BBC'S JOHNATHAN HEAD FACING CHARGES
The BBC's Bangkok correspondent Jonathan Head is facing less majeste charges, according to several news reports from The Associated Press that have appeared around the world.
The story says: "One complaint is related to a December 3 article in which Head speculated about the relationship between the palace and the anti-government protest group that took over Bangkok’s main international and domestic airports for eight days."
The complaint against Jonathan has been made by Police Lt.-Col. Wattanasak Mungkandee, a veteran of similar actions against Jonathan. The report adds: "In the earlier complaint in May, Wattanasak submitted as evidence 11 articles from the BBC website, even though some were not written by Head. He also submitted a photograph of Head shaking hands with former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra before an interview in late 2001.
The Associated Press quotes Wattanasak as saying he is acting on behalf of Thais who have come to him complaining about Head’s coverage. “As a Thai, I made a decision that I had to do something to let foreign reporters know that Thais are not happy with those who write something bad about our royal family,”
3 comments:
Reader 'Sukanda' left a comment regarding my previous story against less majeste stories against Johnathan Head. It is more appropriate here, although I am unable to reprint it in full as it makes accusations of corruption that I am not aware have ever been proven.
He/She also says a newspaper has already published stories about corruption but I have not been able to find them mysel
Sukanda claims a link to Thaksin (which has been claimed previously) and claims Johnathan's reporting of the hostages and the seizure of the control tower in the recent airport blockade are evidence of biased reporting.
These are not my comments and I have toned them down and made them legal. Please can everyone ensure they keep any subsequent comments legal and concise.
Thanks.
Thanong commented on Prachatai that the BBC overspun the situation - it does seem like JH took risks in his reporting and it does seem like he had a bias - I do not wish to judge the poor man though as I know that such professionalism can also arise from too much Xmas spirit
I saw a lot of the overseas media coverage and most of it could easily be described as biased and sensationalist from a Thai perspective. There have been far worse examples of possible less majeste yet those have all been authored from outside Thailand.
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