Defiant Sorrayuth quits Journalists Association
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Far from stepping down as the host of television programmes at Channel 3 as demanded by professional organisations, embattled media personality Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda yesterday resigned from the Thai Journalists Association (TJA) after the National An
In a short letter to the TJA, Sorrayuth said “I, television programme host Sorrayuth Suthassanachinda, an associate member of the Thai Journalists Association, would like to resign from the association, with immediate effect.”
Full membership in the TJA is reserved for full-time print-media journalists. Sorrayuth became an associate member of the TJA when he quit The Nation newspaper to work in television in 2004.
Pramed Lekpetch, TJA deputy secretary-general, said the association had acknowledged Sorrayuth’s resignation and would pass the letter on to the TJA’s secretary-general according to procedure.
The NACC recently decided to take criminal action against Sorrayuth for his alleged role in the embezzlement of Bt138.79 million of MCOT advertising revenue while producing a television show for Channel 9 during 2005 and 2006.
The TJA, the Press Council of Thailand and many media gurus earlier called on him to take responsibility for the case by resigning from or at least suspending his professional activities, saying those who work in the media industry should not violate their ethics or good practice.
Sorrayuth and his company, Raisom, which now produces news-oriented and current-affairs programmes for Channel 3, has continued to operate as usual even after the NACC’s ruling.
Sorrayuth’s resignation from the TJA yesterday came ahead of criticism from reporters of his TJA membership, which he has held since 1993, as he had failed to pay his membership fees for many years.
TJA president Chavarong Limpattamapanee said that according to the association’s regulations, journalists who fail to pay their fees for three consecutive years see their membership expire. However, in practical terms the member’s name is not eliminated until the TJA’s executives vote to do so.
The TJA’s executives are currently verifying membership records and will take action according to the organisation’s regulations, Chavarong said. Sorrayuth had participated in many of the TJA’s activities in recent years and was still considered a member as of yesterday, he said.
Chakkrish Permpool, dean of Nation University’s faculty of communication arts, said Sorrayuth’s resignation was just an expression of dissatisfaction with the organisation, and was intended to show responsibility in the controversial case.
“Some members of the Press Council of Thailand also resigned when they felt that the media organisation did not respond in a way they had expected. However, his [Sorrayuth’s] resignation does not have any effect in practice,” said Chakkrish, who is also the president of the Press Council.
Neither the TJA nor the Press Council has authority to take any action against journalists who violate the ethics or good practice of the profession.
