MEDIA-THAILAND: Censorship by Proxy, a Looming Threat

By Marwaan Macan-Markar Reprint | | Print |

Marwaan Macan-Markar

BANGKOK, Sep 19 2005 (IPS) - Paiboon Damrongchaitham is the new public enemy of Thailand’s independent press. ”An arrogant, inconsiderate entertainment mogul” is how ‘The Nation’ newspaper described him in an editorial on Monday.

Such an outpouring of rage stems from Paiboon’s sudden move to buy a large slice of shares in two prestigious newspaper groups here, whose flagship publications are the Thai-language ‘Matichon’ and the English-language ‘Bangkok Post.’

The anger at this legitimate financial transaction last week has little to do with the prospect of Paiboon monopolising the local media market, given the company that he heads, GMM Grammy, is already the largest entertainment group in Thailand.

Rather, it has more to do with the friends Paiboon keeps. It is public knowledge that the entertainment mogul has close connections with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, himself a tycoon in the country’s telecommunications sector before taking to politics.

For the Thai press, which remains independent, unlike other media, it was a purchase with the words ”interference” and ”censorship” written all over.

”(The) attempt to take over Matichon Group and Post Publishing should serve as a wake-up call to Thai journalists and free-press advocates that big business is intruding on political and social freedoms,” commented ‘Thai Rath,’ Thailand’s local language daily with the largest circulation, in an editorial over the weekend.

Such efforts to use financial and market mechanisms to silence independent journalism is a hallmark of politics since ”Thaksin came into power in 2001,” Kavi Chongkittavorn, a senior editor and columnist at ‘The Nation,’ told IPS. ”Thaksin believes that the only way for his populist programmes to be supported is for the media to back it without questions.”

Early signs of this ”new form of media control” first surfaced in 2003, when relatives of a senior member of the Thaksin government purchased shares in the media group that publishes ‘The Nation.’

At the same time, sections of the press have been forced to tone down their criticism of the Thaksin administration, which enjoys an absolute majority in parliament, for fear that advertisements would be withdrawn from a range of sources, say media rights groups.

But none of them triggered the kind of rally by a broad spectrum of journalists and the public to protect embattled newspapers as was witnessed over the past week. ”This reaction was quick, very strong and one we have never had before,” says Supinya Klangnarong, a leading Thai media right campaigner who, herself, is facing a legal battle for libel against the telecommunications conglomerate owned by Thaksin’s family.

She attributes that partly to the wide reputation newspapers like ‘Matichon’ have – particularly exposing scandals. By contrast, the world of radio and television hardly measure up to what the newspapers offer, since they are ”all controlled.”

Out of some 500 radio stations in Thailand, 200 belong to the military, 140 belong to the government’s public relations department, 62 to a media company dominated by a government shareholder, and the police, among others, own the rest.

The six national television stations are, likewise, under the wing of the army, the public relations department and the government-dominated media company, while the only independent channel has been bought by Shin Corporation, the telecom giant owned by the Shinawatras.

Yet what has prevailed here is symptomatic of a larger problem faced by the independent press in South-east Asian countries such as the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand.

The ‘Manila Times’ in the Philippines was a victim of such a buyout during the years of former President Joseph Estrada after it exposed his corrupt deals, says Roby Alampay, executive director of the South-east Asia Press Alliance. ”That was a clear case of private business mechanisms being used to control the media.”

In Indonesia, on the other hand, business tycoons with links to politicians have sought to silence the press by filing libel cases against independent publications. Media rights advocates call these efforts ”press control by proxy.”

The real fear most journalists and media rights activists have is the prospect of Thailand ending up with a docile media, which is the hallmark of this region’s richest country, Singapore. In that city-state, the two largest national press groups are run by the ruling party’s allies.

”Their journalists censor themselves,” states Reporters Without Borders in this year’s press freedom report. The Paris-based media rights watchdog gave Singapore a very low press freedom ranking-44th out of 166 countries-due to ”the complete absence of independent newspapers, radio stations (and) the application of prison sentences for press offences”.

”Only outrage by the public and press can stop this trend in Thailand,” says Kavi, the editor. ”Because Thaksin wants the press to give the same spin to his government as the electronic media does. He will never retreat.”