Thailand used to boast Southeast Asia’s most free press. From Magnoy’s Samsara, more grim news about the decline that press conditions have seen in the past few years.:
The gloom lurking over the Thai media grew darker last week when a prominent journalist in Pattaya was brutally slain and a bomb exploded at the Bangkok headquarters of a media company.
Media advocates observe that the incidents follow a series of events that form a concerted effort to block public access to balanced information.
The recent attacks on media freedom have become more violent and are a grim reminder of the harassment endured by the media during the reign of dictators in the past.
“The two incidents suggest a new and disturbing trend of violence,” said Christopher Warren, president of the International Federation of Journalists. He has called upon authorities to expedite bringing the culprits to justice.
On Tuesday last week, the body of Santi Lammaninin, publisher of Pattaya Post, was found in his car on the side of an isolated road. He was shot three times, twice in the head, blindfolded and hog-tied. His paper had published reports on prostitution syndicates operating in hotels that led to the transfer of police officers out of shady but remunerative positions in Pattaya.
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