A gagged and blindfolded reporter shows his opposition to media harassment at the Thai Journalists’ Association rally of about 100 media representatives yesterday

Thai and international media groups yesterday expressed solidarity against ongoing harassment of newspapers that had published critical reports on caretaker Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa) said it was "gravely concerned that the escalation of threats to and harassment of the Thai media over the past two months was aimed not only at undermining their independence in performing their duties but also to discredit them".

Seapa accused the attackers of exploiting the current political uncertainty to harass the media.

"Especially in these crucial times, the media's rights should be protected so they can continue to inform the public about developments," Seapa said.

"A threat to the media is a threat to the people," said Seapa.

Separately, International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) president Christopher Warren said: "The IFJ has deep concerns that the media has become a target for threats, violence and intimidation."

He said: "The IFJ supports its affiliate in Thailand, the Thai Journalists' Association and its sister organisation, Thai Broadcast Journalists' Association in its joint statement calling for an end to harassment of the media in Thailand.

"We reiterate their calls for the protesters and the public to respect the media's right and freedom to perform their duties.

"Intimidation and hindrance of journalists while informing the public is unacceptable."

Elsewhere, the Burma News International, a network of nine independent Burmese media organisations, said: "We extend our support to Thailand's media representatives to protest media harassment.

"We stand in solidarity with Thailand's independent media in its fight against government efforts to gag them. Thailand has a tradition of media freedom and its media workers should face no restrictions, harassment or threats."