A newspaper known for its staunch royalist stance announced Thursday it has resigned from a national media association for its failure to enforce ethics and impartiality. In an online statement, the editorial board of Naewna said the National Press Council, comprised of editors from different print media organizations, turns a blind eye to media agencies that take political sides and disregards ethics, though it did not name any specific incidents.

The Commuincation Authority of Thailand (CAT) has revoked the broadcasting licence of a red-shirt TV station for 30 days for violating the junta’s laws.

The Office of Auditor-General said he wanted to give it another try in the effort to hold the authorities accountable for wasting millions of baht on bogus bomb detectors sold by a British conman.  Five years since it came to light that more than one billion baht was spent on fake devices, a renewed call to hold someone accountable has come days after a British court seized assets belonging to the Briton behind the international scam.

When a veteran reporter said, “Freedom of the press is freedom of the people” Tuesday, the junta chief advised her to watch herself.  On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, members of the Thai Journalists Association clad in specially designed black t-shirts to mark the occasion, visited Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-ocha today at government house. Within a few minutes of asking to revoke some of the junta’s orders against media freedom, Prayuth made his standpoint on the issue clear. “Isn’t the freedom we have right now enough?,” he asked.  

At least 10 foreign correspondents based in Thailand have been denied media visas during the past two months, said the former president of the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand. Jonathan Head, who has been tasked with monitoring and responding to issue, said all 10 were bona fide journalists and not fakes, making it difficult to understand the rationale for the Foreign Ministry’s decisions.  “We still don’t really understand what the Foreign Ministry is trying to achieve,” he said.  “All are doing legitimate media work.”