Thailand's four major media organisations celebrated World Press Freedom Day on Sunday with a call to the National Council for Peace and Order to revoke three orders which they say restrict their right to speak freely.
The four organisations are the Thai Journalists Association, the Press Council of Thailand, the Broadcast Journalists Association and the News Broadcasting Council of Thailand.
TJA president Wanchai Wongmeechai said the Thai media in 2014 worked in a tense situation because of pressure from opponents and supporters of the then government.
The situation worsened when the NCPO took administrative power in the May 22, 2014 coup. The freedom index of the Thai media in the eyes of the world dropped sharply after television and radio stations were ordered to suspend their regular programmes, while the print media was ordered not to present opinions in a way that might draw opposition to the NCPO, Mr Wanchai said.
The NCPO has subsequently issued three orders to further restrict the rights of the media. The first two -- NCPO's Orders 97 and 103 -- were issued in 2014. The last one -- Order No.5 -- was issued under Section 44 of the interim constitution in 2015.
The three orders are widely seen as NCPO tools to restrict the basic rights and freedom of the press and limit the people's rights to information.
In a statement, the media groups said: "On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, the four media organisations would like the NCPO to revoke the three controversial orders to create an atmosphere for reconciliation and freedom of expression.
"As the country is in need of reform, it is necessary to open forums for the people of various groups to express their opinions and for the media to perform their duty to join the exploration of ways to bring the country out of conflict."
The statement also called for all media professionals to bear in mind their responsibility to society under journalistic ethics.
Thepchai Yong, president of the Broadcast Journalists Association, said the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission should be given the freedom to perform its duty independently in distributing radio and television frequencies for the benefit of the public without being interfered with.