8 Apr 2010 | Index Index, minipost, Uncategorized
Following Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva’s declaration of a state of emergency yesterday the government has begun targeting news sources aimed at anti-government protesters, the so-called red shirts. The “red shirt” financed a television station, PTV was closed down today. government has also begun blocking internet content, which according to RSF has amounted to the closure of at least 36 websites and blogs to date. Chiranuch Premchaipoen, editor of the independent news website Prachatai.com, was arrested on 31 March on lèse majesté charges.
14 Aug 2009 | Index Index, minipost
The Thai government has created a police taskforce within the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology (MICT) to monitor websites and identify those posting content that violates Thailand’s draconian lèse majesté law. Police General Somdej Khaokham, the head of the new Information Technology taskforce said the new taskforce included webmasters. The authorities have for several years been constantly updating equipment in order to track down those who post content regarded as offensive towards the monarchy. Read more here
2 Jul 2009 | Index Index, minipost
For the first time in its five-decade history, the whole board of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand (FCCT) has been accused of committing lèse majesté, a crime with a maximum jail sentence of 15 years. The board, includes three British nationals including the BBC’s Bangkok correspondent Jonathan Head, and three American nationals, including two working for Bloomberg and the Wall Street Journal. Read more here
16 Jun 2009 | Index Index, minipost
A Thai court has dismissed a criminal defamation lawsuit filed by Tesco Lotus against former MP Jit Siratranont. The judgment said Jit’s comments on Tesco were “in good faith by way of fair comment on any person or thing subjected to public criticism”. The court also dismissed the claim of one billion baht damages by Tesco.
