July 21, 2016
BANGKOK (AFP) - Thai authorities have ordered an anti-junta television channel to stop broadcasting as the kingdom's military rulers tighten the screw on dissent ahead of a controversial referendum vote.
The junta has banned campaigning ahead of an August 7 plebiscite on a new draft of a charter in what will be the first public vote of any kind since the military seized power two years ago.
The junta says its new charter will end the political upheaval that has rocked the kingdom for a decade.
But critics decry the document as a divisive and naked attempt to cement the power of an army that has staged a dozen coups in the past century.
The junta has instituted an array of restrictions on free speech and, with the referendum looming, has arrested or warned scores of people for airing criticism of the charter draft.
On Thursday broadcasting authorities ordered a 30-day blackout of an anti-junta TV station run by 'Red Shirt' supporters of the ousted government of Yingluck Shinawatra.
"Peace TV must stop broadcasting," said the order by the National Broadcasting, Telecommunication Commission (NBTC).
It accused the channel of violating a junta edict by "reporting information that caused confusion, provocation, incited conflict and caused divisiveness in the kingdom".
Red Shirt leader Jatuporn Prompan, who has a daily program on the channel, said he would seek a court injunction on the order.
His group are die-hard supporters of the Shinawatras -- a family of tycoons-turned-politicians who have won the hearts of the country's rural majority and dominated electoral politics since the early 2000s.
But the clan is reviled by Thailand's elite and have been repeatedly booted out of power by judicial rulings and military coups.
Analysts say the frequent changes in government, often spurred by months of mass protests, have cost the kingdom a "lost decade" of potential development and economic growth.
The ruling junta has promised elections will go ahead in 2017 but has not clarified what will happen if the charter is rejected in the referendum, raising fears the timetable will slip.
The referendum is yet to catch the public imagination in Thailand, with junta opponents unconvinced a vote 'No' will do anything to loosen the military's grip on the country.