Thaksin's War On Media Turns Dirty

[george]

Thaksin's war on media turns dirty

BANGKOK: -- Sondhi Limthongkul is one of the most pugnacious, aggressive and thick-skinned journalists in Asia, so when his TV talk show, Thailand This Week, was taken off the air, it was no great setback.

His piercing criticisms of Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra had become too much for the station, so Sondhi took them to the streets. He began putting on his show in Bangkok universities and in the city's Lumpini Park. But then he found himself with another problem -- a 500million baht ($16.6million) defamation suit brought against him by Thaksin.

Then the newspaper owned by Sondhi, 58, was hit with another 500million baht claim from the same source. And he noticed he was being followed by members of the Thai Special Branch, he claims.

Last Thursday came the most dramatic development -- small but noisy bombs that exploded, without causing injury, at his office and at the temple of Luangta Maha Bua, a revered Buddhist monk.

The two men have one thing in common: they have recently made vociferous criticisms of the Government.

On Friday, Thaksin's spokesman found himself denying what plenty of people in Thailand believe: that the country's Prime Minister, or his supporters, are pursuing a determined, and perhaps even violent, vendetta against the press.

Thai journalists and human rights monitors around the world are convinced the country's media is facing a crisis.

By a combination of defamation suits and tactical buyouts of media companies by his friends and allies, the Prime Minister is accused of cowing what used to be one of the most lively and independent media communities in Asia.

"The Thaksin administration uses powerful political and financial means to stifle media freedom and shape an unchallenged public image of a strong government," said Brad Adams, the executive director of Human Rights Watch.

Thaksin's power over the media stems from his background as the head of Shin Corporation, a huge telecommunications conglomerate.

Of Thailand's 500 radio stations, 200 are owned by the military, 140 by the Government's public relations department, 62 by companies controlled by people close to Thaksin and many of the rest by the police. The six national TV stations are similarly dominated.

Two of the country's most respected newspapers, Matichon and The Bangkok Post, recently fought off hostile takeover bids by Paiboon Damrongchaitham, an old business associate of the Prime Minister.

Government spokesmen dismiss talk of conspiracy, and say Thaksin has the right to defend his reputation against defamation. Perhaps his strongest defence is his popularity -- despite recent by-election losses he maintains a huge majority. Even Sondhi supported him until a few months ago.

Now Sondhi says: "He's doing what Chavez has done in Venezuela or Juan Peron in Argentina."

Thaksin rebuked the media last week for its coverage of a report alleging Thailand was one of the countries in which the US had set up secret prisons, asking outlets to be careful "handling something that's sensitive and could be damaging to the country's reputation".

--The Times 2005-11-08

[TAWP]

Atleast Thailand now has something incommon with Italy.

[thailien8]

When you got 'em by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow....

Toxin seized this country by the testicles years ago and now he is squeezing.