The letter read as follows:

Dear Editor,

Shame on your interview with Thaksin Shinawatra (Time Asia edition Feb 13).

Time magazine allowed Thaksin to tell lies. Thaksin has the audacity to say that the Thai press printed "groundless information" about him and that he never "intervened" in Thai media activities or closed them down. Let the truth be told.

Before he came to power, the Thai press was considered one of the freest in the world, ranking 29th in the survey done by Freedom House in 2000. During his reign until September 19, the Thai press fell to a depressing 107th position last year.

Similar conclusions can be found on indexes and reported by the Committee to Protect Journalists and Reporters Without Frontiers. Thaksin constantly interfered with the Thai print and broadcast media using advertising revenues and stock acquisitions as key strategies. He shut down community radios, websites and TV programmes critical of him.

Political power was used to intimidate the media, particularly the broadcast media, which are largely owned by the state. The management of these outlets came under tremendous government pressure to put him in a positive light, while those who failed to conform or attempted to expose corruption faced the risk of being intimidated through various means, including the threat of staggering lawsuits.

The legal battles between Shin Corp, which is owned by the Shinawatra family, and the Thai Post and media rights activist Supinya Klangnarong, are some of the cases in point. English language daily, the Bangkok Post, also faced the wrath of Thaksin after reporting about cracks on the runway at the Suvarnabhumi International Airport.

We are opposed to all kinds of media interference, intervention or intimidation, and have protested strongly against signs of such actions by the leaders of the September 19 coup. But the truth is, so far, no Thai leaders have messed up the Thai media more than Thaksin.

- Thai Journalists Association & the Thai Broadcasters Association