Tension in the air
A Prachakorn Thai Party executive yesterday started court proceedings aimed at taking a television talk show hosted by media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul off the air on the grounds that it causes social divisions.
Sonthiya Sawasdi named PM's Office Minister Thirapat Serirangsan as the accused for failing to respond to Sonthiya's earlier petition for the talk show's removal."Thirapat has abused his power by authorising Sondhi and his ASTV satellite broadcast to air the talk show via the state-run Channel 11 even though he knows that the broadcast is illegal," Sonthiya said. He said he initiated the court battle in his individual capacity and not on his party's behalf. In his statement of claim, he contends that Sondhi is airing his "Thailand Watch" show via a satellite link in Hong Kong without a licence, therefore it is deemed illegal for Channel 11 to relay such a broadcast". Sonthiya charges that Thirapat made an arbitrary decision to approve Sondhi's talk show even though the government's Public Relations Department is in litigation at the Supreme Administrative Court to shut down ASTV. He also charged that Sondhi is "a controversial figure at the centre of social tensions". The Central Administrative Court has yet to schedule a date to rule on whether the case merits a judicial review.
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