VZCZCXRO2882
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #1613/01 1460933
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 250933Z MAY 08
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 5285
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3166
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 BANGKOK 001613 
 
DEPT PLEASE PASS EAP/PD, EAP/MLS, DRL 
PACOM FOR FPA 
 
SIPDIS 
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E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV KPAO TH
SUBJECT:  RTG HACHET MAN TAKES AXE TO MEDIA, BUT WOUNDS HIMSELF 
 
BANGKOK 00001613  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1. (SBU) Embattled Prime Minister's Office Minister Jakrapob Penkair 
suffered another blow when the Democrat Party filed a motion on May 
21 to impeach him.  Jakrapob, the bete noir of the media, has been 
accused of abuse of power and lese majeste.  This is the latest 
chapter in a series of running battles between the Prime Minister's 
outspoken media maestro and the media itself and has prompted 
activists to accuse the new Samak administration of chipping away at 
media freedom in Thailand.  End Summary. 
 
The Battle Begins 
----------------- 
 
¶2. (U) On May 21, the minority Democrat Party filed a motion in the 
Senate to impeach Jakrapob Penkair on grounds of abuse of power and 
for crimes against the monarchy (see septel for more on the latter). 
 The Democrats charge that, as the minister responsible for 
overseeing state media through the government's Public Relations 
Department (PRD), Jakrapob has played political gamesmanship by 
transforming the state-owned television station, Channel 11, into 
the National Broadcasting of Thailand (NBT) and wielding it as a 
tool to cudgel political opponents.  The impeachment documents 
submitted by the Democrats will be reviewed by the Senate Speaker on 
Monday, May 26, and then forwarded to the National Counter 
Corruption Commission for consideration. 
 
¶3. (SBU) But accusations of unfair meddling with the media have 
bedeviled Jakrapob from the moment he took office.  He launched the 
initial strike in his first public statement the day he was sworn 
in, saying that he intended to "sort out" Thai media and added that 
he would "manage" news reports of some media outlets to ensure 
impartiality and accurate reporting by establishing government 
committees to monitor state media news coverage. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Even before Jakrapob took office, the media was bracing for 
confrontation.  TV Thai Acting Director Thepchai Yong said that he 
was deeply concerned about the Samak government's actions towards 
the media and believed that it was trying to scuttle TV Thai because 
it was seen as anti-Thaksin (Note: Thailand Independent Television 
(TITV), formerly Thaksin's Shin Corp-operated iTV, was transformed 
into TPBS under the 2008 Thai Public Broadcasting Act. In April, 
TPBS rebranded itself as TV Thai. End note).   Thepchai told the PAO 
and IO privately, "It is ironic that we have more to fear from a 
democratically-elected government than the last [military] one." 
 
¶5. (SBU) Many believe that television Channel 11 was rebranded and 
relaunched as NBT on April 1 to counter TV Thai's perceived 
anti-Thaksin bias.  The government claimed that the transformation 
of Channel 11 sought to produce programs with more quality and 
diversity and would "focus on the concept of impartiality, fairness, 
transparency, and rapidity in all situations."  Many observers 
believe that the move was aimed at neutralizing TV Thai and that the 
new, reformatted NBT will serve purely as a mouthpiece for the 
government, without any journalistic integrity. 
 
¶6. (SBU) The bad blood between Jakrapob and TV Thai continues.  In a 
speech at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand on May 8, 
Jakrapob said that TV Thai was the product of a dictatorship and was 
wrongly conceived and implemented.  He said, "I would not do 
anything to jeopardize it [TV Thai]. I will create the NBT to 
compete with it.  I will tell society that NBT, which is a state-run 
organization under a democratic government, is able to produce TV 
programs useful and relevant to the public's interest." 
 
Right Hook to PRD and an uppercut to MCOT 
----------------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) In addition to sparring with TV Thai, Jakrapob has landed 
several jabs at other media institutions.  Jakrapob's first public 
controversy came earlier on, when he signed the order to transfer 
PRD Chief Pramote Rathavinit, who was appointed as chief under the 
Surayud government, to an "inactive" post.  Though Jakrapob claimed 
he made the move so Pramote could support an important, new ASEAN 
initiative, the action raised eyebrows among media observers, who 
believed Pramote was removed due to his connection to the former 
coup-appointed government and for his anti-Thaksin tendencies. 
Pramote was quick to shoot down the Samak administration's idea of 
launching a new television station to counter TV Thai, stating that 
it was not legally possible.  A year before, Pramote played a 
significant role in the banning of pro-Thaksin station PTV from 
going on air in March 2007. (Note: This is not the first time 
Pramote, a long-time PRD official and civil servant, has been 
removed from this politically-sensitive position.  Pramote was PRD 
chief under former Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai before being 
 
BANGKOK 00001613  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
transferred to an inactive post at the PM's Office during Thaksin's 
first term.  End note.) 
 
¶8.  (U) Just weeks later, Jakrapob suggested that the president of 
Mass Communications Organization of Thailand (MCOT), Wasan 
Paileeklee, be removed because the organization failed to make a 
profit.  These seemingly innocuous words caused a firestorm of 
criticism directed at Jakrapob, who was charged with meddling in 
affairs outside his purview since MCOT is a private company, not 
subject to regulation by PRD.  MCOT labor union president Orawan 
Klimviratkul said if Mr. Wasan was to be forced out it should be the 
board's decision, not the government's.  Some observers asserted 
Jakrapob had hoped that by removing Wasan, he could install an ally 
in this position.  The ensuing criticism stung Jakrapob, who backed 
down, and the MCOT chief kept his job. (Note: Wasan was appointed by 
the board of MCOT Plc. to a four-year term in April 2007 after 
former MCOT president Mingkwan Saengsuwan, now Deputy Prime Minister 
and Minister of Commerce, resigned in the aftermath of the September 
2006 coup.  Though MCOT is a privately-held company, more than 70% 
of its shares are owned by the Ministry of Finance and several of 
the board positions are held by government officials.  End note.) 
 
 
 
A Body Blow to Chirmsak 
----------------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) On February 13, a well-known radio host and former senator, 
Chirmsak Pinthong, "voluntarily" took his popular talk radio show 
off the air on FM 105, a PRD-operated station.  Chirmsak said he 
pulled his show due to concern from executives after he criticized 
PM Samak for comments he made during a CNN interview in which Samak 
alleged that only one demonstrator died in the 1976 student 
demonstrations.  However, Chirmsak later reportedly told the media 
that his production house told him to step down after receiving a 
call from Jakrapob. 
 
Community Radio Up Against the Ropes 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶10.  (SBU) In April, Jakrapob hosted a meeting in eastern Thailand 
with several dozen representatives from community radio stations. 
(Note: Community radio stations thrive in rural areas like eastern 
Thailand, where they are often the primary source of news for small 
towns and villages.  End note.)  During the meeting, Jakrapob 
reportedly offered to help community radio stations operating 
without licenses avoid arrest, if they agreed to allot 2-3 hours of 
airtime a day to government-sponsored programming.  The Thai 
Broadcast Journalists Association (TBJA), in an April 23 statement 
condemning the proposed action, accused Jakrapob of abusing his 
power in order to control community radio.  Supinya Klangnarong of 
the Campaign for Popular Media Reform told embassy staff she feared 
any such move by the government would put stations that did not 
agree at increased risk of arrest by the authorities. 
 
No Coups is Good News 
---------------,,,------ 
 
¶11.  (U) In May, Jakrapob announced that he would prohibit PRD staff 
from reporting any news stories mentioning or referring to possible 
coups.  He said in a statement to reporters:  "Staff of the state 
media who encourage a coup either directly or indirectly would be 
regarded as committing a disciplinary offence."  Though this order 
did not extend to commercially-owned newspapers and magazines, or to 
community radio stations, as they do not fall under the PRD, 
Jakrapob did call on reporters at private companies to use their 
judgment before reporting even the possibility of a coup.  Again, 
the media bristled at being lectured by the Prime Minister's Office 
Minister and felt that Jakrapob's words were meant to intimidate. 
 
Comment: With Friends Like These... 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Jakrapob rose to prominence as a disciple of ousted Prime 
Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.  When the People's Power Party (PPP), 
Thaksin's de facto political party, won the December election, 
Jakrapob was well-placed to land a cabinet position. 
 
¶13. (SBU) The winds of change have not blown well for Jakrapob, 
however.  The investigation into his alleged offense against the 
monarchy has brought criticism from within his own party.  Despite 
the perception that many of Jakrapob's actions with the PRD and 
against TV Thai have been to neutralize Thaksin's old enemies, his 
patron Thaksin appears to have kept him at arm's length lately.  The 
former PM stated publicly on May 21, "If Mr. Jakrapob cannot make 
this thing clear, he should retreat."  For his part, the current PM 
 
BANGKOK 00001613  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
has said, with slight exaggeration, that his entire cabinet, himself 
included, was under investigation for one thing or another, and he 
refused to fire Jakrapob.  The media, not too surprisingly, has 
painted a picture of Jakrapob as being isolated and abandoned. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Jakrapob's criticism of the media as being biased, 
unprofessional, prone to relying on gossip and hearsay, is not too 
far off the mark.  Academics have recently upbraided the media for 
many of the same reasons.  Many Thai reporters have privately 
expressed disdain for Jakrapob and it appears that much of the 
squabble between this government official and the media is 
personality driven.  However, this mutual antipathy does not 
mitigate the threat Jakrapob has made to rein in the more than 3,000 
community radio stations across the country. 
 
¶14. (SBU) Rejected by allies and his patron, and now twisting in the 
political wind, Jakrapob finds himself in an uncertain place.  It is 
unclear what concrete action will come of the threats Jakrapob has 
made against the media.  What is clear is that the first five months 
of Prime Minister Samak's administration have been a combative time 
between the media and the government, with Jakrapob as the pointy 
end of the government's spear.  End comment. 
 
JOHN