discussion on monarchy in Thailand

Two websites illegally blocked; twenty nine banned for discussion on monarchy

AHRC

28 May 2008

News


The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) has received information that two websites were illegally blocked and charged under the Computer Crime Act while twenty nine sites face closure under the same legislation for allowing an open-forum discussion talking about the Thai monarchy.


CASE DETAILS:

According to media and other sources, two websites--Fah Diaw Kan and Prachatai--were illegally blocked at around 11pm of May 14 and around noon on May 15. Instead of the website contents internet users found the message: "the web site has been blocked by the request of the Communication authority. For more information, contact Ministry of Information and Communication Technology". However, the Ministry has denied blocking the website and said that it was a technical error on the part of the Internet service provider, Telephone Organisation of Thailand (TOT) which the TOT has denied.

The two websites had earlier been charged under Article 116(2) of the Criminal Code for publishing discussions on the monarchy. (See further AHRC-UAC-097-2008)

However, before the two websites were blocked, Mr. Man Pattanotai, Minister of Information and Communication Technology told in his interview with "Khao Den Praden Ron" FM radio on 14 May 2008 that he first asked for cooperation from webhosting service provider but later issued an order to ban some websites publishing discussions on the monarchy. In the interview, he also said that he has been clearly authorized by the criminal laws but the reason he did not ban the websites by himself has been to seek a warrant from the court before banning. He further said that the former ICT Minister, Sitthichai Pokaiyaudom, once he was informed about this, would encourage folk who have had the knowledge to hack the websites. He assured that operators of internet services who have had knowledge in hacking would also help. The Minister also mentioned that he would not take legal action against those websites for fear of causing a scandal but that there was a policy to suppress the news. When asked about the two websites, he refused to say anything further.

Meanwhile, the Special Branch Police (SBP) has already initiated investigations against at least 20 websites on which were found any comments on the monarchy. The Department of Special Investigation (DSI) in cooperation with the SBP has been tracking down the website operators for about a month. On May 19, SBP Commissioner Pol Lt-Gen Rapipat Palawong said investigations into some websites have been completed and referred to a special committee set up by the royal police chief for further inquiry. Once the committee endorses the SBP's findings, the cases will be sent to the Crime Suppression Division (CSD) for further action.

The websites and blogs that are to be banned for discussing on monarchy or human rights are;

1. http://www.youtube.com/StopleseMajeste
2. http://www.2519me.com/
3. http://hello-siam.blogspot.com
4. http://rukchard.blogspot.com
5. http://chakridynasty.googlepages.com
6. http://www.midnightuniv.org/
7. http://www.serichon.com/
8. http://www.prachatai.com/
9. http://sapaprachachon.blogspot.com/
10.http://s125.photobucket.com/albums/p73/nicolejung99/?
11. http://www.weloveudon.net/
12. http://www.tlt-global.com/
13. http://www.secondclass111.com/
14. http://thai-journalist-democratic-front.com/
15. http://www.sameskybooks.org/
16. http://www.newskythailand.com/
17. http://www.chupong.net/
18. http://pcc-thai.com/
19. http://datopido.newsit.es/
20. http://thai-journalist-democratic-front.com/
21. http://www.mvnews.net/
22. http://www.cptradio.com/
23. http://www.thaipeoplevoice.org/
24.http://www.nationsiam.com/frontpage/Itemid,1/
25. http://www.arayachon.org/
26. http://www.siamreview.net/
27. http://warotah.blogspot.com/
28. http://killerpress.wordpress.com/
29. http://gunner2007.wordpress.com/

Some blogs above have already been suspended. The name of the websites has been posted in a website owned by a member of a political party, the Democratic Party.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS:

The Computer Crime Act BE 2550 was provided and signed by the military-appointed prime minister of Thailand on 10 June 2007. The act grants enormous powers to persons designated as 'competent officials' to obtain, search and copy computer data, and seize hardware. Other concerns still remain such as certainty and enforceability. (See further AHRC-AS-177-2007)
This act authorises Minister or the agency set up by the Computer Crime law to ban a website. However, before that, the authority has to prove that the information posted on the website breaches the law and get a warrant from a court.

This is not an isolated instance of suppressing the media in Thailand. There are a number of cases of banning and censoring the media in recent years following people's increasing awareness regarding the cases of human rights violations due to media intervention. The censoring and banning website by the government has been threatening freedom of media.

The AHRC has previously issued urgent appeals on similar issues that might be read AHRC-UAC-097-2008; UP-046-2006; UP-024-2006; UA-112-2006.

SUGGESTED ACTION:
Please write letters to authorities listed below asking for the immediate withdrawal of the suppression of the media in the name of investigation.

The AHRC has also written a separate letter to the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of expression calling for an intervention in this case.

Source : http://www.prachatai.com