This doesn’t specifically relate to a current event, but BP wants to refer to the criticism that the foreign media is paid by Thaksin or is somehow under the spell of Thaksin to print negative things about Thailand, monarchy, etc  in another post and thought it was it was a good idea to catalogue all the criticism in a single post to make it easier to refer to in the future.

According to the Democrats, PAD and others, the foreign media are either in the pay of or under the spell of Thaksin. We really started to see this line of argument being pushed towards the end of 2007. In October 2007, Chang Noi noted in an op-ed in The Nation (as blogged about here) on the junta document leaked in 2007 (for more on the authenticity see here) that this was part of the junta campaign to discredit Thaksin. Key excerpt:

The document released last week is a detailed plan for using state media in this crucial period before nominations close. Among the specific proposals are: “create news to attack the old power… spread rumours about the connections between Thai Rak Thai, Singapore, the People Power Party, and the trend towards presidential rule… spread rumours that Thaksin paid foreign media to run articles attacking the institution”

Initially, there was little made of the foreign media at the end of 2007 and for a while in 2008. Perhaps, because the foreign media were asking the tough questions of former PM Samak and PPP-led government (see here and here). However, by the middle of 2008 and particularly after the anti-Thaksin PAD had stormed and seized Government House and the storming of the NBT Channel by some PAD guards. Then, suddenly you started to hear about a cabal with some on the Thaksin side daring to talk to the foreign media. Don’t remember much else, but things were in full swing by December 2008 when the Democrats took power. First, you had Thanong, manager editor of one of the two English language dailies, in The Nation, state that the foreign media were attacking as parrots for Thaksin. You had Vasit Dejkunchorn, a retired police general who has served as a royal aide to His Majesty the King for many years (and head of Palace Security in 1973), wrote an op-ed for Matichon criticizing Thais for believing “feeble-minded foreigners” and that Thais who believe foreign academics should seek mental treatment.

Then in early January 2008, the Democrat spokesman stated that Thaksin had hired foreign PR firms to influence the foreign media. Not long after that you also had another senior Democrat MP close to Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva making similiar claims. Then, you had the Rohingya boat people story hit in late January. It was mainly the foreign media who covered this story. The response from the military (see here and here), the Foreign Minister, a Senator, and a Deputy PM was to criticize the international media saying they wanted to slander Thailand and that they could not be trusted in their coverage of the Rohingya boat people. Throughout the year, we had Ministers warn the foreign media that they were being watched.

In 2008, you also had Suthin, a former AP reporter, state without providing any evidence that the foreign media had been hired by Thaksin to destroy Thailand. Of course, when the foreign media reported that rumours about HM the King’s health resulted in the stock market fall, the response by some to criticize the foreign media was so typical. A lese majeste complaint was made against the the entire FCCT Board (see here, here, here, and here). In April 2009, you also had Thanong accuse the foreign media of being paid by Thaksin to “plant” articles.

So will first start with the why?  In this February 2009 post, BP stated the reasons why we have this criticism of the foreign media:

There are two reasons to criticise the foreign media in such a way (1) to intimidate them so they self-censor on what they report, and (2) to discredit them amongst the eyes of Thais so they will ignore their reporting (yes, yes, not all Thais speak English, but translations of the foreign media stories appear in the Thai press)

On (1) it is certainly true that as a result of the criticism, which will outline below, that there was some element of a culture of intimidation. BP knows of at least one prominent foreign journalist who received threats at that time and this was reported to their embassy and the Thai government. BP knows of other foreign journalists who have been more careful about that they write. However, this is more in regards to the words and phrasing they choose. Most will still write about the same subject. Others will feel more confident that they are writing about what needs to be written it as they are being attacked. In conclusion, see little overall affect.

On (2), many segments of the foreign media had taken a different perspective on the Thai political crisis, particularly in relation to lese majeste, New Politics, PAD, Red Shirts, democracy etc., but also on specific events such as the party dissolution case and the referendum in 2007. They had also repeatedly gone into the rural areas of Thailand to seek the opinions of the rural poor which is something the Bangkok-centric Thai language media rarely does. On whether this campaign has been successful, many Thais, that BP knows, who like the PAD and/or the Democrats (they are not one in the same, particularly now) there is certainly an influence. Don’t get caught with or quoting The Economist otherwise you will find yourself in a debate on how can you trust this publication. If you quote something which goes against their view, they will somehow put it to down to Thaksin – this is more with the PAD.

However, on the other hand for those who are more closely aligned with the Red Shirts and/or sceptical of the elite, foreign news is translated into Thai on various webboards. Now, access to the internet is rather limited in Thailand, but these translations are often read on community radio. The more the criticism against the foreign media by some members of the elite, the more the Red Shirts and those who dislike the elite will turn towards the foreign media.