Reporters without Borders Report

The report on state (and non-state) violence against reporters in Thailand has been released and is here. It begins:

“The very violent political crisis that convulsed Thailand in April and May 2010
had a dramatic impact on the safety of journalists and media freedom. the toll
was heavy: two foreign journalists were among the 90 people killed, ten other
journalists were wounded (some sustaining injuries from which they will never fully
recover) and there was a wave of censorship and intimidation without precedent
since the 1990s.”

It is actually quite a short report and consists of ten personal accounts from reporters attacked by the military – deliberately targetted is the consensus opinion – and considerations of the deaths of those reporters who were murdered. A Thai language version is also available.

Moments in Thai History: II

“Historically, the territory of Lan Na had its own history, culture, traditions, and language. The Lan Na people had closer ties with the Burmese, Shan, Lue, and Lao than with the Thai. They felt little in common with the Siamese, who felt likewise about their northern neighbors.

By 1903 it was government policy that Central Thai script be taught in schools throughout the kingdom. In the beginning, the study of local languages was also allowed. The government believed that a lenient approach would eventually lead to the disappearance of local languages, particularly given the rule that government officials had to know Central Thai. The use of Lan Na Tham script has continued to decline to the present day, together with knowledge of the old texts.”

Sarassawadee Ongsakul, History of Lan Na (Chiang Mai: Silkworm Books, 2005), translated by Chitraporn Tanratanakul, p.210.