The International New York Times, only available online today for the Thai readers. 

This Tuesday the subscribers of The International New York Times did not receive their copy of the newspaper. The Thai publisher of The International New York Times decided not to print this edition of the newspaper because of the article that was on the front-page.  

Fear leads to self-censorship

In Thailand there are strict laws concerning the royal family. Only criticising the King and his family can lead to imprisonment for up to 15 years. The enforcement of this law is not being shied away from. Though The International New York Times is not controlled by the government and thus not directly censored, the fear of imprisonment was apparently enough for the Thai publisher to take the huge step of not printing the entire newspaper of today.

What was the topic of the front-page article then?

The front-page article that lead to this decision was called: “With King inDeclining Health, Future of Monarchy in Thailand Is Uncertain”. It talked about the declining health of the King and what this would mean for the future of the throne. It discussed the possibility of the crown prince receiving the throne, because he would be next in line. However, the crown prince is known with the public as a playboy and would have difficulty living up to his father’s legacy. The daughter of the King is respected and loved by the public and would in case of her fathers death be the choice as next ruler for many of the Thai people. According to the law though, women are forbidden to rule the monarch.

These topics are just a few of many in the article, of which some clearly speak critically of several members of the Thai royal family. Which is why it has lead to the decision of the publisher.

Responses of The International New York Times publishers

On the decision not to print today’s paper, the response of the Thai publisher you would probably already expect by now. He stated that the content was too sensitive to publish. From The International New York Times office in America a separate message was sent to each subscriber that did not receive the newspaper. In this the publisher stated that it was not their decision to cancel the newspaper, nor did they endorse the decision and that today’s edition could be read online.

So though there was no censorship involved in this situation, The International New York Times their freedom to publish was limited by self-censorship of their affiliates in Thailand. This shows that the exportation of press freedom is even without regulated press censorship still very difficult to achieve.

Nine Hemmen