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Thailand censors debate about missing democracy plaque in Bankgok
Sydney Morning Herald - May 4, 2017
The Foreign Correspondent's Club of Thailand accepted a police request to cancel a panel discussion on the disappearance on Wednesday night, saying in a statement it "had no choice but to comply". A letter from police said the event "posed a threat to national security".
The whereabouts of the 30-centimetre plaque that disappeared in April from a pavement near Bangkok's Royal Plaza, an area in the midst of government buildings and military installations, has captivated Thailand.
It was replaced by a plaque praising the Chakri Royal Dynasty, whose 10th king took the throne in December, igniting new debate about how the country should be governed.
Thailand has been ruled by the military since 2014 when generals toppled a democratically elected government in a coup after months of political upheaval.
The missing plaque was installed in 1936 on the spot where army officers and civil servants proclaimed the end of the country's absolute monarchy.
"At this place, at dawn on June 24 1932 we the People's Party have given birth to the constitution for the progress of the nation," were the words engraved on the plaque in Thai.
Police have said they could not accept any complaint to investigate the disappearance because the plaque's original owner was unknown.
City officials said surveillance cameras in the area were shutdown between April 3 and 7, when the plaque disappeared. A reform activist who tried to petition the government on the disappearance was detained by soldiers and held for 10 hours.
Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha, who led the coup, told reporters an investigation into the disappearance would be held but warned against making a political issue of it.
He said he understood why some people may be upset. "But look at what we are doing today. Would it be better for us to look ahead to the future? Old subjects are just history," he said.
The Committee to Protect Journalists said Wednesday's ban was the latest act of harassment against the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Thailand under military rule.
"Thailand's ruling junta claims it will soon restore democracy, yet it continues to ban and censor news-oriented public events," Shawn Crispin, the CPJ's senior south-east Asia representative, said.
"We call on the regime to stop harassing the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Thailand and allow it to resume its long-time role as an open and free forum for vital discussion and debate," he said.
The junta has banned several of the club's events and dispatched plainclothes officials to record other proceedings and take pictures and videos of panellists and journalists.
Meanwhile, Thailand's media has launched a campaign against legislation proposed by the junta that they say would severely restrict freedom of speech in the country.
[Lindsay Murdoch is a member of the Foreign Correspondent's Club of Thailand.]
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