VZCZCXRO0868
PP RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #3374/01 3190827
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 140827Z NOV 08
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5031
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS PRIORITY
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 6509
RUEHBY/AMEMBASSY CANBERRA PRIORITY 9200
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 5361
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL PRIORITY 5055
RUEHWL/AMEMBASSY WELLINGTON PRIORITY 2509
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI PRIORITY 5844
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY
RHEFDIA/DIA WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC PRIORITY

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 003374 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR EAP, DRL, IO; NSC FOR PHU 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 11/04/2018 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV KPAO KJUS TH
SUBJECT: THAI WEBSITES, RADIO FACE LESE MAJESTE SCRUTINY 
 
REF: A. BANGKOK 3350 (QUESTIONING THE UNQUESTIONABLE) 
     ¶B. BANGKOK 2344 (FURTHER LESE MAJESTE ACCUSATIONS) 
     ¶C. BANGKOK 1949 (LEADING UNIVERSITY) 
     ¶D. BANGKOK 1662 (LESE MAJESTE ACCUSATIONS) 
 
BANGKOK 00003374  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: ADCM Robert Griffiths, reason 1.4 (b, d) 
 
Summary and Comment 
-------------------- 
¶1. (C) The Information and Communications Technology (ICT) 
Ministry and the Ministry of Interior (MOI) joined recent 
Army and Police efforts against lese majeste in late October. 
 The ICT Ministry sought the cooperation of website editors 
in self-censoring content and announced an effort to create 
an expensive gateway to filter anti-monarchy postings.  The 
MOI directed provincial governors to monitor leaflets and 
community radio stations for anti-monarchy material.  Online 
posters and editors skirt the limits of lese majeste by using 
euphemisms to refer to members of royal family.  Note: This 
cable is the second in a series of three looking at lese 
majeste, or offense to the monarchy, at a time at which 
increasing attention is being paid to the institution and its 
future.  Ref A examined public reaction to recent 
controversial moves by the Queen and response by the army and 
police; septel will provide an update on a number of high 
profile lese majeste cases. 
 
¶2. (C) Comment: The recent move by the ICT Ministry to 
further scrutinize anti-monarchy Internet chatter reflects a 
government response to perceived more widespread criticism of 
the royal family, particularly of the Queen (ref A). 
Operators of websites and other online media are increasingly 
concerned about measures the RTG might take against them and 
are self-censoring site content to pre-empt future lese 
majeste charges.  As a result, critics of the monarchy are 
finding less open space to voice their opinions, even 
anonymously -- precisely what defenders of the monarchy 
intend through more aggressive implementation of lese 
majeste.  End Summary and Comment. 
 
Ministries on the Alert for Lese Majeste... 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶3. (SBU) Ministry of Interior Permanent Secretary Phiraphon 
Traithotsawit on October 26 directed all provincial governors 
to monitor community radios and leaflets.  Phiraphon urged 
governors to prevent any negative action against the 
monarchy.  ICT Minister Mun Patanotai told the press on 
October 28 that he was considering spending between $2.9 
million and $14.6 million to build a ""gateway"" to monitor and 
block anti-monarchy websites.  In a press statement, Mun 
refused to reveal the offensive sites, explaining that doing 
so would encourage visitors to the sites. 
 
...Ask websites to Self-Censor... 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) The ICT Ministry, the Communications Authority of 
Thailand (CAT), and the Royal Thai Police (RTP) assembled 
website managers of SameSky.com, Prachathai.com, Pantip.com, 
Serithai.com, Chuphong.com, and nine other sites on October 
30 to request their cooperation in monitoring website content 
critical of the monarchy.  A SameSky.com representative said 
authorities asked website owners to be ""cautious and 
watchful"" about content posted to their sites, urging them to 
use their own judgment to determine whether or not content 
was appropriate.  Ministry officials warned that the RTG 
would monitor content and would instruct the webmasters to 
delete inappropriate content; government officials reminded 
the website owners that the 2007 Computer Crime Act (CCA) 
permits police to enforce Internet censorship. 
 
¶5. (C) Reaction of those in attendance was mixed. 
Prachatai.com Executive Director Chiranuch Premchaiporn told 
us on November 7 that a Serithai.com employee had asserted to 
ICT Ministry staff that website managers may not share the 
views of people who post to their websites.  In addition, an 
employee of Pantip.com complained that a recent court order 
to block that website was based entirely on criticism of 
Manager Media owner Sondhi Limthongkul, leader of the 
anti-government People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), and 
 
BANGKOK 00003374  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
had nothing to do with the royal family.  Chiranuch saw a 
positive side to the meeting, however, noting she now had a 
contact point at the ICT Ministry, and her cooperation might 
protect her somewhat from future allegations of lese majeste. 
 
¶6. (C) Same Sky Magazine editor and website manager Thanapol 
Eawsakul, accused of lese majeste (ref D), attended similar 
meetings in the past, though not the October 30 session.  He 
told us that during earlier meetings, ICT Ministry officials 
had required him to pledge: to co-operate with the ICT 
Ministry; to delete any content offensive to the monarchy; 
and to delete any content that is critical of any ""third 
party.""  He did not resent the ICT officials' action because, 
in his opinion, the RTG, military, and anti-government 
protestors forced them to hold such meetings.  Thanapol's 
server is based abroad, and he remained confident that his 
readers would be able to utilize proxy sites to circumvent 
any future ICT Ministry blocks to the site. 
 
...And has court orders in hand 
------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (C) An ICT Ministry official announced at the October 30 
meeting that a total of 1,500 court orders existed to block 
websites, and they were awaiting an additional 600 court 
orders, Chiranuch noted.  (Comment: We presume that these 
totals include orders to block pornographic websites and 
others that may be banned for reasons other than offense to 
the monarchy.  End Comment.) 
 
Euphemisms Enable Online Critique of Monarchy... 
--------------------------------------------- --- 
 
¶8. (C) Articles on the Same Sky website utilized the moniker 
""XXX"" to refer to the King, ""Mama Blue"" for the Queen, 
alluding to her rumored ownership of a stolen Saudi blue 
diamond, and ""O"" to refer to the Crown Prince, drawing from 
the Thai word for his official title.  Thanapol believed such 
thinly veiled references kept him on the safe side of a fine 
line that United Front of Democracy Against Dictatorship 
(UDD) supporters have crossed in recent public comments. 
""UDD publicized in speeches, without self-censorship, what 
has been spoken privately for years,"" Thanapol added, saying 
that he would delete any UDD speeches posted to his site. 
 
¶9. (C) Prachatai Executive Director Chiranuch indicated she 
also relied heavily on shifting euphemisms to retain a 
modicum of ambiguity/deniability.  References to Queen 
Sirikit ""went from 'Queen' to 'Q' to 'Mama Blue' to 'Fat' and 
now 'Jie' (from the Chinese word for older sister),"" she 
explained. 
 
...But Constant Vigilance Required 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (C) Chiranuch told us that after the 2006 coup d'etat, 
daily online visitors to Prachatai increased from 1,000 to 
10,000, and that the October 7 clash between PAD protestors 
and Thai police drove an increase from 15,000 to 30,000 
visitors.  The surge in posted comments, similar to what 
SameSky experienced (ref A), required significant additional 
hours of ""eye-ball"" scans to purge their sites of potentially 
offensive comments. 
 
¶11. (C) Chiranuch said she edited conservatively just ""to be 
safe"" during the current political climate, using direct 
quotes as much as possible and deleting even remotely 
controversial content that had nothing to do with the 
monarchy.  Her request for assistance yielded 50 volunteers 
who now worked in shifts to monitor the website 24-hours a 
day; regular readers also alert her to suspicious first time 
posters who might be provocateurs. ""We shouldn't have to do 
this,"" she added, calling the current climate ""a violation of 
freedom of expression."" 
JOHN