Foreign diplomats told martial law invoked to maintain peace and order

[rubl]

... "and there would be no limitation of freedom of the press"...

Except of course closing down a few tv stations.

Prayuth made some not-so-veiled threats against the newspapers and social media yesterday.

I noticed this morning that the Bangkok Post removed all of its coup-related controversial news stories (at least 6 or 7 stories) from their mobile website version.

The noose around freedom of speech/the press is tightening. These are ominous developments, and I'm wondering how long the free flow of opinion and information will last on this very forum.

The below quote from another TV thread reminds us that this guy currently speaks out of both sides of his mouth.

"He apologized for the temporary closure of certain media channels as this was a means to ensure the situation does not escalate further from biased media broadcasts."

One or two weeks ago the CAPO prohibited newsmedia from publishing news which could be construed as putting the PDRC/PCAD in a favourable light, with 'favourable' not clearly defined.

The only difference now seems that also UDD sides are restricted in their publishing.

[SICHONSTEVE]

... "and there would be no limitation of freedom of the press"...

Except of course closing down a few tv stations.

Only those that are biased one way or the other - in order to prevent the dissemination of false propaganda and fomenting discord amongst the various factions. Makes sense, does it??

[Fookhaht]

... "and there would be no limitation of freedom of the press"...

Except of course closing down a few tv stations.

Only those that are biased one way or the other - in order to prevent the dissemination of false propaganda and fomenting discord amongst the various factions. Makes sense, does it??

The only thing that doesn't make sense is: "Who gets to define BIAS and FALSE?"

Suthep?

Chalerm?

Thaksin?

Prayuth?

You?

And who, in the above list, do you trust?

We all know the answer to that question.

And thus, we have the key to Pandora's Box. Open it, if you dare.

From Wikipedia:

"Today the phrase 'to open Pandora's box' means to perform an action that may seem small or innocent, but that turns out to have severely detrimental and far-reaching consequences."

Edited May 21, 2014 by Fookhaht

[SICHONSTEVE]

... "and there would be no limitation of freedom of the press"...

Except of course closing down a few tv stations.

Only those that are biased one way or the other - in order to prevent the dissemination of false propaganda and fomenting discord amongst the various factions. Makes sense, does it??

The only thing that doesn't make sense is: "Who gets to define BIAS and FALSE?"

Suthep?

Chalerm?

Thaksin?

Prayuth?

You?

And who, in the above list, do you trust?

We all know the answer to that question.

And thus, we have the key to Pandora's Box. Open it, if you dare.

From Wikipedia:

"Today the phrase 'to open Pandora's box' means to perform an action that may seem small or innocent, but that turns out to have severely detrimental and far-reaching consequences."

Prayuth on both accounts!!

[Fookhaht]

... "and there would be no limitation of freedom of the press"...

Except of course closing down a few tv stations.

Only those that are biased one way or the other - in order to prevent the dissemination of false propaganda and fomenting discord amongst the various factions. Makes sense, does it??

The only thing that doesn't make sense is: "Who gets to define BIAS and FALSE?"

Suthep?

Chalerm?

Thaksin?

Prayuth?

You?

And who, in the above list, do you trust?

We all know the answer to that question.

And thus, we have the key to Pandora's Box. Open it, if you dare.

From Wikipedia:

"Today the phrase 'to open Pandora's box' means to perform an action that may seem small or innocent, but that turns out to have severely detrimental and far-reaching consequences."

Prayuth on both accounts!!

OMG. I don't have enough grains of salt to handle all your future posts! Edited May 21, 2014 by Fookhaht

[impulse]

Maybe the sky will fall tomorrow.

Today, I'm enjoying access to CNN, Reuters, Al Jazeera, RT, Bangkok Post, The Nation, and just about every news source that's not a blatant propaganda mouthpiece of one of the factions they're trying to bring to the table.

I'm posting freely with no fear of a knock at the door, and reading all kinds of posts that are not very favorable to the military. None of the Thais at work seem to be limited on their smartphones, either.

Is it a nervous time? Absolutely. But the sky's not falling yet. I'm betting Thailand will survive this episode, just like it's survived the last umpteen.

Are you aware that the Bangkok Post has already curtailed six or seven of its "take-over"/coup related controversial stories from their website? This is presumably as a result of the not-so-veiled threats to newspapers from yesterday's remarks by the general.

Possibly things aren't as rosy as you hope for. But on your last paragraph, I'm with you.

Really, we're closer on this than our back and forth would indicate. It is a slippery (and scary) slope. But not all forms of speech are protected, nor IMHO should they be if they incite violence (or convince me to take pills that would make important parts fall off).

But I think it's too early to panic. Not too early to get nervous, and if we were in a country where this was unprecedented, I'd be on an airplane today.

But Thailand will get through all this again and I'm betting things will get back to normal. (I'm not holding any judgment whether that's good)

[OJAS]

OMG. I don't have enough grains of salt to handle all your future posts!

Which begs the obvious question: Did the foreign diplomats who attended this morning's meeting have between them enough grains of salt to toss afterwards?

Edited May 21, 2014 by OJAS

[Fookhaht]

Maybe the sky will fall tomorrow.

Today, I'm enjoying access to CNN, Reuters, Al Jazeera, RT, Bangkok Post, The Nation, and just about every news source that's not a blatant propaganda mouthpiece of one of the factions they're trying to bring to the table.

I'm posting freely with no fear of a knock at the door, and reading all kinds of posts that are not very favorable to the military. None of the Thais at work seem to be limited on their smartphones, either.

Is it a nervous time? Absolutely. But the sky's not falling yet. I'm betting Thailand will survive this episode, just like it's survived the last umpteen.

Are you aware that the Bangkok Post has already curtailed six or seven of its "take-over"/coup related controversial stories from their website? This is presumably as a result of the not-so-veiled threats to newspapers from yesterday's remarks by the general.

Possibly things aren't as rosy as you hope for. But on your last paragraph, I'm with you.

I notice that the BP has reposted the stories I alluded to. Maybe they were temporarily pulled off the 'net for their lawyers to take a look? At the risk of flattering the Thaivisa forum, I wonder if they read it? Edited May 21, 2014 by Fookhaht