Freedom of press still lacking in Thailand
Last Thursday news reports broke about a Thai journalist who had been sentenced to two years’ imprisonment for defaming the owner of a poultry farm via a tweet. A court convicted Suchanee Cloitre in December for a tweet referencing a dispute over working conditions at a chicken farm owned by the Thammakaset company.
While the journalist is currently out on bail, that matter brought to light an important – if not accusatory – issue regarding Thai journalists and journalism at large in the country. Suchanee had alleged that “there is a high level of self-censorship in Thailand” among journalists reporting on sensitive topics like human rights and politics.
Sheith Khidhir
