For the second time this month, Thailand’s military government has ordered an international press club in Bangkok to cancel a discussion panel.
Two weeks after the junta forbade a discussion of alleged human rights abuses during its year in power, the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand was today ordered to cancel a panel planned to discuss Thailand’s lese majeste law on Wednesday.
“The FCCT has been told that if the event goes ahead, the military will come and seal off access to the Maneeya Centre, where the club is located,” the club announced this afternoon. “This is an unacceptable imposition on the many other tenants in the building, and it is with great regret that we have decided to cancel.”
The said they were told by authorities the discussion on Thailand’s law against defaming the monarchy, which has sent record numbers of people to jail since the coup, “would sow disunity in Thai society, and encourage people to break the law and stir up unrest.
The topic of the discussion is a staple of the club, which for years has hosted panels discussing the roots and effects of the law with panels of academics, human rights activists, lawyers and royalists.
In 2008, the club’s leadership including BBC correspondent Jonathan Head was targeted along with a former government minister with lese majeste accusations. Head departed from Thailand soon thereafter when his assignment was up, and the club has been much more cautious in taking any positions advocating for media freedom.
“The FCCT prides itself on being a forum for free debate in Bangkok, a role we have tried hard to maintain after last year’s military coup,” it said in today’s announcement. “Since then we have had a varied programme of events, some of which have given the military government full opportunity to argue in support of its plans for the country.”
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