The Criminal Court released on bail today two journalists who had been taken into police custody in connection with the alleged defacing of a wall of the Temple of the Emerald Buddha in March last year. The court set their bonds at Bt35,000 each.

 

Nuttaphol Meksobhon, a reporter of Prachatai, was arrested yesterday afternoon for being an accomplice in causing damage to a historic site and vandalising a wall in a public place.

 

Earlier, the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) released a statement in response to the arrests, saying that they are watching the situation very closely and have contacted Prachatai to verify whether the two reporters had been assigned to cover the incident.

 

Full story: Thai PBS 2024-02-13

 

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From Reuters headline "Thai journalists arrested for news coverage of anarchist graffiti on temple" February 13, 2024:

• "Two Thai journalists have been arrested for their story about an activist spray painting an anarchist symbol and a symbol critical of "lese majeste" laws on a Bangkok temple wall" (my bold)

Unless the reporters had prior knowledge of a plan to create subject graffiti that would make them complicit, they should actually become witnesses to the defacement for prosecution of those involved in the actual defacement.

The underlying charge isn't about freedom of speech, it's about "causing damage to a historic site and vandalising a wall in a public place." Seems news worthy to report.

 

But I suspect that Nattaphol Meksobhon, being a reporter from the independent online news outlet Prachatai that often criticizes authoritarian governance, was too easy a target for political retribution. 

 

I thoroughly recommend Prachathai.