Last week's fast junta action over an item posted on a website showed questionable judgement by the officers involved from the National Council for Peace and Order (NCPO). A 21-year-old Cambodian and six Thais were arrested and charged with serious offences concerning national security and public order. Authorities called the article "fake news" but that description itself is highly contentious. The main problem is that the case proceeded merely because Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha was offended.
This is the crux of the matter. A quite obscure Thai-language website ran an item based on the fact that many Thais are upset about rising oil prices. The article alleged that in response to public anger, Prime Minister Prayut had said, "So if the diesel prices are too high for you, fill your tank with water." The item was seen and reposted, with links to the original Ratstas.com website item. Gen Prayut, who said no such thing, was reported by aides and the government spokesman to have been livid.
The charges against the seven people arrested so far under the Computer Crime Act (CCA) allege that the article "could undermine national security or cause panic among the public". The key word in the charges is "could". Everyone can see that the article did no such thing.
"Fake news" has become an unfortunately popular phrase in the past couple of years. It started in America with the US election campaign that ended with victory by Donald Trump. Mr Trump and the US media dislike each other, and after the now-president lashed out with the "fake news" description a few dozen times, the media has retaliated by using the same description for statements by Mr Trump and his White House staff.
This is harmless in an atmosphere of free speech, where everyone can participate. However, some of the world's less tolerant governments have begun to try to enact legal bans that specifically single out fake news. Almost inevitably, this turns out to be subjective, selective and punitive by government. Thailand has no law that specifically mentions fake news -- and never should have one -- but laws including criminal defamation and the notorious CCA are somewhat similar, in intent and result.
There is no poll or survey available, but it is clear that a huge number of Thais thought the "water in the diesel tank" article was satire. Prime Minister Prayut admittedly has made some outrageous statements. He told rubber farmers complaining about market prices to go and sell on Mars, for example. No one took that literally, for many obvious reasons. For the same reasons, even those who believed that maybe, just maybe, if Gen Prayut said such a thing, it was an outburst not to be taken seriously.
The prime minister was angry about the article. All those around him agree with that. Quickly, the chief legal officer of the NCPO, Col Burin Thongprapa was called in. In turn, he informed the high-profile deputy chief of the tourist police, Surachate "Big Joke" Hakparn that the junta wished to prosecute the website owner and any identifiable Thais who "liked" the silly Ratstas.com article. The efficient Pol Maj Gen Surachate flew to Cambodia, where a friendly police officer turned over the website owner, who calls himself Ratanak Heng, 21.
This case would have been better handled by a calm statement from the prime minister's office pointing out that the website item was not just false but unbelievable. Had Gen Prayut said such a thing, it would have been on every newscast and front page -- not on a clickbait-style web page that isn't even based in Thailand. The new focus on "fake news" must be better considered, debated and carried out than this case of what now appears to everyone to be instant justice to satisfy a case of personal revenge by the prime minister.