2 Bangkok: The Nation Prints Letter Insulting US Ambassadors...and Breaks the Law

Here is the original letter:

US used the coup as an excuse to end talks

Re: "Americans stacking the deck led to collapse of Thai-US free-trade talks", Letters, August 1.

Prathip Gidrangsri pointed out that the obnoxious behaviour of two corrupt American ambassadors to Thailand, Ralph Leo Boyce and Darryl Norman Johnson, scuttled the proposed US-Thai Free Trade Agreement.In a letter on August 3, "Thais the big losers in trade disputes with US", Major Mark A Smith (Retired) of Bangkok took issue with Mr Prathip and defended Boyce and Johnson.

In a long letter, Smith tried to say that the Thais were wrong and the Americans were right and that Thailand had lost a great opportunity.

The idea behind banning advertising of alcohol and tobacco products is to protect youths. The Thais, in banning the advertising of alcohol and tobacco products, are following the example of many other countries and Boyce, in trying to get the local ban removed or reduced, was definitely going against the grain.

Thailand has at least one million people with Aids, close to 2 per cent or more of the population. Thailand's decision to copy and distribute expensive American anti-Aids drugs on its own was a natural response to a national emergency. Johnson's attempt to stop the Thais ran counter to sound health practice and disease control. Nobody demanded that the millions of tsunami victims pay for help before they received it.

The ouster of the tyrannical Thaksin Shinawatra in a coup last year did not inhibit the Japanese from signing a Thai-Japan FTA. Nor did it inhibit Thailand's trade with China and India. Washington was embarrassed by the behaviour of Boyce and Johnson. The coup in Thailand offered Washington, which had very cosy dealings with Thaksin and was upset to see him go, an excuse to break off FTA talks.

I should point out that the US rushed to sign a nuclear accord with India recently, a country that never signed the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. There was nothing reasonable in this and, indeed, no good explanation for this conduct has been offered. One really doesn't need one. Greed and corruption were the all too obvious motives.

Gen Amos T Halftrack

Bangkok

Apology - On August 6, we published a letter in the Letters to the Editor section titled, "US used the coup as an excuse to end talks", which contained an unjustifiable and totally unfair characterisation of American Ambassador to Thailand Ralph Boyce and his predecessor, Darryl Norman Johnson. We apologise for the lapse in editorial oversight that allowed this inflammatory letter to run. Ambassador Boyce has always been recognised as a diplomat of the highest professional integrity and a great friend of Thailand.

The Nation


Normally, I wouldn't care about this little incident. An idiot writes a barely coherent letter slamming the US; The Nation prints it. This happens all the time.

However, this is the same newspaper that believes the Thai government should chase down people and corporations all over the planet that insult the king. Indeed, The Nation just applauded the recent draconian Cyber Crime Bill because it has sections that explicitly criminalized lese-majeste in cyber space.

Now, some of you are probably wondering what the hell does this letter/apology have to do with lese majeste.

Here are a couple sections of the penal code:

Section 133. Whoever defames, insult or threatens the Sovereign, his Queen or her Consort, Heir-apparent, or Head of a foreign state shall be punishable with imprisonment of one to seven years or fine of two thousand to fourteen thousand baht or both.


Section 134. Whoever defames, insults, or threatens a foreign Representative accredited to the Royal Court shall be punished with imprisonment of six months to five years or fine of one thousand baht or both.


YouTube actually doesn't produce videos. It is only a website where people can upload their personal videos. But, The Nation, in its unethical and dishonest propaganda campaign, made YouTube culpable for what one of its users did. Not only that, in its recent editorial supporting the new Cyber Crime Bill, it actually was ecstatic that the Thai government would be able to shut down any ISPs that allowed acts of lese majeste to pass through its servers.

So, if we take The Nation's logic full circle and apply to its own activities, it should be surrendering to the nearest police station shortly, for breaking the law. And if it had any intellectual consistency and professional integrity, it would shut itself down just like it insisted that ISPs should be shut down for breaking laws over offensive speech.

Also, I have to wonder if The Nation will give the name and address to the authorities to prosecute the letter writer. After all, this is the same newspaper that was cheering minister Sitthichai in his hunt for the producers of the YouTube videos.

Of course, I don't advocate anybody going to jail for politically expressing themselves, but I just thought it was interesting to blog about yet one more example of The Nation's blatant hypocrisy.