Proceedings of the 1st Arts & Humanities Conference, Venice

THAI STYLE FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION DURING THE MILITARY REGIME

SIRIWAN ANANTHO

Abstract:

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights defines that freedom of expression is the right of every individual to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers. In 2004 Thailand ranked 59th out of 167 countries in the worldwide Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders and then has fallen rather steadily. In 2015 Thailand’s Press Freedom was ranked 134th out of 180 countries worldwide and ranked 13th among other Asian Pacific countries. The freedom of expression was first guaranteed by the 1997 Thai Constitution, followed by the Constitution promulgated in 2007. By law, freedom of expression could be restricted only in limited cases such as to preserve national security, maintain public order, prevent insults to Buddhism, and offensive to the monarchy. The military coup in May 2014 led to the establishment of a junta called the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO) to govern the nation. The NCPO repealed the 2007 constitution (except for provision dealing with the monarchy) and promulgated an interim constitution on July 22. Right after the coup, freedom of expression of people and journalists were threatened by the NCPO which issued broad orders prohibiting criticism of its actions, shut down some media outlets, blocked access to many websites, and sometimes summoned members of the media to report to authorities for questioning. Politicians and journalists who failed to comply with the orders usually were invited for “Attitude Adjustment” (a method to neutralize the NPCO’s critics and opponents). Currently most media outlets are allowed to operate under the supervision of the military and government authorities. The restrictions on freedom of speech and censorship by the NPCO therefore resulted in an increasing self-censorship among the media and general public. The proliferation of various and diverse media will likely make the junta’s control of the media ineffective or problematic. This paper aims to explore the freedom of expression under the current military regime in Thailand, in terms of both press freedom and freedom of expression among the public. The case studies and related legal and cultural issues will be discussed.

Keywords: Freedom of Expression, Thailand, military rule.

DOI: 10.20472/AHC.2016.001.001

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