Local Broadcast Media Comes Under Fire During Songkran

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 001053 DEPT PLEASE PASS EAP/PD, EAP/MLS, DRL PACOM FOR FPA SIPDIS SENSITIVE E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KPAO TH SUBJECT: Local Broadcast Media Comes Under Fire During Songkran Protests REF: (A) BANGKOK 983 (B) BANGKOK 953 and earlier (C) BANGKOK 813 BANGKOK 00001053 001.2 OF 003 SUMMARY AND COMMENT -------------- ¶1. (SBU) Summary: Local broadcast media was attacked from both sides of the political spectrum for its coverage of the recent anti-government protests in Thailand. Pro-Thaksin sympathizers heavily criticized local television stations for their allegedly one-sided coverage of the violent events that took place over the Songkran holiday. Angry pro-Thaksin supporters also rallied at state-run National Broadcasting of Thailand (NBT) and Radio Thailand in Chiang Mai, Khon Kaen, and Phrae. At the same time, the government reportedly warned national television stations not to run images that could be damaging to the military or government. On April 13, the government ordered D-Station (the satellite television outlet operated by anti-government United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship or "redshirts") off the air, citing the Emergency Decree declared for Bangkok the day before. In addition, officials in the North and East of the country ordered local community radio stations to end politically-charged programming that could incite violence. End Summary. ¶2. (SBU) Comment: This is not the first time that the media has come under fire from the government or the public for its allegedly biased coverage of political events. Much of the Thai media, particularly the more heavily controlled broadcast sector, is known for swaying whichever way the political wind blows and angering those outside the sphere of power as it does so. However, the fervor with which the redshirts took out their dissatisfaction with the media over mainstream coverage of the most recent political protests is worrisome, and the level of pressure the government continues to exert over local broadcast media remains a concern, even though the content of some pro-red community radio broadcasts was indeed inflammatory. End Comment. PROTESTORS SEE 'RED' OVER CLAIMS OF BIASED COVERAGE -------------- -------------- ¶3. (U) Supporters of former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra heavily criticized local broadcast media for its coverage of anti-government protests in and around Bangkok and the ASEAN Summit in Pattaya that erupted in clashes with government security forces April 10-14.(reftels). Local television stations came under heavy fire from pro-Thaksin United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD) supporters (or "redshirts") for what they claimed was a very one-sided portrayal of events that sought only to "demonize" the UDD movement; when redshirts broke into the ASEAN Summit venue April 11, they conducted angry shouting matches with some reporters/TV crews inside the main venue, caught on live TV by other crews. Citing biased coverage by the mainstream Thai media, some redshirt sympathizers took to the blogosphere to denounce alleged cases of disinformation about the UDD's actions, while others took out their anger directly, with reports of TV crews being attacked by redshirts during the subsequent Bangkok demonstrations April 12-14. ¶4. (SBU) On April 13, groups of anti-government UDD protestors attempted to disrupt broadcasting at local branches of state-run National Broadcasting of Thailand (NBT) and Radio Thailand in three provinces, accusing the stations of biased reporting on the crackdown against fellow redshirts in Bangkok. According to a source at NBT Chiang Mai, a group of angry redshirt supporters gathered at the station to demand a halt to broadcast of news on the protests in Bangkok and called on all station staff to leave the building. The situation was defused and the protestors departed peacefully following two hours of talks with NBT staff. The NBT branch in Khon Kaen province reportedly stopped airing for a short time after protestors gathered in front of the station and demanded a blackout of its programming. In Phrae province, an opposition party MP reportedly led approximately two hundred redshirt demonstrators in storming the local Radio Thailand branch in an attempt to commandeer the radio waves to urge others to join the redshirt movement. GOVERNMENT TO MEDIA: DON'T MAKE US LOOK BAD -------------- ¶5. (SBU) National television stations also appeared under pressure from the government to consider the government's interests as they portrayed the events over Songkran. Authorities reportedly cautioned national broadcasters not to run images that could be BANGKOK 00001053 002.2 OF 003 damaging to the military or government. This came after a warning issued in late March to at least one local television network to limit the amount of airtime given to coverage of the anti-government protests (ref C). ¶6. (SBU) Acting under authority of the Emergency Decree issued on April 12, the government ordered satellite operator Thaicom to terminate the signal of D-Station, the satellite television outlet operated by the UDD, on April 13. Days later, police raided D-Station operations in Bangkok, seizing a number of broadcast devices. (Note: D-Station currently remains off the air; however, a source at Thaicom told us that the station could feasibly begin to broadcast again with the lifting of the emergency decree on April ¶24. End Note.) COMMUNITY RADIO BACK IN THE CROSSHAIRS -------------- ¶7. (SBU) Community radio stations in northern and northeastern provinces sympathetic to redshirts, as well as so-called "Taxi Radio" in Bangkok, became the target of government attempts to quell their efforts to mobilize support in these heavily pro-Thaksin regions. The anti-government rhetoric on such stations was far more extreme than the speeches from the main red protest stage, redshirt leader Vira Musikapong acknowledged to us March 31. PM Abhisit was called a terrorist and part of a treasonous cabal, and station DJs called supporters into the streets to "fight" the government, in "Taxi Radio" broadcasts we heard; on both April 7 and 12, red mobs attacked what they thought was PM Abhisit's car. The Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) reportedly called on community radio operators not to use their networks to incite unrest and warned operators that they would be shut down if they did not comply. Ostensibly acting under authority of the Emergency Decree issued on April 12 in Bangkok and surrounding areas, police in Chiang Mai raided a community radio station operated by the anti-government group "Rak Chiang Mai 51," seizing transmission equipment. ¶8. (SBU) Police in Udon Thani, again reportedly acting under the Emergency Decree issued for Bangkok, raided the pro-Thaksin "Khon Rak Udon" community radio station on April 16, taking it off the air and seizing transmission equipment. A radio show host was arrested and charged with operating radio equipment without a license. (Note: A contact told Emboff on April 24 that the station is once again broadcasting after the group's chairman set-up a new transmitter. The contact also reported that the individual arrested is currently out on bail. End Note.) ¶9. (SBU) A media advocate and Embassy contact who sits on the 20-member National Broadcasting Commission (NBC)-- a temporary body charged with regulating radio and television frequencies until the establishment of the permanent National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC)-- told Emboff that the government had acted outside its bounds in shutting down these community radio stations because the Emergency Decree was only under effect in Bangkok and surrounding areas. She indicated that under the new Broadcasting Act of 2008, authority for regulating broadcast media, including shutting down errant stations, fell to the NBC and not the government. (Note: Emboff met with the contact on April 22, the same day she attended a meeting of the NBC during which the issue of the closures was discussed. She revealed that the body reached no consensus on how to deal with the perceived overstep in authority, saying that the NBC was still quite new and uncertain how to act on its regulatory mandate. End Note.) WEBSITES IN THE HOT SEAT TOO -------------- ¶10. (SBU) There were also reports that the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology (MICT) ordered the censoring of more than 60 websites linked to the UDD. Thai Netizen Network (TNN),a locally-based "cyber liberty" advocacy group, denounced the action and called on the government to cease censorship of the Internet and other grassroots media. Media watchdog group Reporters without Borders also issued a strong statement on April 22 deploring "the censorship, closure and banning of many media linked to the opposition United Front for Democracy against Dictatorship (UDD)." (Note: Both groups also sharply condemned the violence by UDD supporters. End Note.) According to a contact at TNN, on April 24, MICT informed internet services providers that it was ending censorship on UDD websites, stating that the Emergency Decree had been lifted and the situation was back to normal; secondary red leader Jaran Distha-apichai confirmed this was the case to us April 28, though Jaran added that D-Station could not resume broadcasting until the seized devices were returned. BANGKOK 00001053 003.2 OF 003 ENTWISTLE