There is an information war in Thailand.
The military began shutting down normal programming on cable and some satellite TV channels as well as radio stations and instructed those on social media to be very careful – all done before the coup declaration. Unlike in 2006, the last coup, the men in uniform made strong and explicit statements to both the traditional and new media producers and consumers to watch out for their action. Although martial law is normally accompanied by the restrictions on freedom of press and speech, the military imposed a near total ban on the media, and held ISP executives responsible for what would go on online.
Little is coming out in Thailand these days when it comes to political news. The army chief, Prayuth Chan-Ocha, demanded public TV channels to only show news from the military-approved sources. Repeat re-runs of the military’s announcement was what many Thais are seeing on their TV. The “lack” of news is frightening at a time when people are wondering what is going on. While most Thais are used to curfew – there had been so many in this past decade alone – having some sense of what is going on could help ease the minds of Thais while they have been ordered to stay at home.
What is the military afraid of? The answer is simply not just the dislodged Pheu Thai party, nor the feuding political elites. After all, despite what the army chief claimed as “no end in sight,” some “deals” could be made among the elites, especially after an already weakened ruling party following the ousting of its leader Yingluck Shinawatra. Although part of the reason for a quick way out was to ensure some resolution could be achieved before Prayuth could retire in September. Yet, the very short time between the declaration of martial law and the coup did not allow enough time for negotiation to materialize before the military concluded it would take over. It all seemed as though getting the key factions to agree with one another was not the major part of the plan.
Part of the military’s fear is “propaganda to elicit violence by ill-intent individuals.” The military believes there exist “underground” groups in Thailand bent on wreaking havoc in the country and they worry unless they control and centralize the dissemination of information, they would not win this battle. It’s not just the battle between the Shinawatra versus the Rest, but rather, between the state and its “subversives.”
Already since the martial law was imposed, the security forces had begun arresting suspected individuals and turned up reportedly military-grade weapons. Some of these were believed to have belonged to individuals with ties to the warring protest movements.
Of the 19 official statements made by the newly formed National Peace and Order Maintaining Council (NPOMC), 6 of them were specifically targeting at information control. The military reasoned the need to control TV, radio stations and the Internet as a way to ensure “truthful” and “correct” information get disseminated to the population. The NPOMC was most worried about the social media communication, where they have the least direct control, that non-censored information could pose further challenge to the military rule and the state, more generally. The military pleaded then demanded cooperation from the media and those involved (vaguely defined) to ensure controlled information.
According to the 17th statement by the NPOMC, the army chief placed the responsibility of monitoring the Internet largely on the providers:
“In order to disseminate proper Internet news to the population – void of manipulation that could create misunderstanding or conflict…the Internet providers must:
1) monitor and stop any information dissemination that could breed disorder within the Kingdom or would negatively impact the stability of the state and the morale of the people
2) be summoned for a meeting at the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission….”
Was the military takeover of the media warranted? The coup in 2006, while the military imposed certain restriction on freedom of press, it did not result in this level of information lock down. Many of the commercial TV channels in Thailand were hardly political: they mostly showed soaps, game shows and music videos. Perhaps the near ban on media was a sweeping act of fear mongering. Or perhaps the military believe it could really suppress the voices of its opposition. Either way it’s unsustainable.
Information is flowing through FB and twittering. Unless they shut these down they will not control the social media. If they try there will be an uproar and things will get ugly.
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The general impression I get from talking to middle-class Thais here in Bangkok (this includes Esarn people, is that everyone hopes the pain is worth the gain. Disclaimer: These days I avoid any sort of political discussion with extremists because I have found them to have closed minds. There’s no real language barrier – they have mental barriers.
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And you have an open mind? It doesn’t come across.
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IMO being in the minority is preferable to being one of the NM herd taking cheap shots at those presenting facts which they find inconvenient.
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I like being in the NM herd. I feel at home here and it gives me moral support and courage to oppose the coup, because I know that there are others who think like me!
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I have no problem with your comment. What I object to is knee-jerk reactions and ad hominem attacks.
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Being in a minority is a state which I entirely respect. But that is hardly the same as having an open mind. Surely the latter involves being able to listen to argument when it is contrary to one’s own view rather than dismiss those whose views are opposed as a “herd taking cheap shots”? For instance, when I say that your open-mindedness does not come across, I don’t believe I am taking a cheap shot at you but merely stating that, in my experience, you rarely engage in argument but are simply dismissive of views you find objectionable. The worst thing about that is that it tends to be boring.
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I don’t like bans on press freedom but the press and internet forums must act responsibly. They don’t always do that.
Richard Barrow, on his blog with more than any 50000 followers (who themselves of course repost and retweet), declared that on driving round Bangkok he had seen only one soldier. Earlier he had blogged that there was no disrution to incoming foreign mail (despite advisories on the UK Royal mail and other national sites.
So you see it’s not just irresponsible and inaccurate comment and propaganda that is anti-government that is being perpetrated
The media and bloggers should be posting well-sourced facts.
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Dear Matt, please don’t insult the intelligence of the readers of this forum with such arrant nonsense. You seem to have no understanding of the situation in Thailand and you don’t even comprehend how social media works.
It is not up to the Thai military or anybody (including you) to determine what it means to “act responsibly”.
There is indeed a flood of information on Thailand online, some accurate, some not. Most people are intelligent enough to figure out for themselves who is worth listening to, and who is not.
With all due respect, you fall into the latter category.
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Dear Matt, don’t you think we know enough of blogging to realize that there are factual errors out there? Do you really think that we take any blogger’s comments as gospel without digging a little deeper? By its very nature blogging is going to supply a heady mixture of fact and fiction. Everyone accepts that, got it?
And I’m not too sure that we would agree on what is a well-sourced fact.
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You claim to not like press banning, yet on a Thai based news blogger site’s comment section, you are lamenting this site’s numerous insightful revelations on the root of the problems- and calling for this site to be banned in Thailand.
I’m glad I found this site, for years now I have suspected the nation is rotten to the very core, and now my suspicions are corroborated.
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[…] Read original article here: http://www.newmandala.org/2014/05/24/thailands-information-war/ […]
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In The Economist of May 24th – 30th 2014 there appears a most revealing article about Thailand, and I am dying of curiosity to know whether this publication has been banned in Thailand.
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I don’t know if the junta could take the inet down even if it wanted to, but if it did business would be very severely impacted as vital teleconferencing and email services etc. would be unavailable. Any takers for snail mail?
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I can’t help asking myself how closely Thailand’s newest dictator is having the NM site monitored. It is being monitored, surely.
Could any of us be the first Falangs invited to report to the Junta? Can they possibly find us? (I assume we all use fake email addresses of course). I don’t put it past this tin pot dictator to take a swipe sooner or later.
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If it is so, the ringwraiths’ arms must be very very long indeed! Unfortunately for the coup makers, the law can only be used to oppress the Thai people in Thailand.
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