. You sacrifice your time, even your life. And even your family life. So it’s, it’s time for me to go back as a private citizen. And contribute to the Thai society outside political arena.”
The message of reconciliation made front-page news in several of Thailand’s newspapers, but local TV stations did not broadcast any portions of the interview.
Giles Ungakaporn, a professor of politics at Bangkok University and anti-coup activist, said the media had been threatened.
Army leaders met last week with Thai media chiefs and asked them not to report what Thaksin was saying. Though possible consequences for disobeying were not spelled out, several media commentators and columnists have said the army leaders implied that doing so could result in sanctions or intervention.
One Thai journalist who asked not to be identified told CNN that members of the Thai television news media were practicing “self-censorship,” a decision she described as “not right,” but unavoidable.
Martial law remains in place throughout Thailand, despite the army’s promise made last October to lift it by the end of 2006. A resolution to do so still has not been approved by the country’s constitutional monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Life in Thailand has continued largely as normal since Sept. 19, when tanks rolled onto the streets and, claiming Thaksin was involved in corrupt practices, ousted the democratically elected leader.
Since then, the coup leaders — who call themselves the Council for National Security — have failed to present persuasive evidence that would prove their allegations that Thaksin is corrupt.
During its four months in power, the CNS has been accused of committing a series of blunders.
For example, its tax on some portfolio investments caused the stock market to plummet 15 percent in one day, a loss of $23 billion. A policy U-turn the next day exempting equities from the law helped trigger a recovery, but left many economists wondering if the army’s leaders were competent to run one of Asia’s booming economies.
Other announcements restricting foreign companies operating in Thailand have also unsettled investors.
Together with the clamp-down on the news media and continuing martial law, the reputation of Thailand has become tarnished in the eyes of some in the international community, with the Japan External Trade Organization saying several Japanese firms are considering putting off plans to invest there.
Many are left wondering whether 2007 will be even more tumultuous than were the last 12 months and, crucially, whether Thailand and its 62 million inhabitants are descending toward autocracy and economic decline.
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