Chiranuch Premchaiyaporn

Recently, Chiranuch Premchaiyaporn, editor of the online newspaper Prachatai, gave a speech at the Thai Netizen Networks first meeting. She compare the freedom that Thai citizens have online to "animals in a cage."

She explained that while the animals have the freedom to do whatever they want in that cage, they only have the illusion of freedom because any attempt to step out of the cage is thwarted.

After her recent arrest in regards to the content on her site, she was asked to take down some of the content. Surprisingly, she has chosen not to do so. Her fear is that web content is getting more fearful, making bloggers subconsciously censor their own content. She hopes that online content will continue with its strength in opinions as well as relative anonymity.

New Rules for Foreigners

Prachatai is now reporting that foreigners in Thailand must now get public permission in order to post anything online while they are in Thailand. This includes contributing to a blog. The Ministry of Culture now has permission forms for foreigners to get signed for permission.

If you think this is a pain, it gets even worse for foreigners who want to host a website in Thailand.

The ministry is claiming that this is not being done to censor the media. They say it is being done in order to prevent negative press affecting tourism or the country's image. Just my opinion, but news like this looks much worse than some tourist saying they had crappy food in Bangkok.

There is issue over whether or not this new law is an elaborate hoax, but while some are denying it, others are confirming it, so there's no real way of knowing if this rumor is true or not. Now, whether they were originally intending for this law to go through or not, there is in fact a form created for people to fill out to post online. Whether or not it is really necessary, we honestly don't know for sure.

Photograph Emailed Puts Man in Prison

Apparently, if you send photos of the wrong person, you can actually be put in jail. According to Prachatai, there is currently a petition going around for the royal pardon of Suwicha Thakor, a man who emailed altered photos of King King Bhumipol Adulyadej. This could put in prison for ten years.

The content of these photos was deemed insulting to the monarchy. This news is only further damaging Thailands reputation as a country without press freedom and unreasonable restrictions.

As Reporters Without Borders States, “The charge of lese majeste has become a major tool of repression in Thailand.” Reporters Without Borders began this petition and urges many people to sign it. If you are interested, click here.

Journalists Arrested on Trumped Up Charges

As of April 2, the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology is said to have blocked over 7,000 web sites. These sites reportedly contained morally offensive content.

According to Prachatai, they are now currently investigating the pornographic animation clip ‘Ninja Love’ and hope to find the poster for prosecution.

The MICT now has created a hotline call service where people can report these offensive sites anonymously. The public can now feel even more free to give up information about these sites.

The hotline will also forward their information to the monarchy in order to further prevent this content from impacting the Thai citizens.

These new occurrences are right on par with other actions that the MICT has executed.

They're Not Anti-Technology, They're Anti-Free Thought

On March 5, three men were sentenced to ten years of imprisonment for allegedly sending news of the protests in Burma in 2007 over the internet. I find it interesting that had they not used a computer to send this message, they may not have been caught. According to an article at Prachatai, the police had no evidence, but frankly, they didn’t need it. The decision was made before trial had even begun. Reports of the trial weren’t even released in Thailand.

Despite these reports of cyber related crimes, the article discusses that this use of technology is not what the Thailand monarchy is against. They are against the independent thoughts that might turn against their leaders. They are still a fairly technologically savvy country, but this use of technology to spread the independent thoughts of some activists in Thailand scares them. I just thought this was interesting because I had never thought about it before. The power of the internet scares them, but hopefully this won’t be enough to limit their access to free speech even further.

Update on Website Ban

According to the Bangkok Post, Freedom Against Censorship Thailand (FACT) now claims that the Thai police and government now blocks more than 50,000 websites due to their content.

The content is thought to include pornography, southern Thailand terrorism and anti-monarchy literature.

FACT is trying to change this. They are offering to help anyone who would like access to these sites by helping them install software that can get around these bans. This blog apparently has been compiling lists of banned sites for years now.

Another interesting fact this article revealed is that originally, the law only permits sites being blocked with a court order. Minister Ranongruk Suwunchwee recently ordered that these sites can now be blocked without court authority because getting a court order can take too much time.

Here is a link to FACT, an interesting blog that proactively fights censorship in Thailand.

Fear Among the People

An article on prachatai.com discusses the climate of fear that is being established in Thailand as a result of these censorship laws. After the arrest of one of their editors, prachatai now has to cooperate with government officials on their content and further investigation of their site.

The monitoring of these sites is only getting worse. Now internet cafes are require by law to have users type in their ID information before using a computer. As of now more than 2300 websites have been blocked, and there will most certainly be more.

These new occurrences are causing an increasing amount of fear among citizens and journalists of Thailand, as well as other countries who have become involved. A new concern is that these practices are pushing anti-monarchy forces underground, only making citizens further vulnerable to attacks by the monarchy. Some believe that this will result in an even more anonymous way of distributing their news, such as by pamphlets they could toss out into the streets. Though this would get the word out, it would not solve all of their problems with censorship.

One of the main problems with this law against anti-monarchy comments is that it is too difficult to decipher between remarks that are constructive and those that are offensive. Their solution is to punish all who speak of the monarchy, when the best solution would probably be to punish no one. This would help to alleviate some of the anger of the people as well as keep the innocent free.

PM in talks with Online Activists

The prime minister of Thailand recently met with online activists in concern with their practices negatively affected the monarchy’s image. He spoke out against the arrest of the Prachatai editor, saying that it was in no way beneficial to their cause. He also expressed interest in changing the execution of Article 112, which refers to the lèse majesté laws being enforced.

The PM said, according to an article on the Prachatai website, that after returning from the U.K he would re-examine the procedure and prosecution of the Computer Crime Law to be more prudent and proper.

He consulted with the activists about possibly setting up a new committee to deal with web content more efficiently. This committee would involve the MICT (Ministry of Information and Communications Technology), the police, and other experts.

While the police have claimed no wrongdoing in the arrest of Prachatai’s editor, web experts and sources close to the arrest claim that the arrest involved intimidation and threats to the rights of online media.

These activists have urged the government to stop this negative attitude towards online media, including saying that the Prachatai website is part of a conspiracy that is ‘subversive to the monarchy.’

Hopefully, talks like these will continue until the issue of online censorship is settled.

New Book Ban

There’s a new book banning in Thailand! Recent reports on Prachatai state that the Thai government has now banned a thai translation of the Chinese Book, Nine Commentaries on the Chinese Communist Party. This book does not break any of the laws that books are currently most typically being banned for, reportedly because it criticizes the Chinese Communist party.

This inspires worry in the government that this book could affect the peaceful relations between Thailand and China.

This ban is technically covered by the Thai government under Article 9 of the Printing Act of 1941. This act states that publication of writing “contrary to public order or good morals” can be banned.

This ban marks the first time that an anti-communist writing has ever been banned in Thailand. This book inspires worry in the government of an uprising of anti-Chinese sentiment because it encourages Chinese citizens to denounce communism in China. The book already has a large cult following in Thailand.

Despite the ban, this book can still be ordered on Amazon.com.

Website Editor Arrested

The censorship in Thailand has now reached a new extreme. The BBC News reports that website editor and site founder Chiranuch Premchaiporn was arrested on charges of carrying content on her site the “threatened national security.”

The content that she is being charged for was deemed “too sensitive” to reveal, but according to a security officer who refused to be named, the content was posted by a reader relating to the monarchy. She reportedly had twenty days to take it down, but left it up for too long. Although there has been recent debate over a website editor’s right to control the comments posted on their site, it is still ridiculous to arrest someone over this kind of content.

This increasing intolerance for free speech against the monarchy has caused many writers to be charged and arrested, among them a well known academic who fled the country before he could be detained. These arrests are covered under the Computer Crimes Law that was passed a year and a half ago, and relates to sexual indecency and lèse-majesté (roughly translated as “the crime of injured majesty).

According to the English translation of Premchaiporn’s website, Prachatai (which I have to be honest- I have absolutely no idea what that word means. Tried to Google it. Failed. Sorry.), Premchaiporn received bail on Friday, March 6th. Also, according to their website, her office is currently being raided by the Crime Suppression Police, who as of yesterday were still copying her entire hard-drive.

Once again, this is new evidence that the monarchy is clearly feeling threatened by putting the monarchy into question. It just makes me wonder- what else needs to happen in order for a change in their censorship laws to take place?

Protect the King

Due to the criticism the Thailand Monarchy has been receiving as of late in regards their ousting of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s Ministry of Information has now created an internet security center that coordinates the blocking of websites deemed offensive to the monarchy. They also developed a special website for people to go to in order to inform on those who criticize the monarchy.

The security center managed to block over 5000 websites within 24 hours of being created. These blockings were a result purely of being critical of the monarchy. Before this, websites were banned due to their use of pornography, the sale of sex equipment, and various threats to national security.

The Ministry’s new website, Protecttheking.net, is described as a means by which citizens can show loyalty to the king by protecting him from “misunderstandings” about him.

The creation of this website just shows how threatened the monarchy really is by the uprising of protestors, particularly for Shinawatra. According to the BBC News, this website is part of an effort to prevent any doubt in the future of the monarchy before it can gather momentum.

Nicolaides Update

A few days after my last post, I learned that Harry Nicolaides was granted an official pardon by the Thailand monarchy after the Australian Government lobbied for his release. Nicolaides has since returned to Australia after learning that his mother had suffered a stroke during his absence, but maintains that he will return to Thailand again soon. For more information click here.

Harry Nicolaides

Thailand has very specific rules about what can or cannot be said in a public forum regarding many issues that are embedded in the foundation of their country in their constitution, among them being insults to the royal family and Buddhism. Despite this rule being set in the constitution, I am still shocked to see that it is actually being enforced.

According to the BBC News, Australian writer Harry Nicolaides was arrested on charges of insulting the royal family in a novel he wrote over four years ago. The book, entitled Verisimilitude, insults the monarchy in a passage that refers to an “unnamed prince.” Nicolaides was unaware that he committed a crime when writing his novel. He was arrested as he was leaving Thailand last August, and has since then been kept in a Thai prison, shackled in leg irons ever since.

Before pleading guilty to this charge, it was expected that Nicolaides would receive six years in jail for his crime, but because he entered a guilty plea, his sentence has been reduced to three years.

I think it is interesting that without this trial, very few people would have probably ever seen this insult to the monarchy, because overall the book has only sold seven copies in its entire time of being published, and now because of this extra attention, more people are aware of it than ever. I also find it interesting that despite the insult being worth throwing a man in jail, the book can reportedly still be found in the one library that held a copy of it.

Watch this video of Nicolaides being held in the Thai prison where he repeatedly calls the ordeal “a bad dream.”

Intro

Media censorship is an issue that is of great significance in Thailand. Originally, I was going to post only about internet censorship in Thailand, but after doing some research, I am noticing that there are vast amounts of injustices relating to other forms of media being censored as well.

It is important to look at media censorship because it keeps the masses from being aware of existing problems, like their issues with drug trafficking or the harsh expulsion of the Rohingya at sea.

So now, I have decided to post about the media being censored in Thailand in general. I’ve been looking at some background information on Thailand, and found that BBC News gives out some pretty good overview info. Click here to see some general information about Thailand.