Thai journalists quit regional group
Thai journalists quit regional group
BANGKOK (AP): Thailand's professional journalists association has suspended its membership in a regional press association, saying the organization does not operate in an open manner.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Confederation of Thai Journalists said it had "suspended its relations and activities" with the Jakarta, Indonesia-based Confederation of Asean Journalists after 25 years.
The regional confederation comprises journalists' groups from the 10 countries of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations - ASEAN.
Among ASEAN members, Thailand and the Philippines are considered to exercise greatest freedom of the press, while no such freedom exists in single-party states such as Vietnam, Laos and Myanmar. Other countries, such as Malaysia and Singapore, exercise a high amount of informal influence over their national press.
The Confederation of Thai Journalists' statement said the seven-member Thai delegation attending the confederation's general assembly in Singapore walked out on Monday "to protest against the lack of transparency and accountability among the executive members of CAJ."
It did not elaborate.
The president of the Thai group, Kavi Chongkittavorn, said in a letter on Tuesday to the assembly's delegates that the rule of procedures was not followed and requests by the Thai group to amend the agenda were repeatedly denied, according to the statement.
It added a call for the regional confederation to practice "good governance, without cronyism," without detailing what it believed were the problems.
The statement called for a restructuring of the group's secretariat in Jakarta and the role of its secretary general.
Ivan Lim of the Singapore National Union of Journalists, host of the three-day assembly, said in Singapore that the regional group would issue a statement on the matter on Thursday. He said the groups operates by consensus so he could not comment on the Thai action.
The general assembly in Singapore, which ended on Tuesday, was attended by representatives from Vietnam, Laos, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand as well as observers from Japan, China, Nepal, Cambodia and Germany.
The Thai statement said that excepting the Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand, "most members were representatives of the government-controlled press from the region.
Kavi said the board members of the Thai group will hold a meeting in the near future to determine the status of its membership with the regional confederation.