9.55-Thai press are slowly seeing the light, by Danny, this blog’t neutral analyst
As symbols of free speech gets nabs, Thai press hunger for more freedom
Oh my god!
If Thanong Kahnthong, icon of the Nation, can come out to say “Lets Make a Deal” with Thaksin, you know the wind of change is blowing. Then again, unbelievable as it may sound, then Matichon ran an editorial saying “PPP will definitely win the next election.” Then on top of it all the highly vocal and anti-Thaksin, Thai newspaper in Texas, USA, suddenly said “leave Thaksin Be.”
All of this means, one can ask with reasonable sanity, what the heck is going on and the answer will be, “They seem to be seeing the light.”
It doesn’t take an expert to dig deep and see that when NorPorChor got together at the National Stadium and packed in about 100,000 red shirts who loves Thaksin, that perhaps taking the hard line position against Thasin is certainly a loosing battle. And one thing, the Thai press that relies on contract with the government and others to carry on their lucrative, TV and Radio franchise, do not want to be left in the cold as media, that are less anti-Thaksin comes a calling on the owner of those franchise. While another answer may be in the PAD themselves, that always have the knack of coming out to criticized any press that does not follow its line and leadership-as Matichon found out for it self.
And the changes in the Thai press are deep.
Thanong himself, is no other than the guy who set up the KorMorCHor coup by writing a major story for the Nation, that arms carrying pro-Thaksin forces, comprising of forestry reserves scouts and others are heading for a clash with PAD. Within a day of that article, the coup took place, with the given rationale that it was to prevent a clash.
“If Thailand lets Thaksin keep his wealth, and Thaksin fades away quietly from Thai politics, that is something that is worth considering,” said Thanong, in his latest column in the Nation.
Then Matichon, long-time the melting pot for anti-Thaksin rationale into wonderful sell-able theories, just today gave a very long list of reasons why the PPP, in whatever name after the dissolution, will “certainly” win the election. That must have put a deep scare into the heart and minds of anyone fighting the Thaksin factor, such as the Democrats and the PAD, down to the military.
Then Taxas’ nastiest bit of newspaper that is so anti-Thaksin, the paper was to change its name to “We Hate Thaksin Fan Club,” suddenly said that it is better to leave Thaksin alone rather than trying to bring Thaksin back to face trial in Thailand because “if 50,000 went marching on the prison, what the hell are you going to do then.”
And in scouting out with the neutral papers are saying about the current stage of Thai politics, Thai Rath, the hugely respected mass circulated daily, said “Thaksin is on the way back in a very big way.” And Thai Rath gave a long list, just like Matichon, that the wind is blowing the sail of Thaksin very strongly now.
So what is going in the mind of these leading free press. The answer, according to Dr. Chantana, a lecturer of mass communications and head of corporate communications to one of Thailand’s largest conglomerate, said she saw the signs coming about a month ago, in and area not related to politics too much directly.
“The PAD really got all the press to be sick against self-censorship as it went and attacked anyone not following its line of reasoning. The Thai press may be anti-Thaksin, but deep down they are more anti-censorship. If you look at some of the statements the Thai press associations have been saying, that sickness of censorship, has even spilled into criticizing the all out war on lese majeste as harmful to free speech. So in a way, all that pent up self-censorship they have been doing for so long-that wall- if finally breaking open for a more balanced and neutral reporting,” said Dr. Chantima.
She said Thaksin is still getting mostly negative reporting and a great deal of down right trashing from most of the Thai press, but there are more windows for Thaksin’s views to come through, “much more than in the past.”
Dr. Chantima said the trend in the press is anti-censorship and that does pose a problem for Somchai and the Democrats, who are racing to come out with lese majeste charges and calls. “The democrat just said they wanted stronger laws governing lese majeste offenses, to the extent of changing the basic principle of law to have the accused having the burden of proof, and not the state, while Somchai is going about with the internet censorship gateway project.
“Increasingly, as more and more people gets arrested and jailed for lese majeste cases, the press might start to question the lese majeste laws and rules themselves and if that occurs, it would be a major starting point for a more balanced and free Thai press,” said Dr. Chantima.
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