Thai Radio Station Forced Off Air in Media Muzzling Attempt by Phairath Khampha 20 March 2002 An independent media company in Thailand was ordered to stop providing news programmes to a local radio station because of material deemed critical of Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra. The order was the result of direct government intervention. The order followed the airing the previous week of an interview with Prasong Soonsiri a leading critic of the prime minister. Nation Multimedia Group suspended political coverage and commentary programmes on its 24-hour cable news channel on UBC8, citing unfavourable political climate. It was revealed that Thaksin's government was pressuring United Broadcasting Corporation to shut down Nation Channel in exchange for permission to air commercials. "Nation Channel UBC 8 views the current political atmosphere in Thailand with great concern. It appears that there are uncertainties suggesting that the government has neither the will nor the inclination to guarantee freedom of expression as guaranteed by the Constitution," the company said in a statement on March 5, 2002 . The move was seen as another setback for media freedom in Thailand, following recent tussles between the government and two foreign publications. The Hong Kong-based Far Eastern Economic Review was forced apologise on March 4in a bid to stop the threatened expulsion of two of their reporters. The government ordered the Nation Multimedia Group to cease its radio programmes starting March 5. Sources said Gen Akkaradej Sasiprapa, adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, directed the armed forces to scrap Nation programming on the 90.5MHz station. Smart Bomb, which holds the concession for the radio frequency, was also told to cancel Nation's radio programmes. The Mass Communications Organisation of Thailand also notified cable television operator UBC to enforce the current prohibition on television ads, particularly for programmes run on channel UBC 8, or Nation TV. Sources said the order stemmed from a programme broadcast lfeaturing an interview with Sqn-Ldr Prasong Soonsiri, a leading critic of the Thaksin Shinawatra government. The programme, run both on 90.5MHz and UBC 8, featured an interview by Nation journalists Sorayuth Suthassa-nachinda and Kanok Ratwongsakul. In the interview, Sqn-Ldr Prasong blasted the prime minister's handling of a blow-up relating to an article run by the Far Eastern Economic Review magazine in February as damaging for the country's international reputation. While the programme was not aired on UBC 8 due to a "technical problem" ordered by Prime Minister Thaksin, the interview was carried on 90.5MHz. Smart Bomb executives confirmed they had been directed to remove Nation programmes from the radio channel, affecting around 6-7 hours of daily programming. "We've had to scramble to see what we can do to fill the airtime, and have asked our other producers to extend their own programmes to compensate," one senior executive said. Nation executives expressed confusion about the government clampdown, saying they were trying to seek clarification from authorities about the situation. "We're trying to clarify what is going on, and to find out what the government thinks that we did wrong," one senior Nation executive said. "The radio station mostly runs economic news programmes. Only in the morning do we have a programme linked with Nation TV," said the executive. "But it appears someone is being anti-democratic and is trying to force the media to not say anythinmg about the government. Thailand is becoming like Vietnam or a country under Mahathir or Suharto or like Mussolini and Hitler." Nation Multimedia Group to fight on Allowing the muzzling of the media will endanger rights and freedom, and encourage more violations, politicians say Senators on March 5 urged Nation Multimedia Group (NMG) to fight for justice over the government interference in its radio and television programmes. Senator Thongbai Thongpao, who is a Magsaysay winner, called on the aggrieved party to fight back by filing complaints with the Human Rights Commission, the Senate, and House committees. "If no progress is made the aggrieved party [NMG] should move to have the case brought before the Administrative Court or the Constitution Court," he said. Describing the government move as the muzzling of the media, the senator said NMG should not stay silent or else the violators of rights and freedom would think they could do anything they wanted. "I don't think this is called interference: I think it is direct intimidation," Thongbai said. In defending the government, Deputy Prime Minister General Chavalit Yongchaiyudh said: "They should point out things but not criticise us." Thongbai said the government was slapping the media in the face with the drastic action it had taken against NMG on Reporters' Day, which fell on March 4. Echoing Thongbai's comments, Senator Kaewsan Atibodhi said NMG should stand up and fight back using the relevant authorities. Meanwhile another Senator, Chirmsak Pinthong, said the government was in clear violation of Article 39 and Article 41 of the Constitution, which enshrined media freedom. "Gather 50,000 signatures, and we can impeach the government," Chirmsak said. Senator Narong Noonthong also urged the government not to curtail press freedom and stop banning programmes it disapproved of. This exposes the government's arbitrary powers, he said. "If the government feels a member of the media is in the wrong it should take legal action," he said. Boonlert Pairin, another senator, also expressed concern about the government's attitude that anyone with a different opinion was wrong. "The government must change its attitudes and be more open-minded to avoid confrontation. The Prime Minister cannot change or control the media to make it work the way he wants," he said. Boonlert said Thailand's image was being damaged where the country used to have a reputation as having one of the most liberal presses in Asia. To try and muzzle the media smacked of authoritarianism and a form of dictatorship, he said. Meanwhile Opposition chief whip Jurin Laksanavisit said the Opposition would table an urgent motion to the House of Representatives to look into the government's intimidation of individuals and restrictions on media freedom. "We've heard that the government latest target is NMG. It shows the government is becoming increasingly anti-media," he said. Democrat Party deputy leader Abhisit Vejjajiva said the government had to provide clear explanations of the incidents, which he described as unconstructive and harsh. "Abuse of authority or intimidation is not the answer," he said. Democrat spokesman Sathit Wongnongtoey said he believed the best way would be to check if a minister had violated the Constitution. If anyone had, he said, it would be possible to remove the offender from the Cabinet. "The Democrat Party has a panel monitoring government interference in the media, and we are considering whether to put the issue to a no-confidence motion," he said. Pittaya Wongkul, chairman of the Media Consumer Organisations Cooperation Centre dissemination and promotion development committee, said the government had singled out NMG because it presented information in a different way from state media. "What NMG does is listen to both sides - news-givers and news-receivers, leading to audience participation, while the government doe not like two-sided information," he said. "It only wants information released that allows it to stay in power, be corrupt and do what it wants." It was clear the administration wanted the Thai media to serve the present government so that it can cling onto power for as long as possible, he added. Parames Rachjaibun, president of the Advertising Association of Thailand, said that although "indirect advertising" on UBC8 "may not be entirely correct", the bottom line was "whether the Nation Channel intentionally put these commercials on the air". Nevertheless, Parames said, the government should have waited until the National Broadcasting Committee (NBC) was in place. NBC was the body authorised by the new Constitution to regulate broadcasting media and would probably allow advertising on cable television, Parames said. Interviewed sources in the advertising industry said the government's handling of the Far Eastern Economic Review and other media interference had frightened people in the industry. Freedom of speech, they said, was an important aspect of the advertising industry. Many feared the government's heavy-handed actions could affect foreign investment in Thailand and send a wrong signal to the international community that Thailand was again becoming an undemocratic society. Prasong interview 'sparked news ban' Military chiefs suppressed the Nation news broadcasts; and a newspaper fingered a Chavalit aide Three local newspapers got early wind of the government's order to chop the Nation Multimedia Group's radio programme as well as to get strict with cable-television operator UBC's prohibition of advertising. Naew Na's headline read: "Order to ban Nation - Suthichai!". It quoted an anonymous source saying a government order would ban from television senior members of the Nation Multimedia Group. It listed editor-in-chief Suthichai Yoon; group editor Thepchai Yong; The Nation's deputy managing editor Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda; and Nation Channel UBC 8 anchors Kanok Ratwongsakul and Krissana Chairat. Naew Na also said that Smart Bomb Co, owner of the radio-station concession from the armed forces that broadcasts news provided by Nation Multimedia Group, had forwarded its programme schedule to the armed forces. According to the newspaper, the schedule was rejected by the military authorities, which said that they would only approve the programme schedule on the condition that the Nation News Centre no longer provided the station's news. The report added that Nation Multimedia Group might consider changing the name of its news centre to circumvent the problem. Matichon also carried a small report that said the military-owned radio station would no longer broadcast news from the Nation Multimedia Group. It said this order had come from "senior officials". The Bangkok Post quoted a source who had revealed that General Akaradej Sasiprapa, adviser to Deputy Prime Minister Chavalit Yongchaiyudh, had ordered the armed forces to stop broadcasts from the Nation Group on FM 90.5MHz. All of the reports agreed that political pressure on Nation Multimedia Group stemmed from an interview the previous week - cut off by a so-called "technical glitch" - in which Squadron Leader Prasong Soonsiri called the prime minister a coward. UBC `pressured to axe Nation Channel' The government wants United Broadcasting Corporation to shut down Nation Channel in exchange for permission to air commercials, a Nation Group editor revealed on March 14. Adisak Limprungpattanakij, editor of National Channel or UBC 8, told the House consumer protection committee he learned from his sources in the ruling Thai Rak Thai party that the pay TV operator would never be allowed to run commercials if it refused to scrap its contract with his 24-hour news station. Mr Adisak said since UBC 8, run by the Nation Group, made its debut on June 1, 2000, he had been told frequently that the Thaksin government saw Nation Channel as "a thorn in its side". Mr Adisak said he had received a telephone call telling UBC 8 to take all political programmes off the air. UBC chief executive officer Sompan Charumilinda, however, said it was UBC 8's own decision to halt its political coverage. There was no outside interference, he said. Mr Sompan stressed that UBC had never censored Nation Channel, adding that it was really a technical difficulty that caused a recent blackout which abruptly cut off the station's interview with Sqn-Ldr Prasong Soonsiri, a staunch critic of the Thaksin government. So far Nation Channel had been running for 17,520 hours without ever being subjected to censorship, he said. Only once did he call Mr Adisak to ask him to stop airing negative comments about Burma repeatedly just before the prime minister's trip to Rangoon, Mr Sompan said. "Military leaders called me and asked if UBC 8 had had enough of that coverage yet. I then called Mr Adisak and told him that what was going on could do damage to the country. If that meant I have interfered with UBC 8, then I accepted it. We have freedom but we must love our country too," Mr Sompan said.