H.E. Chuan Leekpai
Prime Minister
Office of the Prime Minister
Government House
Thanon Nakhon Pathom
Bangkok
Kingdom of Thailand
Fax: (011.66.2) 629.8213
Your Excellency:
We are writing to you out of sincere concern for several journalists and activists in your country.
On October 8, the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) issued a global call to action urging a halt to the violent incidents and the ensuing injuries and damages caused by several clashes between policemen, who fired tear gas, and demonstrators of the People’s Alliance for Democracy (PAD). We join the Association in its concern about the safety of the reporters covering the crisis, as many of them were injured in this incident. According to the Associated Press (AP), police were using tear gas made in China that contained high levels of a powerful explosive, RDX, which is commonly used to make bombs and reportedly made craters in the pavement. The group issued this appeal to call on all parties to understand the difficulty facing reporters in bringing out the truth about corruption and human rights abuses in your country.
Another recent atrocity was the murder of Matichon newspaper reporter, Jaruek Rangcharoen, on September 27. As you know, he was shot in the head at a local market in Don Chedi, Suphanburi province.
In 2007, Jaruek had told Suphanburi Governor Somsak Phurisrisak that someone was plotting against him. Your governor inferred that Jaruek might run into conflicts with local civil servants, businessmen or local authorities over his hard-hitting reports, but failed to provide protection for him. Rangcharoen was the second Matichon reporter killed this year. Athiwat Chaiyanurat, a correspondent in the southern province of Nakorn Srithammarat, was also shot dead on August 1. His case has shown no signs of progress, and the gunmen in that killing have not been arrested according to the TJA.
We also join Reporters Without Borders (RWB) in its outrage over the October 5 murder of Wallop Bounsampop, the editor of Den Siam, a local newspaper in Chonburi province. The motive is not yet known, but some of his articles on local politics were believed to have earned him enemies. He is the fourth journalist to be murdered in Thailand since the start of the year. Wallop, 52, was helping his wife in a restaurant in his village when two men on a motorcycle fired five shots at him, hitting him twice in the head and killing him instantly. These killings are directly linked to reporting on local government corruption.
Your Excellency, the current political crisis should not be used as an excuse for allowing impunity in crimes of violence committed against the press. Otherwise, Thailand could end up in the same tragic predicament as the Philippines, where many journalists in distant rural provinces are murdered each year. The Thai Journalists Association has appealed to the police to identify and arrest the people behind the murders. We urge you to support their cause and launch an immediate investigation.
We also note that Australian author, Harry Nicolaides, who has been held since August 31 on a lese-majeste charge over a passage in his 2005 novel, “Verisimilitude,” that was believed to criticize the king’s eldest son, has issued a public apology from his prison cell. He should be released immediately.
Nicolaides told RWB that only fifty copies of his novel were printed and only seven copies were ever sold. “As a writer, my role was to present my work to others in order to get their views on it. In the three hundred pages, only three lines are about the prince, who is not mentioned by name. I said he had been married and that his former wife had to leave Thailand. I did not think there was any problem, as I had sent my book to the National Library and I got an ISBN [International Standard Book Number].” RWB has said his detention is illegal as he has not been formally charged. We would add that charges of lese majeste are basically incompatible with democratic institutions and a free press.
The Overseas Press Club of America (OPC) requests your government to take immediate action to release Nicolaides and to set up an advisory investigative group to identify the persons who committed acts of murder against the above-mentioned journalists. It is essential that protective measures be put in place to ensure Thailand’s media workers are able to do their jobs without fear of extreme retribution for the content of their work.
Thank you for your attention. We hope for your reply.
Respectfully yours,
Tala Dowlatshahi
Larry Martz
Freedom of the Press Committee
cc:
H.M. King Bhumibol Adulyadej
Monarch
The Grand Palace
Thanon Na Phra Lan
Bangkok 10200
Kingdom of Thailand
Fax: (011.66.2) 224.3259
Damrong Kraikruan
Charge d’Affaires
Embassy of the Kingdom of Thailand
1024 Wisconsin Avenue, NW (Suite 401)
Washington, DC 20007
Fax: (202) 944.3611
Permanent Representative
Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of Thailand to the United Nations
351 East 52nd Street
New York, NY 10022
Fax: (212) 688.3029
H.E. Eric G. John
U.S. Ambassador to Thailand
Embassy of the United States of America
120/22 Wireless Road
Bangkok
Thailand
Fax: (011.66.2) 254.2990/ 205.4131
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