Libel Suits
The threat of libel suits has long been used to silence government critics.
The government of Thaksin Shinawatra has filed numerous libel suits against government critics, in what the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) called "Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's continued use of criminal defamation charges to silence media criticism of his government", while Brad Adams, executive director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division, noted that "it's impossible to distinguish a libel suit from an attempt to silence the prime minister's critics. Thailand's once-vigorous free press is being slowly squeezed to death."
Prominent libel suits filed by Thaksin in this context include:
The suit by Shin Corporation (at the time owned by Thaksin's family) against Supinya Klangnarong, Secretary General of the Campaign for Popular Media Reform. In an article, published in July 2003 in the Thai Post, Supinya had indicated the rise in the Shin Corporation's profits since Thaksin's Thai Rak Thai party had gained power in 2001 (approximately $US 980mn), might be a result of benefits to Shin Corp from the government's policies, which would amount to a conflict of interest . The charges were dropped in March 2006 after Supinya received considerable Thai and international support and her case became a cause celebre for free speech and media freedom. Thus far, has not launched a countersuit for damages against the embattled PM-in-exile.
On 4 April 2006, People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD) leader and fierce Thaksin critic Sondhi Limthongkul was sued by Thaksin for allegedly slandering him during an anti-Thaksin rally. In total, Sondhi has around 40 complaints lodged against him.
Read more about this topic: Censorship In Thailand
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