VZCZCXRO1578
RR RUEHCHI RUEHCN RUEHDT RUEHHM
DE RUEHBK #1053/01 1190536
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 290536Z APR 09
FM AMEMBASSY BANGKOK
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6848
INFO RUEHZS/ASSOCIATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIAN NATIONS
RHHMUNA/HQ USPACOM HONOLULU HI
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHINGTON DC
RUEHCHI/AMCONSUL CHIANG MAI 6507

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