The Wire

A Thai media activist has called for journalists in her country not to self-censor themselves, despite enormous pressure being placed on them by the leaders of the coup that overthrew the Prime Minister Tuksin Shinawat. Despite the appearance of widespread support of the coup by Thais, members of the local Thai media remains concern with elections not due to take place until late next year, media could face an increased crack down on. Even before the coup, Thailand had a checkered relationship with its journalists, with many members of the press that were critical of high profile figures such as the former prime minister, finding themselves on the receiving end of expensive defamation suites. One such journalist is Supinya Klangnarong. She’s currently in Australia to receive the inaugural Communication and Social Change Award from Queensland University. This award is recognition not only for her work with Thai NGO, the Campaign for Popular Media Reform but also for her battle against a defamation law suit launched by Thaksin Shinawatra, that could have seen her fined US$10 million. Ahead of her flight back to Thailand tonight, I caught up with her to get her reaction to Thailand’s coup and the subsequent media crackdown.