Army spokesman urges media to be understanding of its endeavours
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Army spokesman Colonel Winthai Suvari yesterday urged the media to have sympathy for the job the National Council for Peace and Order was doing and refrain from peppering it with negativity.
Winthai said any issues the media and the NCPO had could be resolved through discussion without targeting the junta with legal action.
The officer said he and the NCPO spokesmen talked to Thai PBS management about its programme People’s Voices Must Be Heard Before Reformation because the junta wanted to head off anything that would lead to confusion and conflict.
Then show was suspended last week.
“The NCPO was just trying to negotiate and asked for Thai PBS’s cooperation, not order or force them to suspend or shut down the show,” he said.
Winthai said the action typified the NCPO’s determination to ensure cooperation was given to maintain the country’s stability.
He said the NCPO respected the media and believed it had good intentions towards the country, but the difference between the government and the media largely related to their perspectives on issues. The junta did not want any misinterpretations to arise about its relationship with the media.
Winthai said concerns raised by the Thai Broadcast Journalists Association and Thai Journalists Association regarding the junta’s treatment of the media could be resolved through discussion.
Duty Government spokesman Major-General Sansern Kaewkamnerd said the government did not obstruct the media but merely proposed media organisations presented the public with the true facts.
“The media must be careful with what they broadcast to the public,” he said.
“Moreover, there is an effort to create conflict within society, and they [the media] have to respect national laws because right now the country is not fully stable … the government insists on bringing peace [to the nation] and solving the country’s issues.”
The Thai Broadcast Journalists Association and the Thai Journalists Association issued a joint statement calling on the government and the NCPO to stop intervening in the running of media operations and stop threatening the media.
But Sansern insisted the NCPO did not intentionally pressure Thai PBS to suspend the show, but the independent public broadcaster misunderstood the position it was in and the negative effect a show could have on society.
After the issue was raised the NCPO arranged a meeting with the broadcaster’s management and it did not abuse its authority – it merely proposed making the show more appropriate given the current situation.
He said the military did not want the show to pose questions to people that related to previous conflicts that could be misinterpreted and prevent the issues facing the country never being resolved.
The government also wanted the media to understand the NCPO’s determination in trying to keep the country stable. Everyone realised the country had not fully recovered and if there were an attempt to air grievances the problems would never be eradicate.
Sansern urged the media to be more cautious when presenting news which could inflame the situation.
Most people believed the government and the NCPO could reduce social disputes, which would promote peace and reconciliation, he said.
