The National Press Council of Thailand yesterday ruled that Burapha University's workshop newspaper, Lan Maphrao, did not need to be legally registered.

However, it remains unclear whether the Royal Thai Police - which also has jurisdiction over the same case - will agree with the council's ruling.

"We don't know what the Royal Thai Police will say, but we've already done our duty," said council secretary-general Chavarong Limpattamapanee.

He was speaking after a discussion with the council's complaint-receiving subcommittee.

Journalism lecturers and students at Burapha University turned to the council for clarification after it recently received a surprise letter from a local police officer suggesting its workshop newspaper seek proper registration under the Press Act of 1941.

"Under the Act, the university's workshop newspaper is regarded as government print material and thus exempted from mandatory legal registration," Chavarong said.

Lan Maphrao editor Kamon-thip Hiranprasertsuk, who is a student at Burapha University, welcomed the council's ruling.

"Registration would restrict our rights and freedom in covering news. We've reported news that is useful to local residents," she said.

Lan Maphrao is a workshop newspaper for journalism students at Burapha University, which is located in Bang Saen.

Sold for Bt10 an issue in local markets, the 16-page newspaper has three editions a year. Each print has between 1,500 and 2,000 issues.

As parts of its course in communication arts, Burapha University has required its journalism students to operate and publish a workshop newspaper since 1998.

In 2004, Lan Maphrao received an honorary mention from the Thai Journalists' Association, and in 2005 it won a Best News Story award from the association.

Everything was fine for this workshop newspaper until Saensuk police station deputy superintendent Colonel Pakorn Maneepakorn wrote to Burapha University president Suchart Upatham expressing concern about Lan Maphrao's status.

In his letter, Pakorn recommended the workshop newspaper be legally registered.

"Without the registration, students who write for the newspaper shoulder the risks of being sued," Pakorn said.

"I am a special lecturer at the university, and I don't want to see any student getting unto trouble," he added.

He insisted his letter was motivated solely by his personal wish for the best interests of the journalism students.

Pakorn's move, however, has attracted a lot of criticism from lecturers at Burapha and other institutes.

"I don't think local police have jurisdiction over newspaper registration," said Asst Prof Sukanya Buranadechachai, head of Burapha University's Communi-cation Arts Department and supervisor of the workshop newspaper.

Asst Prof Nucharin Sasi-piboon, who heads Chandra-kasem Rajabhat University's Journalism Department, also pointed out that supervision over newspaper registration lay with the Special Branch Police, not local police.

She said her university's workshop newspaper, the Chandra-kasem Post, was not legally registered.

Associate Professor Malee Boon-siriphan of Thammasat Univer-sity said her university's workshop newspaper was legally registered decades ago under the Press Act of 1941, because back then there were no exemptions.

Mayuree Sukyingcharoenwong

The Nation