Prachathai Site, Tv Station Censored

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Prachatai, the only independent web-based newspaper in Thailand has been closed down by the military-backed government. The government has also sent soldiers to close down the Red Shirt TV station and various community radio stations. The aim is to shut down all free media and blanket the country in darkness.

That's what martial law does, apparently. Sad day.

Edited April 8, 2010 by WinnieTheKhwai

[anotherpeter]

Is Prachatai independent like red TV is independent? Or is it actually an unbiased website? Is it pro anything?

[WinnieTheKhwai]

I mostly just used the forum. The forum had plenty posts supporting both sides.

The bigger issue however is that it shouldn't matter; curbing freedom of speech is always pretty lame and ultimately counter-productive.

Edited April 8, 2010 by WinnieTheKhwai

[anotherpeter]

Does that mean Thai Visa is next?

[WinnieTheKhwai]

Unlikely, seeing they're allied with The Nation.

[chadintheusa]

The tools used by the Reds to incite unrest should be shut down. The broadcasting of wildly inaccurate information cannot be tolerated at a time of national crisis.

[anotherpeter]

Unlikely, seeing they're allied with The Nation.

Yes ... I was going to add that to my post.

[WinnieTheKhwai]

The tools used by the Reds to incite unrest should be shut down. The broadcasting of wildly inaccurate information cannot be tolerated at a time of national crisis.

(Crisis? What crisis? It's only a crisis if you want it to be. Protests can be managed while without suspending the constitution and human rights right? Your country always managed that, it would be nice to allow Thais the same freedoms.)

[khunjamespittman]

Is Prachatai independent like red TV is independent? Or is it actually an unbiased website? Is it pro anything?

If you are going to talk about bias in the print media then The Nation should be at the top of your list.

Quite frankly, all the media outlets in Thailand have radical biases one way or another. I can't believe the Thai Universities are turning these people and further don't think many of them have a right to call themselves news journalists. We are bombarded with sensational headlines that are false. We see name calling and exageration to get attention.

The whole journalism profession should be ashamed at what is today portrayed as news. Journalist are supposed to record the facts. I sincerely wish they would start.

[Mestizo]

The tools used by the Reds to incite unrest should be shut down. The broadcasting of wildly inaccurate information cannot be tolerated at a time of national crisis.

(Crisis? What crisis? It's only a crisis if you want it to be. Protests can be managed while without suspending the constitution and human rights right? Your country always managed that, it would be nice to allow Thais the same freedoms.)

Yeah, ask all the business owners around Rajprasong "What crisis?" Ask the woman who had her car smashed up because she was desperately trying to take her sick child to the hospital "What crisis?" Ask the other millions of Thai's who are being massively inconvenienced by this non-sense, "What crisis?" This *IS* a crisis. Not because we want it to be. Its a crisis because the redshirt goons have MADE it a crisis.

Yes, protests can be managed when the protestors adhere to legal means and guidelines for protesting. Yes, my country does manage that quite well. All potential protest groups are required to request a permit ahead of time. Any non-approved protests are deemed illegal and quickly disbursed by law enforcement.

If what is being done here, was ever tried in Washington DC, the protestors better hope law enforcement comes pretty quickly, as the local citizens would quickly take it upon themselves to remove these criminals. They would be given the choice to either leave on their own or by ambulance.

You speak of allowing the redshirts "freedoms".. What about the individuals (business owners, local residents, etc) who's rights and freedoms the redshirts are currently trampling all over?

-Mestizo

[cavelight]

Chiranuch Premchaiporn, webmaster of independent Thai online news portal Prachatai, was charged on 31 March 2010 under the Computer Crimes Act.

Ms Chiranuch had to wait nearly four hours before bail was approved with a 300,000 baht bond, calculated on her salary as a nursing sister, for not removing comments posted on a web-board deemed offensive to (censored) fast enough to satisfy the government censors.

The Criminal Court set May 31 for the first hearing to check defence and prosecution witness lists.

In March 2009, military installed Thai Prime Minister Abhisit lied to a meeting at St John's College, Oxford that he had "sorted out Chiranuch's case and it was a misunderstanding by the police".

Edited April 9, 2010 by cavelight

[tonywebster]

The tools used by the Reds to incite unrest should be shut down. The broadcasting of wildly inaccurate information cannot be tolerated at a time of national crisis.

They had better shut down the government then

[wintermute]

I knew this was going to happen eventually. The response in SE Asia to any sort of civil unrest is always mass censorship and authoritarian police action instead of addressing the issues in a coherent way.

What this doesn't do is get rid of the problem and just drives protesters underground and in worst case scenarios it will create violence rather than stop it because then people view the government as taking away essential rights.