As a number of New Mandala readers have reported the CNN website (or at least the relevant parts of it) appears to have been blocked in Thailand as a result of the CNN interview with Thaksin:
My sources tell me that the link you give leads to a “The page can not be displayed” in Thailand – i.e. one would assume it has been blocked. The CNN signal was definitely blocked in Thailand during the times the interview was aired, and access in Thailand to the CNN and BBC websites also appear to have been blocked, presumably for carrying the story.
I live in Thailand and yes, the whole CNN.com website looks like it is being blocked.
2Bangkok has coverage of the censorship of the broadcast itself and a link to the interview on Youtube. And for other commentary on censorship in Thailand visit FACT – Freedom Against Censorship in Thailand.
6 responses so far ↓
1 Vichai N. // Jan 16, 2007 at 3:31 pm
I will confirm it. CNN was blocked during the interview. And it was stupid.
CNN just recently has been restored in the Thai internet and the Thaksin interview is available belatedly. Maybe the junta has now realized they are looking like fools trying to block the media and the internet if the news relates to Thaksin.
General Sonthi said he did not order the censor of the CNN-Thaksin interview. Must have been some other junta member definitely (Saprang?).
The junta should stick to going after real national security threats – those bombers and school arsonists. And bring back Thaksin to Thailand to face the charges and so the junta can really keep a close eye on him.
2 Bangkok Pundit // Jan 16, 2007 at 7:36 pm
Vichai
I don’t think the CNS needed to order the blocking of specific content. They threatened the media last week and that is enough. This from The Nation says it all:
One Channel 7 official said the station did not wish to enter into a debate with the Council of National Security (CNS) after last week’s much-criticised demand for local broadcasters to not carry stories about the former prime minister.
“Just the name Thaksin is enough. We don’t need to look at the content,” said a Channel 7 source, who spoke on condition of anonymity.
3 anonymous // Jan 16, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Army Commander Sonthi focused too much on planning his coup and not enough on ending the Southern insurgency. Now that he heads the junta, he is still more focused on destroying the Thaksin-legacy than in solving the problems of the South.
4 New Mandala » The Burmese veto aftermath and dictator’s friends // Jan 16, 2007 at 10:19 pm
[...] As has become clearer over the passed few months, the authoritarian apparatuses of mainland Southeast Asia’s dictatorships are well-equipped to deflect critical attention. Censorship - such as the General’s apparent efforts to stop Thaksin from being heard in Thailand - is but the crudest tool available to military-backed regimes. [...]
5 Republican // Jan 17, 2007 at 12:05 am
CNN signal again blocked in Thailand tonight during a news item about the response of the regime to Thaksin’s interview in Singapore, according to local sources. All Thaksin needs to do now is to go the rounds of the major world news networks so that they can all take turns to be censored in Thailand, which they can then turn into a news story to help boost their ratings, which leads to the further erosion of the CNS’s credibility; the perfect plan! Everyone’s a winner.
6 fall // Jan 18, 2007 at 12:29 pm
CNS got their military-political compass 180-degree wrong.
In an instance to solve corruption and insurgent as military iron hand, they do it as soft-politician.
In an instance to handle international relation and PR propaganda with politician feather-touch, they do it as mititary regime.
Seriously, if they want to run a coup government. At least make an efficient one at that.
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