<<Jim Devine wrote: does anyone in pen-l's far-flung network have any special knowledge of what was happening in the _coup_ in Thailand?>>
Isn't it just odd how some countries manage to sneak into the world's blind spot and tag along for ages without much effort, despite the few lone voices from the sidelines pointing out their putrefaction? >From a media point of view, in 2005 Thailand ranked 107 out of 167 countries in the Reporters without Borders (French acronym RSF) ranking best to worst. http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=17364&Valider=OK RSF uses a number of categories of press violations to arrive at their ranking. This includes deaths of journalists, of which there were two. Invariably, a repressed media means a repressed society, corruption, nepotism, elitocracy, plutocracy, human rights abuses etc. The common citizen is extremely vulnerable to the point that he/ she will fear for the worst in daily living. I witnessed this in Angola, where common people cower when looked at by someone who things him/herself important. For a longer view and further links on the media situation, check http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Censorship_in_Thailand ________________________________________________ Rui Correia Advocacy, Human Rights, Media and Language Consultant 2 Cutten St, Horison, Roodepoort, Johannesburg, South Africa Tel/ Fax (+27-11) 766-4336 Cell (+27) (0) 83-368-1214 "Quando a verdade é substituída pelo silêncio, o silêncio é uma mentira" - Yevgeny Yevtushenko "When truth is replaced by silence, the silence is a lie" - Yevgeny Yevtushenko -----Original Message----- From: PEN-L list [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jim Devine Sent: 21 September 2006 17:29 To: [email protected] Subject: [PEN-L] Thailand? does anyone in pen-l's far-flung network have any special knowledge of what was happening in the _coup_ in Thailand? was it a justified reaction to a corrupt demagogue who was preventing smooth development of Thai democracy and capitalism? or was it an unjustified overthrow of a democratically-elected populist who was trying to distribute the benefits of the growth process more evenly? or what? -- Jim Devine / "Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way and let people talk.) -- Karl, paraphrasing Dante.
