PM Prayut warns media to toe the line or face 'consequences'

[noitom]

He needs a Thai goebbels to handle all Thai media.

[chooka]

BBC World News is reporting that the PM has said he would probably execute reporters who don't toe the line and they are highlighting his regular outbursts.

It had to happen and can only get worse, wait until he stars at the UN and has to face the international media scrum.

Same being reported in the Australian media, basically saying he has lost the plot.

[tx22cb]

Prayuth is all talk - a lot of barking, a lot of warnings and threats against the media.

This puts the Yellow press in a quandary - do they blindly support everything the PM does, or do their media ethics kick in to uphold journalistic principles?

Can't help reminiscing that, just a few years ago, Thailand was applauded for having the most press freedom in SE Asia ...

[jerojero]

Nazis and Soviets did the same. But at least they were honest and didn't proclaim to want democracy. Hypocrisy. Freedom of speech is a cornerstone of democracy.

Edited March 26, 2015 by jerojero

[chooka]

BBC World News is reporting that the PM has said he would probably execute reporters who don't toe the line and they are highlighting his regular outbursts.

It had to happen and can only get worse, wait until he stars at the UN and has to face the international media scrum.

Is he gonna feed them to a pack of hungry dogs, burn them alive, chop off their heads. What?

He will probably be hit with a barrage of questions and will loose the plot completely and throw the mother of all tantrums. He can't tug the ears, run his hands through the hair, slap or threaten to execute the foreign media. They are going to have a field day on prayuth and can't wait to see the tantrum he throws, he will make a nuclear explosion look like a fire cracker.

[dinger]

BBC World News is reporting that the PM has said he would probably execute reporters who don't toe the line and they are highlighting his regular outbursts.

It had to happen and can only get worse, wait until he stars at the UN and has to face the international media scrum.

Any one remember this one?

[chooka]

BBC World News is reporting that the PM has said he would probably execute reporters who don't toe the line and they are highlighting his regular outbursts.

It had to happen and can only get worse, wait until he stars at the UN and has to face the international media scrum.

Any one remember this one?

No, who is it?

[NeverSure]

BBC World News is reporting that the PM has said he would probably execute reporters who don't toe the line and they are highlighting his regular outbursts.

It had to happen and can only get worse, wait until he stars at the UN and has to face the international media scrum.

Same being reported in the Australian media, basically saying he has lost the plot.

He never had the plot. Many of us knew that from the onset.

[NeverSure]

BBC World News is reporting that the PM has said he would probably execute reporters who don't toe the line and they are highlighting his regular outbursts.

It had to happen and can only get worse, wait until he stars at the UN and has to face the international media scrum.

Any one remember this one?

No, who is it?

Seriously? I thought that was world famous, although it may be a hoax.

https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&source=hp&biw=1813&bih=857&q=nikita+khrushchev+shoe&oq=nikita+khrushchev&gs_l=img.1.1.0l10.1840.1840.0.4351.1.1.0.0.0.0.91.91.1.1.0.msedr...0...1ac.1.64.img..0.1.90.KhjtNl5F66s

Edited March 26, 2015 by NeverSure

[Plutojames88]

YS should flee or go to the American Embassy .....it won't be long until Thailand is officially a basket case .

This kind of leadership and threats to citizens ( let alone opponents ) is akin to ISIS

[NeverSure]

[NongKhaiKid]

BBC World News is reporting that the PM has said he would probably execute reporters who don't toe the line and they are highlighting his regular outbursts.

It had to happen and can only get worse, wait until he stars at the UN and has to face the international media scrum.

And that report doesn't seem very accurate, does it? I've also read similar reports in other international media, but the actual quotations just don't support the international media's hysterical headlines.

The BP website says he was supposedly being sarcastic which is probably true but here's a leader who speaks presuming everyone will know when he's joking, being sarcastic etc and heaven forbid telling the truth.

He's responsible for what he says, how he says it and how it's received.

The world knows him as an army chief who imposed martial law then stages a coup and who runs the country in a heavy handed way so what are they to think when he drops a little throwaway line that just doesn't sound right ?

Edited March 26, 2015 by NongKhaiKid

[Squeegee]

I quoted him yesterday that he is "a fighter" and "getting more angry". Soon he will cease seeming to be so funny and things will get darker.

Let's hope nobody else gets hurt when he flips out.

[alfalfa19]

UNveiled threats, methinks:

The prime minister specifically identified a Channel 3 reporter, Ms Thapanee Iadsrichai, and warned that she must report herself to authorities concerned for her reportage of the recent seizure of Thai fishing boats in Indonesia.

He asked if the media would take the responsibility if the European Union stops buying seafood products from Thailand because of the Thai media’s negative reporting about Thai fishing industry.

[NeverSure]

YS should flee or go to the American Embassy .....it won't be long until Thailand is officially a basket case .

This kind of leadership and threats to citizens ( let alone opponents ) is akin to ISIS

You're right she could get protection, but would the good general and his army recognize the sovereignty of a foreign embassy?

I'm afraid someone is unstable.

[NeverSure]

Where's our Greek friend? I need some 'splainin'.

[Plutojames88]

YS should flee or go to the American Embassy .....it won't be long until Thailand is officially a basket case .

This kind of leadership and threats to citizens ( let alone opponents ) is akin to ISIS

You're right she could get protection, but would the good general and his army recognize the sovereignty of a foreign embassy?

I'm afraid someone is unstable.

You might be well right ...it's insanity going in armed into a United States Embassy without permission on what is their soil technically - and stealing arresting / shooting an elected PM who they wish to prosecute .....that would be punishable by American force .....guys like Mc Cain would seek nothing less than bombing out all Thai military barracks in Bangkok just for starters .

Embassies are a no no.

Uncle Sam' s especially.

[empireboy]

I'm all for freedom of speech but I wouldn't let my 5 year old say whatever she wants without consequences!

Just because you're 55 and a reporter for the press doesn't mean you have learned to weigh your words any better than my 5 year old and equally importantly..... that there should not be (negative) consequences for any inappropriate use of your "freedom of speech"!!

Too many in the press don't want to report just the truth... they want to create scandal and sensation and they couch their reportage in whatever manner they please to do so! Good on the PM for warning them! It's better than shutting them down with no warning at all!

[rtco]

"He asked for understanding from the media, insisting that he is not a politician" ... only now has he realised that???

[NeverSure]

I'm all for freedom of speech but I wouldn't let my 5 year old say whatever she wants without consequences!

Just because you're 55 and a reporter for the press doesn't mean you have learned to weigh your words any better than my 5 year old and equally importantly..... that there should not be (negative) consequences for any inappropriate use of your "freedom of speech"!!

Too many in the press don't want to report just the truth... they want to create scandal and sensation and they couch their reportage in whatever manner they please to do so! Good on the PM for warning them! It's better than shutting them down with no warning at all!

You don't understand that freedom of the press is part of the checks and balances which keep our freedom? What kind of freedom are you seeing when there's an unelected person who has total control of everyone?

[Just1Voice]

He's worried about the EU no longer buying Thailand fish due to one Thai reporter's commentary? Hey, General Numbnuts, here's a news flash for you. There have been NUMEROUS reports by media associations outside of Thailand, who have conducted their own exhaustive investigations, and then written their reports, and I can pretty much guarantee that those damming reports carry a lot more weight with the EU than one report from a Thai journo. You better wake up to the real world, and stop living in your fantasy land.

Edited March 26, 2015 by Just1Voice

[recycler]

He warned that he might be forced to invoke his special powers to deal with media which bent on biased reporting in a way which may cause political conflict.

That is what some of the media people seek to achieve Prime Minister.

Do not give in to them and their low practices.

Carry on with the good job you have been doing up to now and the Thai people will recognise your efforts and ignore the media.

And don't forget.......think before you open your mouth..................

And don't forget.......think before you open your mouth..................

You should do the same mate,

Look at the reality, this guy will not give back power and each day show more of his game : keep the powerm play his game or get jailed...

He can't help it, Greece was a military dictatorship until 1974, this is normal for older Greeks.

It also baffles me how many people born and raised in countries with a democratic government and a free speech culture are sympathizing with and condoning a military junta that gets more oppressive by the hour here.

[NongKhaiKid]

He's worried about the EU no longer buying Thailand fish due to one Thai reporter's commentary? Hey, General Numbnuts, here's a news flash for you. There have been NUMEROUS reports by media associations outside of Thailand, who have conducted their own exhaustive investigations, and then written their reports, and I can pretty much guarantee that those damming reports carry a lot more weight with the EU than one report from a Thai journo. You better wake up to the real world, and stop living in your fantasy land.

It's reminiscent of the attitude towards tourism where it's circle the wagons and protect at all costs. After the Koh Tau murders not one official expressed regret for the deaths as their only worry was the possible negative effect on tourism revenue.

Going much further back to when bird flu was detected here the news was suppressed for a month to protect Thai chicken exports. Then govt minister was adamant the disease wasn't in the country and to say otherwise was unpatriotic.

[Suffinator]

And that folks is the bell tolling the end of democracy or rather what little there was of it. Like or loathe the press a free press is the very pillars that uphold democracy and make governments conduct their actions with a degree of accountability.

He asked if the media would take the responsibility if the European Union stops buying seafood products from Thailand because of the Thai media’s negative reporting about Thai fishing industry. So what is Prayut suggesting .. bury the truth in order to protect the fishing industry? Does it not concern him that human rights are being abused? Would he submit himself to the kind of abuse those on the trawlers face? I think this is probably the most revealing and damning thing Prayut has said to date for it suggests that money above all is far more important than people. It's time Change.org produced a petition to the EU calling on sanctions and embargoes.

W H Auden - Stop All the Clocks ... this could be aptly be narrated for the death of democracy:

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,

Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He Is Dead,
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood.
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

[micmichd]

The proof of the pudding is the eating.

Try to compare German institutions to concentration camps in German media and see what happens.

[jpeg]

This is why some posters need to think more before speaking aloud themselves, nevermind criticising the big guy for what he says.

In another topic I pointed this out and one of the very vocal members who pulls no punches with his views on the junta government replied that he is using an internet proxy.

So here it is again in this topic: for those who want to speak 100% freely you need to put some form of condom on your tongue: whether that be a proxy or residing outside the junta's jurisdiction.

Otherwise, don't let the bedbugs bite....

You do not need an internet proxy to be able to view the almost daily gaffes being reported by almost all mainstream media. What's he gonna do? Shut down the internet?

Some of you need to look at news sources outside TV news forum and BKKPost/Nation.

[jpeg]

He's worried about the EU no longer buying Thailand fish due to one Thai reporter's commentary? Hey, General Numbnuts, here's a news flash for you. There have been NUMEROUS reports by media associations outside of Thailand, who have conducted their own exhaustive investigations, and then written their reports, and I can pretty much guarantee that those damming reports carry a lot more weight with the EU than one report from a Thai journo. You better wake up to the real world, and stop living in your fantasy land.

He is quintessentially Thai. He doesn't believe there's a World outside of Thailand and if there were, Thailand arrogantly asserts it's supremacy of such.

[Chris Lawrence]

I'm all for freedom of speech but I wouldn't let my 5 year old say whatever she wants without consequences!

Just because you're 55 and a reporter for the press doesn't mean you have learned to weigh your words any better than my 5 year old and equally importantly..... that there should not be (negative) consequences for any inappropriate use of your "freedom of speech"!!

Too many in the press don't want to report just the truth... they want to create scandal and sensation and they couch their reportage in whatever manner they please to do so! Good on the PM for warning them! It's better than shutting them down with no warning at all!

You don't understand that freedom of the press is part of the checks and balances which keep our freedom? What kind of freedom are you seeing when there's an unelected person who has total control of everyone?

“Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.”― Howard Zinn

“It has always been the prerogative of children and half-wits to point out that the emperor has no clothes. But a half-wit remains a half-wit, and the emperor remains an emperor.”― Neil Gaiman

Gandhi said it best, “Truth never damages a cause that is just.”

It is up to the media to address the truth. They are also there to challenge injustice, lies and uncover greed in our system. They are there to keep the bar$teds honest.

The analogy of a 5 years concept of challenging corruption has not developed to that of a 55 year old. The parallels are poles apart.

“In a room where people unanimously maintain a conspiracy of silence, one word of truth sounds like a pistol shot.”― Czesław Miłosz

[Godders]

I just hope that when and if the Channel; 3 reporter comes out from her "attitude adjustment" sessions she has the courage, unlike all her predecessors who have had the tratment, to gives us a first-hand account of exactly what happened during the session. I'll be watching TV to check her fingernails - and not for the colour of her nail varnish, either.

[rubl]

I just hope that when and if the Channel; 3 reporter comes out from her "attitude adjustment" sessions she has the courage, unlike all her predecessors who have had the tratment, to gives us a first-hand account of exactly what happened during the session. I'll be watching TV to check her fingernails - and not for the colour of her nail varnish, either.

May I suggest the lady be presented and stripped naked for all to see she is unharmed, or is that against the directives of the Ministry of Culture?