The Wire

Two bomb attacks in Thailand against critics of the Thai Government have thrown the issue of civil liberties and press freedoms back into the spotlight. Last week a prominent critics of the government, Sondhi Limthongkul, the former TV presenter of the show “Thailand this week”, was delivered a small bomb which exploded in his office, without harming anyone. On the same day another critic of the Government Luangta Maha Bua, a monk, was delivered a similar device, which also turned out to harm no one. The events have caused some to claim that the Government’s crack down on freedom of the press may be a taking sinister turn, and that these attacks are a thinly veiled attack on freedom of speech. Since the Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra came into power, the press has faced an unprecedented number of defamation suits from Government officials. Sondhi Limthongkul himself has been hit with two suits from the Thai Prime Minister, each worth 500 million baht, approximately $16.6 million Australian dollars. Wasan Pailleeklee is a spokesperson for Thailand’s Radio and Television Reporters Association. He spoke earlier to Erica Vowles about claims that last week’s bomb attacks were linked to Thailand’s Prime Minister.