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Thai journalists fighting back after being muzzled

Thai activists wave Democrat Party flags during a rally against Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra in Bangkok on Friday. Thailand's king met his top advisers to discuss the growing calls to appoint a new prime minister and end the country's political stand-off, sources close to the meeting said. PHOTO: AFP

Since Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra took office five years ago, dozens of journalists who criticized the government have been sacked or sued for libel, TV talk shows have been canceled and radio stations yanked off the air.

Thaksin, a telecom tycoon-turned-politician, has repeatedly blasted reporters who question his policies as ignorant and unpatriotic. He and his close associates have taken over media companies and pressured journalists into subservience, taming what was once hailed as one of Asia's freest presses.

But as an anti-Thaksin movement has gained momentum with almost daily street protests, journalists have begun to report the news as they see it -- not as the prime minister wants it seen. And even state-owned outlets are offering more coverage of government opponents.

"When people rose to criticize Thaksin, the media -- whether they worked for the state or not -- could no longer close their eyes and ears and pretend not to see it and not report it," said Pattara Khumphitak, president of the Thai Journalists' Association and political editor at the Thai-language newspaper Post Today.

Late last year, tens of thousands of protesters started demonstrating and calling for Thaksin's resignation on charges of corruption, but most television stations did not even mention that an anti-Thaksin movement was brewing.

As the movement gained momentum, Thaksin dissolved parliament last month and called snap elections, and the press had to cover the news that the people in power could no longer cover up.

bad start

The Thai press was in trouble as soon as Thaksin became prime minister in 2001.

Shortly after he took office, Shin Corp, the telecom giant that was owned by his family, fired 21 journalists from its iTV television station.

The iTV journalists, who won a court case and years of back pay for being illegally dismissed, said they were pressured to downplay negative news about Thaksin and his Thai Rak Thai party.

The dismissals turned out to be a harbinger of more attacks on the media.

Several television and radio talk shows were taken off the air, editors and reporters were fired, and the government liberally filed lawsuits against its critics.

"Before the anti-Thaksin movement began, we were under a lot of pressure ... nobody dared to go up against him, so he had a free hand to manipulate the media," said Karuna Buakamsri, one of the sacked iTV reporters.

Although Thaksin still lashes out at reporters, the media have scored a few victories.

A Thai criminal court last week acquitted media critic Supinya Klangnarong who was sued by Shin Corp for suggesting that it had profited from its connections with the government.
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