Tesco’s billion-baht defamation suits threaten free speech in Thailand
TESCO Lotus, one of the biggest retailers in Thailand, has filed two staggering defamation cases against a Thai columnist and a former member of Parliament, sending a strong message to civil society and the press to tread carefully before criticizing the retailing giant in Thailand.
Tesco Lotus is suing columnist/academic Kamol Kamoltrakul and former Thai National Legislative Assembly (NLA) member Jit Siratranont for 100 million baht and one billion baht, respectively, after they criticized and questioned the aggressive expansion strategies of Tesco Lotus in Thailand.
Siratranont, currently the secretary general of the Thai Chamber of Commerce, was quoted by British newspaper “The Observer” as saying in a speech to 150 activists: “The large-scale expansion of the big retailers must be exercised with great care — not too aggressively and too rapidly — to reduce the potential tension, which could lead to serious conflict. There is also the need for the small retail traders to adjust to changes. Tesco Lotus must take all of this into account.”
Kamol was sued for an article published in the Thai-language “KrungThepTurakit” (BangkokBizNews), which expressed generally the same concerns about Tesco Lotus’ aggressiveness, and also what the columnist suggested was the retailing giant’s weak social responsibility in Thailand.
Both Siratranont and Kamol acknowledged erroneously saying that Tesco Lotus’ Thailand operations accounted for as much as 37 percent of the UK-based Tesco’s global revenue, but stressed that this did not detract from the main message of their concerns — concerns which, in any case, were of legitimate public interest in Thailand.
-
Recent
- Tesco’s billion-baht defamation suits threaten free speech in Thailand
- Press freedom, free expression decline in Southeast Asia in 2007
- Philippines among worst-ranked countries in press freedom index
- Litmus test for Thailand’s ruling military council: Leave the press alone
- Media, free expression under threat in wake of coup — SEAPA
- Merdeka Day thoughts on media freedom
- On Merdeka eve, free speech online gets a ‘blackeye’
- SEAPA joins the blogosphere
- Charges against James Gomez dropped; passport returned
- James Gomez harassed by Singapore authorities
- Blogspot domain being blocked again in Pakistan
- RSF 2006 report: Asia still plagued by the old demons of authoritarianism
-
Links
- Southeast Asian Press Alliance
- Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism
- Malaysiakini
- Mizzima
- Article 19
- Reporters Without Borders
- Jeff Ooi | Screenshots
- Nepali Times
- Pakistan Press Foundation
- United We Blog!
- Don’t Block the Blog
- Global Voices Online
- Committee to Protect Journalists
- Citizen Lab
- Berkman Center for Internet and Society
- Ethan Zuckerman | My Heart’s in Accra
- Center for Media Freedom and Responsibility
- Southeast Asian Center for E-Media
- Rebecca MacKinnon | RConversation
- James Gomez | JGNews
- Open Net Initiative
- Dr. Awab Alvi | Teeth Maestro
- Manuel Quezon III
- Journalism and Media Studies Center, University of Hong Kong
- Max Limpag | Leon Kilat: The Cybercafe Experiments
- Ellen Tordesillas
- Mindanews
- Carol Arguillas | Mindanao Alerts
- CMFR’s Freedom Watch
- Sun Star Blog Chronicles
- Erwin Oliva | cyberbaguioboy
- John Nery | Newsstand
- Dean Jorge Bocobo | Philippine Commentary
- Inq7
- Philippine Network Foundation
- Foundation for Media Alternatives
- Newsbreak
- Open Society Institute
- Witness
- Prachatai Daily
- Kom Chad Luek
- Institute of Policy Studies (Singapore)
- Vernon Totanes | Filipino Librarian
- Andrew Lih
-
Archives
- March 2008 (1)
- December 2007 (1)
- October 2006 (1)
- September 2006 (3)
- August 2006 (1)
- July 2006 (1)
- May 2006 (6)
- April 2006 (21)
-
Categories
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS