Prachatai English

FOX News Compared to ASTV

prachatai — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:54:50 +0000

M.L. Nattakorn Devakula

Amidst the current political climate where the ideological dividing lines within political parties take form, there is an obvious phenomenon that is occurring. This comes in the form of politically motivated media organization. What has gone down over the past several years is quite interesting from the perspective of those who study how influential media outlets can become.

Stylized reports by well-honed news anchors are used as the main outlets in convincing the general public. Strong and harsh words are used against targeted politicians to signal hatred towards particular groups or individuals. In the ASTV case, much of the hatred was targeted towards former PM Thaksin Shinawatra. Though there was additional fuel added for all politicians aligned with the Thai Rak Thai, People Power, and Peua Thai parties. The main objective was to distinguish 'bad' politicians out from the 'good' hence showing all mainstream press that they don't know what they are doing or at least were not digging deep enough for dirt on Thaksin-aligned politicians. This was the modus operandi and it worked to a particular extent. ASTV-Manager has been able to take charge in the rooting out of allegedly corrupt politicians, leading other bodies even the National Anti-Corruption Commission, the Democrat Party, and the courts.

For FOXNews it was rather simple: rally that conservative base hard. Over in the United States, instead of using the nation-religion-king centerpiece, FOXNews opted for a rather simple advocacy of national security over personal privacy, religio-traditional pro-life no-gay-marriage stance over the more liberal counterparts in all of those ideas. This simple advocacy resonates with folks in the heartland of America--already dissatisfied with the world that was quickly changing and values that were quickly evolving around them. By instilling fear into the hearts and minds of Americans, FOXNews has been able to sensitize Americans to rally behind its networks' anchors. Bash Obama and those liberal Democrats, rally the conservative base around the Glen Becks, the Sean Hannities, and the Bill O'Reillies, and eventually the Republican party will come begging.

Comparisons are obvious. Both ASTV and FOXNews have and always been politically motivated. They don't answer to political parties but rather political parties answer to them. In the end ASTV-Manager undercuts the Democrat Party's base in Thailand, while the FOXNews network undercuts the Republican Party's base in the United States. Look at what's gone down with the New York District Congressional Elections, the Republican Party candidate there, Dede Scozzfava, couldn't even get her own party base's support. This inevitably forced her candidacy's withdrawal 1 week prior to election date. The Democrat Party candidate, Bill Owens, actually won in that election over a right-wing independent Doug Hoffman, unofficially endorsed by FOXNews' popular anchors. The idea behind both ASTV and FOXNews is to have its own networks become such a political force that policy agendas can be dictated from the editorial room and the anchors' desks, or better yet from Sondhi Limthongkul's mansion or Rupert Murdoch's penthouses. The former is known to have wanted to emulate the latter in his hey days.

What lies ahead? The future of FOXNews is bright since it has over 2.5 million viewers each night, not bad for a news network on cable founded in 1996. It has one of the world's richest media moguls behind it in Rupert Murdoch and one of the world's richest media enterprises in News Corporation financing its venture. In due time regardless of the political hatred it spews, FOXNews will overtake all liberal mainstream network (if it has not already). Could its CEO Roger Ailes actually run for president? No one is stopping him and www.politico.com is already reporting that there is a move for such. They could conceivably form a rival party to that of the Republicans. Next year at least 10 Republican Congressional seats will be contested against independents under the umbrella of the Tea Party movement, a campaign heavily pushed by FOXNews' most controversial host Glen Beck. It will be analogous to what New Politics is attempting to do with the Democrats here.

Sondhi Limthongkul, founder of ASTV-Manager, is head of the New Politics Party. He has already transformed his engine from a media outlet into a political canvassing unit tricking younger generations using raunchy entertainment gossips and criminal news expose, while slowing massaging their brains with manipulated politicians-hating headlines of relevant news stories. Nonetheless it suffers a worse fate due to lack of funding and lack of the mainstream audience's interest. Could this change? Perhaps so but no one knows. Nevertheless the evolution and eventual devolution of FOXNews and ASTV will be cases worth studying for students of political science and media & communications in the years to come. The latter has already led an uprising against a democratically elected prime minister while the former is leading a conservative uprising against another iconic democratically president.

Originally published in Bangkok Post on Friday Nov 6 in the print edition.

Thai government directions on "rumor-mongering" growing out of proportion

prachatai — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:34:41 +0000

Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA)

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) expresses its concern over a statement made by Information and Communication Technology Minister Ranongrak Suwanchawee of Thailand threatening to pursue legal action against websites and their respective Internet service providers (ISPs) where posts discussing the King’s health allegedly caused the drop in the Thai bourse last month.

SEAPA is concerned that the Thai authorities’ reaction to the postings is growing out of proportion. Minister Ronangrak's statements, in particular, and the way in which the Computer Crimes Act is being invoked over what started out as a securities concern, suggest a dangerously broadening scope of government interest that would tend to intimidate free expression online.

After failing to back up allegations of stock manipulation, the MICT is transforming its accusations to one premised generally on "rumor mongering" affecting "national security", with authorities now suspecting a conspiracy to spread false information about the health of King Bhumibol Adulyadej.

The online version of a mass local daily, “Thai Rath”, on 4 November quoted ICT Minister Ranongrak as saying that she is waiting for the outcome of the police investigation on the possible link between a “rumor-mongering gang” which allegedly posted unverified assertions about the king’s health and two alternative political news and commentary websites on the MICT watch list.

Though she did not refer to the websites by names, the three persons who had been arrested admitted to have posted on the web boards of at least two websites, Prachatai.com and "Fa Diew Kan" (Under the Same Sky). Ranongrak then branded the two websites as “subversive” and declared that the MICT is considering taking legal actions against the webmasters and close down the websites' respective ISP companies if they allow these websites to continue posting what the minister claimed as offending information.

“The ICT Minister’s statement itself is a concern because MICT has no authority to close down any website or take actions against ISPs,” said Chavarong Limpattamapanee, vice president of the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) and a SEAPA board member. “Every step on this matter has to be carried out in accordance with the law,” he said.

The MICT has claimed to have shut down over 2,000 websites deemed as threatening national security early this year. The Internet community has widely criticized this move as an abuse of the 2007 Computer Crimes Act, which is primarily designed to fight pornography and computer system sabotage but with broadly-defined provisions and harsh penalties.

Arresting the two citizens, Theeranan Vipuchanin and Katha Pajariyapong, on charges of spreading rumors online when in fact they merely posted Thai translation of articles from respected media outlet Bloomberg, was already a concern.

By invoking the Computer Crimes Act and national security to go against "rumor mongers", the government has already sent a chilling message to the online community and Thais in general. Threats to crack down on ISPs hosting allegedly "subversive" websites at the very least signal an irresponsible wielding of the Computer Crimes law.

We in SEAPA call on the MICT and other authorities to rethink their position on this issue, refrain from abusing the broad provisions of the Computer Crimes Act and desist from threatening citizens' freedom of expression.

Lost and Found

prachatai — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:39:41 +0000

Harrison George

The Thai armed forces’ plans to purchase 222 more GT200 remote sensing units for national security purposes are raising concerns. At a price of 900,000 baht per unit, there are the usual unsubstantiated rumours of kick-backs and corruption, but such stories swirl round every military purchase of any size.

What is unusual in this case is that junior officers and non-coms are also expressing negative opinions. These are the people who have been using these devices on the front line and they are not impressed with what they have seen.

‘It’s alright wandering round ASEAN Heads of State meeting sites with these gizmos,’ said one officer who refused to reveal his identity since he is not cleared to speak to the press. ‘Nobody seriously expects to find anything at these events. But in the streets and villages of the south, it’s a life and death issue.’

Despite repeated assurances by high-ranking officers that the devices are effective in locating explosives, there is a growing list of cases where ‘false positives’ have led to innocent citizens becoming suspects and then, under the provisions of the Emergency Decree, detainees.

This hasn’t upset the military as much as the ‘false negatives’, where the GT200s have indicated no danger and then something has blown up.

The GT200 is not used by any First World army. The lab that tests equipment for the US military says devices like this operate at no better than chance. The US Department of Justice has warned police departments off buying them.

So who, apart from the Thai top brass, thinks these things work? Well the Iraqi security forces do and we all know what a sterling job they have done in preventing explosions in Baghdad.

Still, the Q&A session at the last meeting between the Thai military and the local GT200 distributor was rather more tense than such meetings normally are. Prachatai has again obtained a totally unauthenticated transcript of part of the meeting.

‘… so if I rub the balloon against my hair like this, you see it sticks to the wall. [Sound of gasps of amazement] That’s how the GT200 works, by Electro Magnetic Attraction. Any questions?’

‘So you use this thing for finding balloons?’

‘[sigh] No, you see, everything has a magnetic charge and the static, like in the balloon, makes the GT200 attracted to it. It’s science.’

‘But there was this internet page that said it failed in double-blind tests. What does that mean?’

‘Well, that’s just bad science by people who don’t want you to buy our instrument, who want you to get blown up, who want the terrorists to win. Just think about it, what could ‘double-blind’ mean?’

‘Er, blind in both eyes?’

‘Correct. But if you are blind in only one eye, are you really blind?’

‘No.’

‘Exactly. So if being blind in one eye means you are not blind then to be double-blind means you’d need 4 eyes …’

‘… and be blind in all of them …’

‘…and how many people do you know with 4 blind eyes?’

‘You mean, apart from football referees?’ [General laughter]

‘But what about that thing in the paper about it only being as good as chance?’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well, I think it said it was right only 50% of the time.’

‘OK, so just think about that. Would you rather have no GT200, and be right zero percent of the time, or would you like to be right 50%? If you take an exam and get 50% correct, you pass, right?’ [Murmurs of approval]

‘Now you are interested in finding explosives and bombs and weapons and such and the GT200 offers excellent results, but it is in fact far more flexible than that. It all depends on which bar-code card we put into the device. You can make it detect all sorts of things – people who are hiding, golf balls, drugs, smuggled ivory tusks. Just about anything.’

‘Now that could be useful. Can it find rumours?’

‘Pardon?’

‘You know, rumours. That make the stock exchange collapse. See, the government want us in the police to find out where these rumours came from and we keep arresting people for sticking things on the internet but it turns out the rumours were there first.’

‘Well, rumours aren’t really a thing like a gun or a bomb, are they?’

‘But you said it can find people. Could it find people who start rumours?’

‘Well, er, I’ll have to check with the technical boys, but I’m sure we can tweak something for you.’

‘If you can make this thing find certain people, I guarantee the government will buy every set you can produce.’

‘Really? That’s very interesting. What kind of people would you want the GT200 to look for?’

‘Not people. Just one person, in fact. He used to be Prime Minister and …’

About author: Bangkokians with long memories may remember his irreverent column in The Nation in the 1980's. During his period of enforced silence since then, he was variously reported as participating in a 999-day meditation retreat in a hill-top monastery in Mae Hong Son (he gave up after 998 days), as the Special Rapporteur for Satire of the UN High Commission for Human Rights, and as understudy for the male lead in the long-running ‘Pussies -not the Musical' at the Neasden International Palladium (formerly Park Lane Empire).

Danthong Breen's response to Awzar Thi's criticism on human rights activists in Thailand

prachatai — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 09:47:57 +0000

In response to Awzar Thi's criticism of human rights advocates in Thailand, Danthong Breen, chairman of the Union for Civil Liberty, a leading human rights organization based in Bangkok, has sent an email to a group of activists. Prachatai sees this as a valuable contribution to the debate on the roles of human rights activists in Thailand, and has translated and published his email on Prachatai (Thai version) with the kind permission of Mr Breen. Here is his email and a response from Thongchai Winichakul, Thai academic at the University of Wisconsin in the US.

Dear Pen Name,

I am totally in agreement with you on your assessment of the new ASEAN human rights initiative. I am also all for breaking silences and challenging taboos. However, I also respect the opinion of other human rights activists who sincerely believe that they can work from within the system and seize whatever foothold is offered, however tenuous it may appear. I have avoided all meetings and initiatives on the ASEAN mechanism because I truly believe like you, that it will be fruitless. But, I am aware that I do not have access to total understanding on the issue and I am very certain that your understanding is also limited. If people whom I know and respect think they can succeed in another way, why then, good luck to them. Let the dialectic work. Scathing condemnation will not be effective in changing their totally legitimate viewpoint. All that you achieve by attacking them is to spread discouragement and division in our movement. You claim 15 years of experience as an advocate of human rights in Thailand. Your assumed right to criticise is hardly explained or justified by the 15 years. I can not only match you but claim even longer experience, including united front activity which based itself on finding common ground. May I gently recommend that you reconsider the tactic of denunciation.

AHRC provides an excellent service of cataloging and exposing injustice, both for those within Thailand itself and abroad, often drawing attention to abuses of which we were not aware. But please do not try to damage the working liaisons we have. You must know that each one has to choose an area of activity, it is hardly wise to expose oneself on every issue however strongly one might feel about them. We are continually assailed by accusations such as ‘You speak on issue x, how can you remain silent on issue y?’ As well accuse an army fighting on the eastern front, of neglecting the war on the western front!

I challenge you to circulate this letter to your readers and allow discussion on the issue. I know several people who no longer read your valuable emails because of the occasional ranting. May I also point to the anomaly of your writing anonymously, while urging action on those who cannot preserve nor wish anonymity in speaking out openly on contentious issues. Please declare yourself bravely for who you are and hear the opinions of others with the respect they deserve.

Danthong Breen,

Union for Civil Liberty, Bangkok

Thongchai Winichakul's response:

Dear Mr. Breen,

When there is a pattern in the selectiveness and omission of issues to fight for, and the pattern is in accordance with certain political camps, we call bias and partiality.

If a human rights advocate, like you, cannot make the distinction between practical limits (therefore need to set a priority of issues) and a bias/impartiality, if a human rights activist cannot see their own serious mistakes like impartiality, your human rights works may contribute to more injustice and the widespread hopelessness for justice. Human rights works then contribute to more divisiveness and potential to violence.

Is this criticism polite enough? I think Thi's article is not as strong as your reaction to him/her.

The above name is real, not a pen-name.

Three Internet users arrested for blaming fall in stocks on king’s ailing health

prachatai — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:06:18 +0000

Reporters Without Borders

Three Internet users have been arrested in the past four days for posting articles blaming King Bhumibol Adulyadej’s poor health for last month’s fall in the Bangkok stock exchange. They have been charged under article 14 of the Computer Crimes Act 2007 with endangering national security by spreading false rumours about the king’s health.

The first two to be arrested were Katha Pajariyapong, 37, of the brokerage company KT ZMICO, and Theeranan Vipuchan, 43, a former executive with UBS Securities. Arrested on 1 November, they have been freed on bail but are forbidden to leave the country. The third person is Somchet Ittiworakul, 38, who was arrested yesterday.

Accused of disseminating reports that caused stocks to fall in mid-October, they are facing possible five-year jail sentences and fines of 100,000 baths (2,000 euros).

“We call for the charges against these three Internet users to be dismissed,” Reporters Without Borders said. “Such accusations are baseless and violate the right to report an economic event after it has taken place. Explaining that the stock exchange fall was linked to the king’s health harms neither the king nor national security.”

The authorities are currently pursuing the investigation with the aim of identifying the defendants’ motives and establishing whether they profited from the publication of the offending reports. The police have confiscated their personal and office computers.

The defendants just posted articles online that linked the fall in stocks to the fact that the king was admitted to Bangkok’s Siriraj on 19 September. Theeranan points out that all she did was translate and post a Bloomberg agency article written after the fall (http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aWSLmdQccvyo), and that she was not paid to do this.

It seems that the translation of the Bloomberg dispatch is the only piece of hard evidence in the prosecution case file. The investigators have not mentioned the original article and have referred only to the translation, which reinforces the impression that the three defendants are being used as scapegoats for the fall in stocks.

The police say the three defendants do not know each other. The authorities have meanwhile revealed that they are investigating two other Internet users with a view to arresting them for the same reason.

Although it does not mention lèse-majesté (attacks on the monarchy), the Computer Crimes Act 2007 punishes crimes that threaten national security and, under Thai law, lèse-majesté is a crime that threatens national security. To avoid being closed down, many Internet sector companies cooperate with the authorities and comply with all requests for information about individual Internet users. The supreme court has never issued a ruling on the Computers Crime Act.

Around 55,000 websites are currently blocked in Thailand on suspicion of violating the lèse-majesté laws, while 34 people are currently being prosecuted on lèse-majesté charges.

ICT to close ISPs for allowing offending websites to continue

prachatai — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 09:39:08 +0000

The Ministry of Information and Communication Technology has told Internet Service Providers to deal with offending websites, saying if they fail to do so, the Ministry will close them.

On 4 Nov, the Minister of ICT Ranongrak Suwanchawee told Thai Rath about progress in tracking down people involved in spreading rumours for stock manipulation.

It was found that Theeranan Wiphuchanin might have posted the translation only on the website which was the source of the rumour [Prachatai webboard]. But Katha Pachachariyapong was found to have posted the ‘inauspicious’ content on many websites, and forwarded it to his stock-brokering friends, of whom at least two people had further forwarded the message. They will be charged under the 2007 Computer Crimes Act, the Minister said.

Regarding action against the source website of the rumour [Prachatai] where Theeranan posted her translation, Ranongrak said that she had to wait for the findings of the police first. If the website is found to have links with the ‘rumour-mongering gang’, the webmaster will be prosecuted under the 2007 Computer Crimes Act, facing the penalty of up to 5 years in jail or a fine of 100,000 baht, or both, she said.

The MICT has contacted the ISPs which provide services to the websites [Prachatai and Fah Diew Kan] and informed them that if they still allow these websites which have had records of being ‘subversive to national security’ to continue, the Ministry will close down those ISPs.

Thai speech advocates question use of Computer Crimes Act vs two accused of stock manipulation

prachatai — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:14:35 +0000

SEAPA

Speech and Internet advocates in Thailand are questioning why the Thai police invoked the Computer Crimes Act in going after two Thais accused of spreading rumors on the King's health, media reports in Bangkok say.

Sarinee Achavanuntakul, a committee member of the Thai Netizen Network (TNN), said invoking the law violates the freedom of speech of Thiranan Vipuchanan, 43, a former executive director of UBS Securities (Thailand); and of Katha Pajajiriyapong, 37, of KT Zmico Securities. Both citizens were arrested on 1 November 2009. They were accused of violating Article 14 of the 2007 Computer Crimes Act.

Thai King Bhumibol Adulyadej has been in Bangkok's Sririraj Hospital since mid-September for treatment of inflammation of the lungs. Rumors that the King's health was deteriorating spread in mid-October, resulting in a decline in stock prices on 14 October. Though he remains in hospital, the King has since made two public appearances over the past two weeks to dispel any notion of deteriorating health. The Thai government has stressed that the king is recovering from his ailment, and that all prognosis are good.

Government officials, however, have in the meantime vowed to track and crack down on the sources of rumors surrounding the king's condition. Thiranan and Katha were arrested in the context of that directive, and it was suggested they may have helped to spread the rumors to manipulate the stock market and profit from the reaction of traders.

The Bangkok-based daily, "The Nation", said Thiranan—under the username "bbb"—posted her translation of a Bloomberg article on the rumor, and a consequent instability at the Thai bourses, on Prachathaiwebboard.com. The other suspect, Katha, posted his information on another online forum, sameskyboard.org. The said postings allegedly helped the market to plunge 7% during trading on October 14 and 15.

Internet and media advocate Sarinee said that charging the two for posting a mere translation of a Bloomberg article is "unreasonable".

"If someone is just copying news from reliable sources which adhere to professional standards -- for example, identifying rumors as such, and not claiming them to be truth -- then it is really up to the readers themselves to consider the news carefully," Sarinee said. "The Nation" quoted Prachatai's webmaster, Chiranuch Premchaiporn, as noting that the two suspects have been long-time members of the web board where they posted the news, thus contradicting the police theory that the suspects were out to reap a windfall in the stock market.

In any case, Sarinee said that even if the police could prove that the suspects were really out to manipulate the market, the authorities should have invoked the Securities Act, rather than the controversial Computer Crimes Act which critics contend have overly broad provisions that could have a chilling effect on online speech. The Computer Crimes Act forbids the spreading of false computer data that could threaten national security or cause public panic. Free expression advocates have assailed such provisions since the law's adoption in 2007, saying the vague wording, coupled with harsh penalties, lends the Act to abuse, and leads to the vulnerability of free speech online.

The Computer Crimes Act prescribes penalties of up to THB100,000 (around US$3,000) and up to five years' imprisonment.

Chiranuch noted that the arrests "create a severe climate of fear" among online users.

While Thiranan and Katha have been released after each posting a THB100,000 bail, The "Bangkok Post" quoted Police Col. Pisit Pao-in, deputy chief of the Royal Thai Police's Hi-Tech Crime Center, as saying that they are seeking a warrant for the arrest of a third suspect over similar charges of spreading false online rumors about the king's health.

Mandatory death penalty provisions in law should be repealed

prachatai — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:08:15 +0000

MADPET

MADPET (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) is pleased that there is some realization from the government, in particular the Deputy Foreign Minister A. Kohilan Pillay, about the fact that ‘…young Malaysian girls, some fresh graduates, were easily conned by men from the syndicates to travel abroad with a package…’ The report also stated that ‘…Malaysian lasses are an easy lot to charm. They are easily smitten by sweet words and gifts, making them an easy target for drug-trafficking syndicates looking for mules…’ (Star, 1/11/2009, Malaysian girls easily duped)

The report also stated that ‘there were currently 1,565 Malaysians jailed abroad and 60% of the cases were drug mules… “Six in China have been sentenced to death. Since 2007, about 30 Malaysians are in death row,”…’

Similarly, in Malaysia too, many in death row have been similarly conned to be drug mules, whereby many were not even aware that they were in possession drugs.

The Malaysian Dangerous Drugs Act 1952, in particular section 39B provides that any person involved in trafficking of drugs shall be guilty of an offence against this Act and shall be punished on conviction with death. The judges and courts, by reason of the mandatory sentence, are deprived of the option of imposing a lesser sentence, and MADPET believes that this is very wrong.

What makes it worse, is that there are presumptions in the Act, amongst others, that one ‘…shall be presumed, until the contrary is proved, to be trafficking in the said drug...’ if one is found in the possession of certain amounts of certain drugs. The onus of proving one’s innocence then shifts to the accused. This is contrary to the normal rule where the onus of proving one guilty beyond reasonable doubt is with the prosecution.

The reality is that those really involved in business of trafficking of drugs are seldom caught and prosecuted, and it is usually the mules, who many a time are not even aware that they are transporting or keeping drugs, who end up being arrested, charged, tried, convicted and sentenced to death. This is very wrong and unjust.

The official report to the United Nations on the death penalty states also states as follows, “…the low rates of effectiveness of law enforcement, the relative immunity from the law of those who profit most from the trade in drugs and the higher risk of violence and death they most probably run from others engaged in the drug racket, all make it seem implausible that the death penalty in itself will have a marginally stronger deterrent effect than long terms of imprisonment...”

The imposition of mandatory sentences also is wrong as by doing so, the legislative branch of government oust powers of the Judiciary that is the power of courts and judges to impose fair and just sentences depending on the circumstances and the facts of the case. A person who has been conned into keeping and/or carrying drugs, especially those who were unaware of the fact, should never be sentenced to death. A prison term would suffice.

One of the reasons used often by governments, including the Malaysian government, to justify the mandatory death penalty is that deters serious crimes. This was what Datuk M. Kayveas, a Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister's Department told Parliament. (Bernama, 28/6/2006) This is baseless and cannot be justified by any facts or statistical proof.

On the other hand, there are studies conducted throughout the world over the past seventy years using various different methodological approaches that have failed to find convincing evidence that capital punishment is a more effective deterrent of crime than long-term imprisonment.

Studies conducted in Australia show that abolition of the death penalty had no effect on the homicide rate and in Canada there in fact was a sharp decline in the homicide rate after abolition;

In the United States over the past twenty years, states with the death penalty in general have had a higher homicide rate than states without the death penalty;

The United Nations itself noted in 1988, 1996, and 2002, "research has failed to provide scientific proof that executions have a greater deterrent effect than life imprisonment. Such proof is unlikely to be forthcoming. The evidence as a whole gives no positive support to the deterrent hypothesis."

Noting also that on 18 December 2007, the UN General Assembly endorsed a resolution calling for a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty" by an overwhelming majority (Resolution 62/149), and on 18 December 2008, the United Nations General Assembly adopted with a bigger majority a second similar resolution calling for a moratorium on the use of the death penalty.

Translation posted after SET fell

prachatai — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:10:22 +0000

The translation of a Bloomberg news report was posted on the Prachatai webboard jus after 6 pm, after the Thai stock market had already slumped and closed on 14 Oct. The news report in question is Richard Frost’s Thai Stocks, Baht Slump on King’s Health Speculation, whose title indicates that the ‘slump’ had already taken place.

Theeranan Wiphuchanin, using the alias BBB, posted her translation at 18:09.

How could the post have retroactively affected the stock market hours before it was posted? Many internet users have raised this question. Moreover, the Prachatai webboard and Fah Diew Kan, the latter in particular being a hardcore political forum, are unlikely places for investors to look for information to help them make stock market decisions. Although both BBB and Wet Dream, the username of Katha Pachachariyapong at Fah Diew Kan, are stockbrokers, they have obviously joined the forums for political reason.

Another question that arises is how the authorities were able to identify both of them, when the webmasters of both political websites have said that the authorities never asked them for the IP numbers of the accused. This is reminiscent of the recent arrest of Nat Sattayapornpisut, where it was never explained how the Thai authorities had access to the email accounts of either Nat or Emilio Esteban, Nat’s alleged accomplice in crime.

On 15 Oct, Thai Post and ASTV Manager quickly pointed to Bloomberg as the source of the rumour, although the article was a report on the rumour that had caused the Thai stock market to fall.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has so far found no irregularities in either suspects’ personal trading in the stock market before the ‘rumour mongering’. However, the commission has written to every stock-brokering firm to check on their buying and selling as well as their nominees and relatives.

Interestingly, in response to reporters’ observation that both suspects just posted the translation, but Bloomberg has yet to be mentioned by the authorities, Finance Minister Korn Chatikavanij said that, ‘what the foreign news agency did was just to report on the rumour, just like what was reported by Thai media that affected the stock market. However, I have not seen the post and don’t know if there was any content added later to the original translation, as [the post] has been removed, but police have it all.’

Faulty bomb detection device undermines effectiveness of security operations in Southern Thailand

prachatai — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:48:36 +0000

Working Group on Justice for Peace (WGJP)

The device known as GT200 has been used by the Thai military to detect explosive materials and has drawn greater controversy with time as serious doubts of its effectiveness amount among human rights organizations, civil society, and the scientific community.

GT200 is widely used by the Thai Army throughout the southern border provinces as an explosive substance detector with more than 200 devices circulating among the military forces. Other agencies using the device are the Directorate of Armament under the Airforce, the Naval Ordnance Department, the Navy, the Royal Thai Police, the Central Institution of Forensic Science under the MOJ, the Office of the Narcotics Control Board, and the Provincial Electricity Authority.

The device consists of 3 main components: the handling machine, the antenna and several sensor cards which need to be inserted in the device and can be adjusted to detect a variety of substances. It is claimed that the device is able to detect most explosive and narcotics substances as well as other substances such as humans, gold, ivory, poison, currency and tobacco.

The device is being manufactured by Global Technical Ltd., in Kent, UK (www.globaltechincal.co.uk) and distributed throughout Southeast Asia by Electronic K9 Singapore Private Limited., from Singapore (www.e-k9.net) and in Thailand by Avia Satcom Co., Ltd. The cost per device is approximately 900,000 THB.

GT200 is considered an important device by the security forces in their counter-insurgency operations to help them detect bomb-making substances in the southern border provinces of Thailand. However, on several occasions the device is known to have shown false-negative and false-positive results which then lead to serious damages to the lives and freedoms of the local population as well as security forces.

Recently, the GT200 showed false negative results on 6 October 2009 at a bombing near Merlin Hotel, Sungai-Kolok district, Narathiwat province which caused one death and several injuries, as well as on 19 October 2009 during a bombing at the Pimonchai market, Muang district, Yala. During these two incidents, officials were called beforehand to check a car and motorcycle under suspicion. The device was not able to detect any dangerous substances. The bombs exploded a few minutes after the examinations.

Last year, on 7 November 2008, three border patrol police officers were killed when a bomb exploded as they were investigating a suspicious object in Panareh district, Pattani. Again, GT200 was used to detect the bomb substance but the device showed negative results.

The device is also known to show false positive results. A villager, an active campaigner on the Tak Bai issue, informed that GT200 was used to check her house at which time the device incriminated the top of a coconut tree. One of the soldiers found a plastic bag with vegetable oil inside. Recently, at a raid at Saengtham Islam Vittaya School, Bachao district, Narathiwat on 12 October 2009, teachers and students from a private Islamic school were invited for questioning when the device pointed them out as carriers of explosive substances. Moreover, the cases of the death in detention of Imam Yapa Kaseng as well as the 4-month vocational training camps which was brought to court in late 2007 were also a result of incrimination by GT200. The results of the device were used as evidence to detain hundreds of people.

The Army and those in favor of the device claim that the effectiveness of the device depends on the knowledge and physical readiness of the user. They claim that due to the user being exhausted or not trained well, the device might not work correctly.

The operation of the device is causing a lot of suspicion among scientists in Thailand for several reasons. According to them, the procedure of finding suspicious objects is not based on a reliable scientific method. Besides, GT200 is not being used by credible international organizations. The manufacturer claims that it is used in the UK and the Netherlands Armies but both countries have denied this. A similar device with the trading name MOLE had been tested by US authorities who concluded that the device was fraudulent and prepared to sue the company. MOLE is believed to be a predecessor of GT200 (other names such as Sniffex, Squard, etc. have also been used for similar products).

The following concerns were raised by the scientific community regarding the use of GT200:

1) The reading device is ambiguous and subjective. There is no clear indicator. The result reading is vague (just a direction or area). Therefore, during searches of larges spaces, gunpowder or explosive elements can always be detected in a war zone; drugs could always be found at a border checkpoint.

2) It is vague enough to excuse the authorities’ ineffectiveness in operations. Due to the extreme sensitivity of GT200, in the case of a false positive error (device says yes, but nothing found), authorities can claim that the object of interest was hidden or covered, or the scene was badly contaminated. If a false negative result turns out, they are able to blame contamination or the operator.

3) Making a comparison to Quija Boards, scientists point out that the operator’s experience and knowledge can affect the outcome of the reading, either voluntarily or involuntary. Known as an ideomotor effect, people make motions unconsciously as in reflexive responses to pain, and this in then can influence the reading of the device.

4) To test this kind of bias-prone device, a testing method called double-blind testing is needed where the operator must not know the position of the hidden sample nor have been in contact with someone who does. The test must be conducted several times as to eliminate the probability of chance. One US government agency who tested this device found that only in 6 out of 20 tests the results were correct. However, it is believed that the security forces in Thailand are not testing this device according to this scientific method.

The purchase of this device has been made under the category of ‘secret budget’ which gives unaccountable authority to the Thai Military without need of approval from Parliament. Falling under national security requirements, the Military does not need to justify the purchase. WGJP received information that the Army has planned to purchase another 222 GT200 devices to be used for newly established troops located in Pattani. Knowing of the inaccuracy and sensitivity of the device, putting this device into the hands of inexperienced officers, will only result in further grievances.

While WGJP certainly welcomes the professionalization of military operations using highly effective technology in order to combat violence and crime, the GT200 should no longer be used in their operations due to its inaccuracy and lack of proper handling. Not only does it fail to save lives, but it is causing serious human rights violations as arrests are made based on evidence only stemming from this device. For these reasons, WGJP requests the Thai authorities:

1. To arrange for a scientific testing method called double-blind testing in order to test the accuracy of the device and prove its accuracy and effectiveness. Civil society and scientists must be able to witness the testing and have access to results.

2. To not rely on the faulty GT200 device in their detection of explosive substances as it puts the lives of the population as well as security forces at greater risk.

3. To refrain from using the GT200 as sole evidence and justification for arrests.

4. To reform its armament purchase policy to include greater transparency and accountability. The purchase of weapons, armaments, etc must entail a transparent process with checks and balances and access to information by the greater public.