CNN Thailand offline? (Through "Truevisions")
According to US Ambassador Kristie Kenney 21 minutes ago, the CNN broadcast is shutdown through Truevisions. Yet the online version is playing in front of me now. That is coming from a different line.
If one item in particular is damaging Thailand at this moment, it is the censorship. The military can detain or expel people like me, but on the broad picture General Prayuth is utterly powerless in stopping the information flow.
Even in Syria, where everyone is fully empowered to kill everyone, and to pull not just the internet but the electricity, the information coming out is like a constant tidal wave.
Fighting the media is a most unwise move. Thaksin's endless crimes will be forgotten, or even legitimized in many minds, and General Prayuth will be known as the man who attacked the media and lost. Censorship should be lifted at once. Even CNN and BBC, bad as their coverage of Thailand is, should be free to cast their drivel.
Sweeping censorship will delegitimize everything that has rightfully been done or is being done, such as paying the rice farmers. Paying the rice farmers so quickly indicates that this coup d'etat was for the good of the people. Censorship indicates the opposite.
Consider the implications. When the media rightfully points out the censorship, the new government will be deemed illegitimate in the eyes of the world community.
Eventually, maybe today, the UDD or Men in Black will force the military -- whose troops have demonstrated admirable discipline -- to fire into the protestors. When protestors are killed, the media, angry with the censorship, will waste no time labeling General Prayuth and everyone involved as criminals or war criminals.
When this gains sufficient traction, foreign governments will begin with serious sanctions -- not with cutting a paltry $10m aid package -- such as restricting the travel of Thai government officials and citizens. The media can force the hands of foreign governments to cut off business cooperations with Thailand. It only gets worse from there.
I would rather be with the rice farmers now, seeing how these changes will improve their next year. Instead, the censorship is a major distraction -- at best. Any good news will be seen as propaganda, and bad news will be magnified.
Picking on the media giants is like thumping a cobra on the nose and daring it to strike. No Soldier and no general is immune to cobra venom.
And now, should I expect arrest, expulsion, a bullet? In the end, the ink will win.
CNN Thailand offline? (Through "Truevisions")
According to US Ambassador Kristie Kenney 21 minutes ago, the CNN broadcast is shutdown through Truevisions. Yet the online version is playing in front of me now. That is coming from a different line.
If one item in particular is damaging Thailand at this moment, it is the censorship. The military can detain or expel people like me, but on the broad picture General Prayuth is utterly powerless in stopping the information flow.
Even in Syria, where everyone is fully empowered to kill everyone, and to pull not just the internet but the electricity, the information coming out is like a constant tidal wave.
Fighting the media is a most unwise move. Thaksin's endless crimes will be forgotten, or even legitimized in many minds, and General Prayuth will be known as the man who attacked the media and lost. Censorship should be lifted at once. Even CNN and BBC, bad as their coverage of Thailand is, should be free to cast their drivel.
Sweeping censorship will delegitimize everything that has rightfully been done or is being done, such as paying the rice farmers. Paying the rice farmers so quickly indicates that this coup d'etat was for the good of the people. Censorship indicates the opposite.
Consider the implications. When the media rightfully points out the censorship, the new government will be deemed illegitimate in the eyes of the world community.
Eventually, maybe today, the UDD or Men in Black will force the military -- whose troops have demonstrated admirable discipline -- to fire into the protestors. When protestors are killed, the media, angry with the censorship, will waste no time labeling General Prayuth and everyone involved as criminals or war criminals.
When this gains sufficient traction, foreign governments will begin with serious sanctions -- not with cutting a paltry $10m aid package -- such as restricting the travel of Thai government officials and citizens. The media can force the hands of foreign governments to cut off business cooperations with Thailand. It only gets worse from there.
I would rather be with the rice farmers now, seeing how these changes will improve their next year. Instead, the censorship is a major distraction -- at best. Any good news will be seen as propaganda, and bad news will be magnified.
Picking on the media giants is like thumping a cobra on the nose and daring it to strike. No Soldier and no general is immune to cobra venom.
And now, should I expect arrest, expulsion, a bullet? In the end, the ink will win.
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