Censorship in Thailand involves the strict control of political news under successive governments, including by harassment and manipulation.
Freedom of speech was guaranteed in 1997"The Thai Constitution of 1997 and its Implication on Criminal Justice Reform" , Kittipong Kittayarak, 120th International Senior Seminar, Resource Material Series No. 60, United Nations Asia and Far East Institute (UNAFEI). Retrieved 23 August 2012 and those guarantees continue in 2007.Draft Constitution of the Kingdom of Thailand , Constitution Drafting Committee, 26 April 2007 Mechanisms for censorship have included strict lèse-majesté laws, direct government/military control over the broadcast media, and the use of economic and political pressure."Publish And Perish" , Phil Zabriskie Bangkok, Time, 11 March 2002 Criticism of the king is banned by the constitution, although most lèse-majesté cases have been directed at foreigners, or at Thai opponents of political, social and commercial leaders.
Thailand ranked 59 of 167 countries in 2004 and then fell to 107 of 167 countries in 2005 in Press Freedom Index from Reporters Without Borders."Press Freedom Index 2004" , Reporters Without Borders"Press Freedom Index 2005" , Reporters Without Borders Thailand's ranking fell to 153 of 178 in 2010"Press Freedom Index 2010" , Reporters Without Borders and rose to 137 of 179 in 2011–2012."Press Freedom Index 2011–2012" , Reporters Without Borders In the 2014 index, Thailand ranked 130 of 180 nations, falling to 142 in 2017 and to 140 in 2018.
Guarantees of freedom of speech, expression, and the press
Freedom of speech was guaranteed in the 1997 constitution of Thailand. Those guarantees continue in the 2007 Constitution, which states in part: Section 36: A person shall enjoy the liberty of communication by any means [บุคคลย่อมมีเสรีภาพในการติดต่อสื่อสารถึงกันไม่ว่าในทางใดๆ]. Censorship, detention or disclosure of communication between persons including any other act disclosing a statement in communication between persons shall not be made except by virtue of the provisions of the law specifically enacted for security of the state or maintaining public order or good morals. Section 45: A person shall enjoy the liberty to express his or her opinion, make speeches, write, print, publicize, and make expression by other means. Restriction on liberty under paragraph one shall not be imposed except by virtue of the provisions of law specifically enacted for the purpose of maintaining the security of the state, safeguarding the rights, liberties, dignity, reputation, family or privacy rights of other persons, maintaining public order or good morals or preventing the deterioration of the mind or health of the public. Closure of a press house or radio or television station to deprive them of the liberty under this section shall not be made. Censorship by a competent official of news and articles before their publication in a newspaper, printed matter, or radio or television broadcasting shall not be made except during the time when the country is in a state of war or armed conflict; provided that it must be made by virtue of the law enacted under the provisions of paragraph two. Owner of a newspaper or other mass media business shall be a Thai national. No grant of money or other properties shall be given by the state as subsidies to private newspapers or other mass media. Section 46: Officials or employees of a private sector undertaking, newspaper or radio or television broadcasting business shall enjoy their liberty to present news and express their opinions under the constitutional restrictions without mandate of any state agency or owner of such business provided that it is not contrary to their professional ethics. Section 26: In exercising powers of all state authorities, regard shall be given to human dignity, rights, and liberties in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution. Section 28: A person can invoke human dignity or exercise his or her rights and liberties in so far as it is not in violation of rights and liberties of other persons or contrary to this Constitution or good morals. Section 29: Restriction of such rights and liberties as recognized by the Constitution shall not be imposed on a person except by virtue of provisions of the law which must not affect the essential substances of such rights and liberties.
Print media The first instance of censorship in Thailand occurred with the advent of the first printing press in the country.Freedom of expression and the Media in Thailand , ARTICLE19 and Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development, Dec 2005, Thailand's first law book was banned and all copies and the original manuscript were ordered destroyed.
Under the 1941 Printing and Advertisement Act, the Royal Thai Police Special Branch has the authority to issue warnings to publications for various violations such as disturbing the peace, interfering with public safety, or offending public morals."Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Thailand", Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, U.S. Department of State, 23 February 2001
According to a study by the Political Science Library at Thammasat University, from 1850 to 1999, 1,057 books and periodicals were officially banned by publication in the Royal Gazette, including many books among the "100 books every Thai should read". Many titles reflect their era of anti-communist fervor but were published both in Thailand and abroad in Thai, Chinese, Vietnamese, Korean, Bahasa, English, German, French, and Spanish.
Historically, this and other acts have been used to severely restrict press freedom, especially during the military governments of Plaek Pibulsonggram, Sarit Dhanarajata, and Thanom Kittikachorn (up to 1973). Books on Thai feudalism, the monarchy, and religion viewed by the Thai government as disruptive were banned and their authors imprisoned."Jit Pumisak" , Songs for Life, Center for Southeast Asian Studies, Northern Illinois University (NIU). Retrieved 23 August 2012 A student-led uprising in 1973 led to a brief period of press freedom, until a violent military crackdown in 1976 resulted in a major clamp-down. The 1980s saw the gradual thawing of press censorship.
Books Sarakadee Magazine has published a three part overview of book censorship in Thailand."The book banned. Knowledge imprisonment", Sarakadee magazine, "Part 1: Introduction", "Part 2: Scoop", and "Part 3: Box" in Thai. (English translations: Part 1 , Part 2 , Part 3)
Unless critical of the royal family, monarchy or sensitive government issues, foreign and domestic books normally are not censored and circulate freely. All public discussion of the death of 20-year-old King Ananda Mahidol (Rama VIII), the previous king's elder brother, of a single gunshot wound to the head is discouraged and not taught in schools even to history majors.
The Devil's Discus by Rayne Kruger (London: Cassell, 1964), a result of investigative reporting, which examines the case of King Ananda, was immediately banned and its author barred from Thailand. Curiously, neither the book's Japanese or Thai translation (in 1972) have been banned. However, the first 16 pages of all extant copies of The Devil's Discus in Thai have been excised and seem to have no text corresponding to the English original.
Widely considered to be the father of Thai democracy, Pridi Banomyong was a writer of the first Thai constitution in 1932 which transformed Thailand from an absolute monarchy to a constitutional monarchy. In addition, he was twice prime minister, a wartime underground hero who fought the Japanese occupation of Thailand, and the founder of Thammasat University.
However, Pridi was brought under suspicion of regicide in the death of King Ananda by his chief political rival, strongman military Prime Minister Plaek Pibulsonggram and was forced to flee into exile with his chief aide-de-camp (and Ananda's), Vacharachai Chaisittiwet. Vacharachai's brother became the Thai translator of The Devil's Discus in an attempt to clear his name. Most Thais today have forgotten that Pridi Banomyong, the father of Thai democracy, died in exile.
Three royal servants were executed without warning and in secrecy for regicide in 1955, nine years after King Ananda's death, after many acquittals and subsequent prosecution appeals with little evidence, old or new, but which resulted in fresh convictions for all three in Thailand's highest court. The entire legal case appears to have been predicated on hearsay and the motivation political, purely to keep Pridi out of the picture. King Bhumibol (Rama IX), a young, untested monarch at the time, failed to exercise his royal prerogative of pardon for the three prisoners, despite the many questionable facets to the case.
The Revolutionary King by William Stevenson (London: Constable, 1999) was initiated by King Bhumibol as a semi-official hagiography. King Bhumibhol had translated Stevenson's book, A Man Called Intrepid, into Thai and reportedly admired Stevenson's work. In any case, Stevenson was granted unprecedented personal access to both the King himself and members of the royal family.
However, when the published book appeared, not only was it riddled with simple inaccuracies, but it shocked many Thai readers by referring to the king throughout the book by his childhood nickname, Lek. The book presented a unique new theory of Japanese involvement in the death of King Ananda. Not known is whether this theory originated with King Bhumibol. The book was unofficially banned in Thailand from the date of its publication. However, in 2005, reportedly through royal intervention, the book could be ordered from bookstores in Thailand, but no bookstore has been willing to stock it.
A more recent controversy has occurred over The King Never Smiles (New Haven & London: Yale University Press, 2006) by a former Bangkok-based correspondent, Paul Handley, described by its publishers as an "interpretive biography" of King Bhumibol. The book itself was banned in Thailand on its publication in July 2006 and websites selling the book were blocked from November 2005. No advance reading copies or excerpts of the book were made available by its publishers.
In November 2014, Thai police announced the banning of A Kingdom in Crisis: Thailand’s Struggle for Democracy in the Twenty-First Century by Andrew MacGregor Marshall, prior to its release in Thailand. Police stated that reviews of the book in The Independent and the South China Morning Post had provided sufficient evidence that the book threatens "peace and order, and the good morality of the people". Marshall claims that recent turmoil in Thai politics is driven largely by internal conflicts over succession to the throne. Any discussion of the royal succession is taboo in Thailand. More recent reviews are divided as to whether Marshall has convincingly made his point that succession is the key to understanding Thai politics.
One example of censoring media of foreign origin is the case of Bangkok Inside Out, a tourist guide, which, according to the Ministry of Culture, "taints the image of Thailand and its people"."Another book on Thailand banned" , Daniel Ziv and Guy Sharett, Paknam Web Forums, 1 December 2005 Most censored books are in Thai, published in Thailand. At the same time, most books since 1999 are banned "unofficially" which makes gathering censorship data difficult.
A good example of this modern variety of unofficial Thai censorship is the book The Images of Pridi Banomyong and Thai Politics 1932–1983, written by Morakot Jaewjinda as her master's thesis in history at Srinakharinwirot University. Although Morakot's thesis was published in 1987, the criminal defamation case against her by Khunying (a Thai royal decoration of recognition) Nongyao Chaiseree, former rector of Thammasat University, is only starting to be heard in court in 2007.