Repression of journalists

In recent days there have been several reports of journalists being subject to state repression.

One report was of a journalist for the Khon Kaen-based Isaan Record who was “visited” on 15 February 2025 by police who claimed they were ordered to monitor Article 112 defendants. Phongsatorn Tancharoen, an activist-turned-reporter, was told that police across the country had been ordered to monitor all those charged with 112.

A second report was Abdulafir Seng, a volunteer reporter for the Southern news outlet Wartani. He was detained by police and military officers from ISOC on 11 February 2025 and “taken to Ingkhayutthaborihan military camp in Pattani’s Nong Chik district.” Internal Security Operations Command officers later said he was detained “because he had posted false information on social media about a clash between officers and insurgents, and that the content of the post incited conflict and hatred against state officials.” Abdulafir was released from ISOC detention on 18 February and “immediately re-arrested by police officers and charged with sedition and violation of the Computer Crimes Act.”

A third report was of an online journalist, Yaiyika Athikuptanawat, in the Taling Chan area of Bangkok, who had her home raided by police “following a complaint filed by former PM Thaksin Shinawatra…”. She is a journalist for “The Critic” which streams on the ultra-conservative Thai Move Institute channel. It is reported that ten anti-cybercrime officers with a warrant went to her house following a “complaint, filed by Thaksin’s lawyer, concerning the dissemination of false information via a computer system.” She was then taken to the Cybercrime Bureau’s office on Chaeng Wattana Road.

While the latter police action received mainstream media commentary mainly because it is a favorite for anti-Thaksin royalists, actions against journalists all need to be taken seriously and condemned.