The following is an 8 October 2008 press statement from the
Thai Journalists Association (TJA), a founding member of SEAPA:

TJA urges all sides to stop using violence and focus on finding a peaceful
solution to the current crisis

The Thai Journalists Association (TJA) would like to express grave concern
over the violent incidents and the ensuing injuries and damages caused by
several clashes between policemen who fired tear gas and the People's
Alliance for Democracy (PAD) demonstrators who surrounded the Parliament
building on the morning of 7 October 2008 to prevent the lawmakers from
convening.

The Association believes that the use of violence to disperse the
demonstrators and the demonstrators' equally violent response will only
cause the situation to spin out of control.

TJA urges all sides to stop using violence and instead pause to review
their respective positions in order to look for a peaceful solution to the
on-going political conflict.

The Association is also concerned with the safety of the reporters in the
field given that many of them were injured in this incident.

We appeal to all sides to understand the difficulty facing reporters in
bringing the truth to the public and urge reporters to exercise caution
while covering the on-going conflict.