By Lynette Lee Corporal

BANGKOK, Aug 28 (Asia Media Forum) - Advocates of media reform in Thailand have a long road ahead in their quest for democratisation of the Fourth Estate. Libel suits, self-censorship, profit-oriented mass media, cyber 'Big Brother' — these are just some of the challenges that the media face these days.

   "The media's role for democratic development is very high, and the mainstream media have lots of power, which can either be good or be an obstacle," Thai scholar and activist Prof Ubonrat Siriyuvasak said.

   She was speaking at a recent workshop entitled 'Media Reform in the Current Political Situation', organised by the Friedrich Ebert Foundation Thailand. It was an offshoot of an FES study conducted in June on 'Media in Thailand - A Practical Study on Media Freedom and the Media's Democratisation Potential'..

   Ubonrat acknowledges that censorship is still a big problem in Thai society, but also added that there is more to this than meets the eye.

   “Self-censorship (among the media) is a micro thing. It's the structural censorship that we need to look into as it covers everything, including institutional policies," she said.

   Ubonrat likened this censorship to "a kind of Orwellian model", referring to author George Orwell's novel '1984', where citizens are put under constant surveillance by a totalitarian government.

   Media watchdogs say that this kind of censorship has assumed various forms and 'faces' such as the Computer Crime Act, which requires state and private Internet service providers to store and monitor computer data.

   "One of the most tangible effect of this Act is that, in the past weeks, Internet cafes have started asking Internet users for their identification cards and passports if they're foreigners, and record their information and the computer units that they will be using," Pravit Rojanaphruk, a senior reporter with the English-language daily ‘The Nation’, said in an interview.

   Thai-language daily 'Kom Chad Luek' international news editor Boonrat Apichattrison sees an alarming trend that pits the media against the law.

   "They are now using the law to control the media, something which is used a lot in Asia for that matter. The state, somehow, wants to destroy the credibility of the media and creates confusion in the process," she said.

   Among the more famous cases that hogged headlines recently are the libel cases filed by giant retail chain Tesco Lotus against two columnists of Thai daily 'Krungthep Thurakij' after they raised doubts as to whether the British-based chain  "loved Thailand".

   In May this year, Thai websites ‘Fah Diew Kan’ and ‘Prachatai’ were also charged for their published discussions about a man who refused to stand while the Royal Anthem was being played in a Bangkok theatre. In a statement following the incident, the Asian Human Rights Commission called this move a "violation of the freedom of expression as set down in the Constitution of Thailand, and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights".

   For Stefan Heilmann, a researcher at the Hans Bredow Institute for Media Research of the University of Hamburg in Germany, the involvement of the judicial system in creating an environment where media can freely do their job should not be taken for granted.

   "The courts play a vital role in media reform as having them in the equation will help secure media from attacks by political institutions," he said. He also believes in bringing academics into the field because "this is where future judges/lawyers are educated".

   But Chuwat Rerksirisuk, editor of alternative web newspaper Prachatai.com, believes that a major obstacle for media reform is the law itself.

   "If you look at the mass media today, you will see that it's filled with people who are bent on protecting self-interests of the media and those behind it, which then leads to oppression," he said, adding that there are a lot of issues that the media do not dare touch.

   As is the case of other countries, Boonrat agrees, majority of mainstream media is "mostly run by the middle-class and the elite”. She added: "This is why mainstream media tend to assume a patronising stance when it comes to their audience. It almost always ends up with a 'we shall educate the masses/readers' view.”

   "The media structure has to be changed. If you want the media to be better, you have to develop organisation and a standardisation in the media," he added.

   Thai TV channel ASTV 5's Pichien Amnajvaraprasert cautions the media against abusing their power and privileges.  "Media should also be held accountable for their actions and should not act like gods. We need to see more checks and balances," he said.

   The problems hounding mainstream media, said Thai Public Broadcasting Service acting managing director Thepchai Yong, are made worse by ownership issues.

   "Newspapers, which only 2.5 million people get to access, are not that influential compared to the 50 to 60 million people who have access to TV and radio," he said.

   The problem is, he added, these broadcasting networks are "monopolised and dominated by the state".

   Most of the workshop participants agree that one way to address this 'inequality' is to develop community media. In Ubonrat's words, this form of media are like "new small bubbles, new and diverse, that are growing and are now the new generation of media".

    "These new media, although still very small, could be used as a catalyst for reform," said Ubonrat. "They are converting people, from merely converting information, into producers of information."

   But clearly, media reform is a process that will take time. Stressed Ubonrat: "The only thing that protects media freedom is that everybody feels this need.” (END/IPSAP/LLC/JS/270808)