Hathairat Phaholtap, editor-in-chief of The Isaan Record, has been sued for defamation by Deputy Prime Minister Suchart Chomklin over an investigative report citing a statement from sources in the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) that Thai politicians have been taking bribe from a former executive of a Finnish berry company.

According to The Isaan Record, Hathairat received a court summons yesterday (21 March). The lawsuit was filed by Chalarmchai Sri-yuphak on behalf of Suchart, who is suing Hathairat for 50 million baht in damages. A preliminary hearing has been scheduled at the Criminal Court on 25 May.

According to the complaint document, Suchart sued Hathairat because she posted messages on Facebook between 26 January – 11 February which contain false information and were defamatory. The document noted that one post contained a report from The Isaan Record’s Facebook page along with the caption “Presenting evidence of politicians taking bribes from Berry Finland Co.”

The complaint claimed that ordinary readers would believe that the post referred to Suchart and that he accepted bribes and is involved in human trafficking in relations to Thai workers who went to Finland to work as berry pickers.

Hathairat said that it was an honour for a small news outlet to draw the attention of a politician like Suchart. She hopes their reporting on Thai berry pickers would gain the attention of the new government and that the public would watch their documentary “Blood Berries,” which won a Best Human Rights Film award at the Montreal Women Film Festival in Canada.

She said that she hopes that lawsuit would be useful to the press more than serving as a signal from politicians for journalists to silence themselves because she believes they were doing the right thing.

Several media outlets reported on Sunday morning (22 March) that Suchart plans to withdraw the lawsuit against Hathairat on Monday (23 March). He claimed he did not want to sue journalists but was told by his lawyer that the posts were made during the election campaign period and could affect his campaign. He said that his lawyer filed the lawsuit before the election, but has ordered the lawyer to withdraw the lawsuit because the election is now over and Hathairat’s post contained information that the DSI sent to the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC).

The DSI said in January 2024 that it is prosecuting former ministers and senior executives of the Ministry of Labour for accepting bribes and involvement in trafficking Thai workers to Finland. The case was referred to the DSI by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs after it worked with the Thai Embassy in Helsinki to assist Thai berry pickers who legally came to work in Finland but fell victim to human trafficking.

Evidence from several parties revealed a conspiracy involving politicians, government officials and others. Despite having no authority, they sought benefits from Thai agencies that recruited Thai workers for Finland. The benefits in question were processing fees, which were around 3,000 baht per person, which the agencies required the workers to pay in addition to the actual expenses.

The DSI stated that in 2020-2023, approximately 12,000 Thai workers had to pay this additional fee, totalling around 36 million baht. As a result, the DSI decided to prosecute the four figures and will submit the case to the Office of the National Anti-Corruption Commission for further action.

Soon after the DSI broke the news about the case, Suchart sued three senior DSI officials for misconduct over the press conference. He claimed that he was being harassed and that the DSI never summoned him to provide his testimony. It also help the press conference several months after the case was forwarded to the NACC.

Suchart came under fire during the censure debate in March 2025 over alleged links to human trafficking. People’s Party MP Sahassawat Kumkong questioned his qualifications in light of the human trafficking allegations, involving the exploitation of Thai workers picking berries in Finland and Sweden. At the time, Suchart was the Labour Minister.