Free media amplifies Thai protests
By Marwaan Macan-Markar
BANGKOK - On first impression, Thailand's mounting political crisis appears to
be an attempt by one group to shape the future of democracy in a kingdom that
over its modern history has witnessed 18 military coups. But the anger that
drives a protest movement, now encamped around Government House, to topple an
elected administration has simultaneously pitted it against the country's old,
state-controlled media order.
Asia Satellite Television (ASTV) makes little effort to hide its political
mission as the around-the-clock live broadcaster of the People's Alliance for
Democracy (PAD) protest movement and the
station's coverage has added political potency to its anti-government charge.
The station has in recent days carried footage of aggressive police attempts to
dismantle a PAD stage and the violence between pro- and anti-government groups
earlier this week which resulted in one death and dozens of injuries.
When Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej on Tuesday declared a state of emergency
in the wake of those clashes, army commander Anupong Paochinda had the legal
authority to close down the station if its content was considered inciting
unrest. PAD protestors armed with golf clubs and sticks built barricades out of
tires on Tuesday evening in an attempt to block a possible army raid on the
station's headquarters in Bangkok's riverside Pra Athit area. Until now,
however, the military has not intervened in the station’s operations.
ASTV's owner and founder, Sondhi Limthongkul, a fiery orator, is one of the
PAD's co-leaders. His sustained attacks on the government and the state of Thai
democracy, including charges that the prevailing election-based system does not
work and that the country would be better served by a largely appointed
parliament, have resonated with the thousands drawn to the PAD rallies who
first heard the controversial claims made on ASTV.
The upstart ASTV is a new entrant into Thailand's tightly controlled broadcast
media industry, which is dominated by state-owned, commercially oriented TV
stations that generally offer a staple of light talk shows, soap operas and
gossip programs. News programs carried over the same channels are traditionally
tightly managed affairs and consistently present the sitting government in a
favorable light.
That monopoly has been directly challenged in the escalating conflict. PAD
protestors, some reportedly armed with guns, stormed and temporarily closed
down on August 26 the National Broadcasting Services of Thailand (NBT)
television news station, which is managed and run by the Prime Minister's
Office and widely viewed as a state mouthpiece. Other mainstream television
station reporters, including from Channel 3, have recently been threatened and
harassed at PAD rallies.
Still, ASTV's audience is proliferating, particularly among urban-based,
middle-aged and elderly Thais. Two sisters in their late 50s are among a
growing legion of avowed ASTV devotees who are sympathetic to the PAD's
anti-government backlash.
"Those stations offer little of the kind of programs that we want to see -
about politics in Thailand, corruption, how the government is abusing its
power," says Hui-Leng, the younger of the two Thai-Chinese sisters, referring
to government-owned TV stations that have long dominated Thailand's airwaves,
including Channels 3 and 7. Together those two Thai-language stations, both run
by concessionaries, enjoy a 60% share of the country's television market.
"We want to know more of the truth that is happening in our country; we want to
know about the cases against this government," added Hui-Leng, a Bangkok
resident, as she sat before a television tuned to ASTV. "You cannot get this
information on other channels."
Since late May, ASTV's programs have consisted mainly of PAD speeches beamed
from stages set up at revolving sites around Bangkok. The made-for-television
rallies have heaped criticism on the government led by Samak, who was elected
under a People's Power Party banner at December general elections. The protest
group has accused Samak of serving as a proxy of former prime minister Thaksin
Shinawatra, who was ousted in a 2006 military coup and now is a fugitive from
justice in Britain.
Apart from allegations of corruption and abuse of power, Samak's administration
is accused by the PAD of being unpatriotic and disloyal to the country's
revered monarch, King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
"Our entire programming is now totally dedicated to what is being said at the
PAD rallies," says Chadaporn Lin, managing editor of the station's
English-language channel. "It appeals to our viewers, even if the material is
strong, subjective and biased. The speeches about corruption and the abuse of
power are things the public will not get on other commercial TV stations."
Mixed with the speeches is material the station's 15 teams of reporters produce
from the PAD's new command center, the Office of the Prime Minister, which
anti-government protesters overran on August 26 in an unprecedented show of
civil disobedience. Some reports have included threats to the PAD protesters,
which, when relayed over the station, has recently resulted in more PAD
sympathizers pouring into Government House.
Much of this mobilization is possible due to ASTV's national reach, which is
currently estimated at 20 million viewers, Chadaporn said in an interview. "Our
audience has doubled since 2006, when we had 10 million viewers, because we
present the political side of the news that is not available on national TV."
The station's growing audience is also evident in the number of ASTV's
signature yellow satellite dishes mushrooming on the roofs and balconies of
houses and apartment buildings in Bangkok and other provinces. In Bangkok
alone, the station has sold 200,000 satellite dishes, one-fifth of the
estimated 1 million satellite dishes sold across the country by True Vision,
the country's main cable company.
If viewers cannot access the station through a satellite dish or a provincial
cable company, the Internet offers another channel. The website of The Manager,
the newspaper produced by ASTV's parent company, has seen the number of regular
visitors rise dramatically. It is currently placed third among the top 10
Thai-language websites, according to a website that monitors Internet traffic.
All but one of the other nine websites focuses on games, music, teenage
interests and dating.
ASTV has been credited with nudging Thailand towards the growing global
technological trend of information flows via satellite broadcast. "ASTV has
helped to accelerate the move towards satellite-based TV, as opposed to the
older free-to-air TV," said Laurent Malespine, a Thai media analyst. "It is
challenging the old media order in the country."
Through its free-wheeling and sometimes controversial content, the station is
also winning praise for expanding the space for free expression. ''ASTV is
offering knowledge and political information and new ideas that have never been
seen on Thai TV," says Supinya Klangnarong, deputy head of the Campaign for
Popular Media Reform, an independent local group lobbying for media rights.
''They have opened a new space for TV. There is 100% media freedom. You can say
anything against the elected government and get away [with it].''
ASTV has tapped into an older viewership that has often been overlooked by
existing commercial stations, where youth is often the target audience. It is
also creating a following that could become increasingly intolerant, Supinya
warned. "They are creating a culture of hate by the one-sided opinions being
broadcast. They are promoting very conservative and very nationalistic ideas."
"And if it attracts more people, ASTV may take over the role that has always
been played by Thai newspapers of setting the political agenda for the
country," added the 35-year-old activist, who was a PAD co-leader in its
previous incarnation in 2005 and 2006 when it targeted former premier Thaksin.
"That will be a win for those who say that Thailand has become too liberal,
open and globalized ... like my mother's generation."
(Inter Press Service with additions and reporting by Asia Times Online)
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