Thai Authorities Detain Malaysian TV Crew

[george]

Thai authorities detain and question ntv7 crew

BETONG (Southern Thailand): Three crew members of Malaysian television station ntv7 shooting a recording for its popular Edisi Siasat programme here were detained and questioned for more than five hours by Thai authorities on Saturday.

Senior producer Zainal Rashid Ahmad, 40, producer Fadzli Ramli, 32, and journalist Firdaus Mohammad Zainal, 30, were detained at the Nyior Lima police station in Pattani at 10am.

The crew had entered southern Thailand on Thursday via Betong to get a first-hand account of the situation there following several bloody incidents recently.

They returned to Malaysia yesterday morning.

Zainal Rashid said they were in a rented car headed for Pattani province after they had done a recording in Yala when police stopped them at a roadblock.

He said the police handed them to military officers nearby after finding TV cameras in the vehicle.

During their five-hour detention, the military officers reviewed all 10 tapes in their possession “as they feared the image of their government would be jeopardised,” he said.

Zainal Rashid said the military seized some of their equipment and one tape containing interviews of Yala residents voicing dissatisfaction with the Thai government’s actions in southern Thailand.

After being questioned, the Malaysians were freed and allowed to proceed with their filming activities in Narathiwat province and Tak Bai, the township where 87 Thai Muslims died during and after a protest recently that sparked international outrage.

Fadzli said that moments after they were stopped, Zainal Rashid managed to contact their employers to inform them of the incident.

He said he and his colleagues were worried at first but were relieved when the Thais treated them well after confirming they had proper documents and Malaysian Information Department credentials.

Firdaus said the incident showed that the Thai authorities were wary of newsmen coming into the region.

“The situation is not safe there. Tourist spots like Sungai Golok are deserted because the many soldiers there make it look like a very dangerous place,” he said.

-– Bernama Malaysia, 2004-11-25

[Baaksida]

It's obvious that the Thai government has to cover up things in the South, how its military and police forces suppress the Muslim minority of Thailand.

[Pattayaguy1999]

It's obvious that the Thai government has to cover up things in the South, how its military and police forces suppress the Muslim minority of Thailand. 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm sure the Thais do not want negative accounts published, but Thailand cannot control all the media in the old Soviet Union mold. The worldwide outrage over the muslims that died by suffocation demostrates that.

[eljeque]

Malaysia is seen highly among many hundreds of millions of muslims in the world.

Muslims throughout the world want to go to Mecca, or work in the UAE, yet Mahatir has been seen by Muslims around the world as one who had stood up to the West, built an economy where the standard of living is far above that of other Muslim countries lacking oil revenues, AND is English speaking.

Mahatir carries clout. Malaysia benefits from Mahatir's clout.

This incident in the south and detaining the Malay reporters will be televised in Muslim nations around the world, and bring more funds and warriors to the region.

Malaysia is far more adept in world affairs than clownksin and his paper birds

[gievali]

Malaysia is seen highly among many hundreds of millions of muslims in the world.

.....

This incident in the south and detaining the Malay reporters will be televised in Muslim nations around the world, and bring more funds and warriors to the region.

.....

Malaysia is far more adept in world affairs than clownksin and his paper birds

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

To the Th people i say : act as genuine budhists, rid yourself of the clownskin and his paperbirds coz in reality he is a violent fascist conman, a ###### Chinese who places capitalism above budhism.