Withdraw the lawsuit against news website
Thailand's continuance in Tier 3 on the US government's Trafficking in Persons report might have something to do with the lawsuit that the Royal Thai Navy filed against the Phuket Wan News website and two of its journalists.
The two reporters – Australian Alan Morison and his Thai colleague Chutima Sidasathien – if convicted could face up to seven years in prison.
Phuket Wan was sued for quoting a 41-word paragraph from a Reuters news agency article. Phuket Wan is the only news outlet that has been brought to court over this issue. Reuters and possibly dozens of other newspapers and websites that did the same thing have not been brought to trial.
The international community seems to regard this lawsuit as an attempt by the Thai government to muffle reports and criticism over the trafficking of the Rohingya boat people on Thai seas during the past few years.
According to the Constitution, the Navy is tasked to work under the Thai government. Since human trafficking on Thai seas has been established as fact, the Navy’s grounds in pursuing the lawsuit is an exercise in futility. Hence, the government should put an end to the lawsuit immediately.
We must clean our house first, before we can regain respect from others.
Vint Chavala
Bangkok
