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In fact, another area of study seems to be warranted: that of the nation-state and the future of the global information society.
With the reality of extensive state censorship of primary sources of information, including on the Internet, there is a question as to just what form public information will be allowed to take against the background of perceived national interests by ruling elites in non-democratic countries.
China recently demonstrated how simple it was to block access to important information about events in Tibet and to spin negative coverage of developments so that they appeared to rest with the Dalai Lama. So the international management of information to suit state needs is clearly being carried out. This has a direct impact, obviously, on the very form that information takes because its sources, delivery, distribution and analysis can be controlled by state agencies.
There is another unpleasant reality to this information mismanagement, and that is the degree and scope of brute force needed to effect it. With the world's billions hungry not for just information but for an opportunity to sort information freely, repressive regimes, opportunistic corporations and like-minded agencies are fighting tooth and nail to keep a lid on a burgeoning industry -- the industry of knowing what's going on and being able to do something about it.
The ability of empowerment is a magnetic calling card. Once "simple people" see how easy it is to get information, primary and comparative, about literally anything they want -- whether medicine, their own leadership or entertainment -- they then crave for access. This openness and transparency is anathema to oppressive political regimes that depend on lack of information, wrong information, and no information, to retain their grip. Thailand, unfortunately, is a case in point.
The world by now has been aware that Thailand's current Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej has denied reality on Al-Jazeera and CNN by insisting that only "one unlucky guy" was killed on Oct. 6, 1976 in Bangkok during democracy protests against return of the country's three dictators Field Marshall Thanom Kittikajorn, his son Narong and General Prapas Jarusithia. In fact Samak then was deputy minister of the interior and the official number of deaths was 46. Samak had the cheek to tell the Al-Jazeera reporter, at the end of his interview, "You need to do your homework next time."
Thailand has had decades of difficulties with information management and the public's lack of access to facts. Almost all media sources are state-owned or managed, and the government has the power to virtually disrupt or shut down any media outlet it deems necessary in the name of national security or lese majeste. The latter charge, referring to insults against the country's revered monarchy, is most often used in Thailand against political enemies and business foes. Thai police are able to use this charge in their own pursuit of state administration under the direction of powers that be.
The only real opposition media network in Thailand, other than the more sedate Bangkok Post and the Nation Group, is that belonging to media tycoon Sondhi Limthongkul, the ASTV satellite station, Manager newspaper, and a few other local media organs. Aired in Thailand via satellite or distributed through select cable providers, ASTV offers in-depth news analysis, discussions and coverage of events, including reporting on political personalities and issues. Sondhi Limthongkul, one of the co-founders of Thailand's People's Alliance for Democracy, is currently appealing a record harsh sentence of six years for defamation against the country's former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra.
The PAD held a seminar on March 28 at Thammasat University in Bangkok to discuss current government corruption and wrongdoing. It is from Thammasat that Thai student democracy protests broke out on Oct. 14, 1973 and Oct. 6, 1976 that led to over 100 demonstrators being killed by government security forces and volunteers.
Thailand's former prime minister and former head of the Democrat Party, Chuan Leekpai, was one of those identified as a protestor and also, wrongfully, as a communist. Chuan mentioned this fact during a parliamentary session in February 2008 when the subject of the mass murders was broached, indicating that the reason he was not around to witness all the events was that he was in hiding, partly because of charges Samak had made about him being a communist.
While Thailand's current leadership has been telling the world community, notably investors, that "things are back to normal," the truth is anything but. Things are relatively quiet, to be sure, but not normal.
Thailand has not really had a normal moment if the issue of human rights is any measure. The mass murders at Takbai, Krue Sae, Thammasat, the extrajudicial killings of nearly 3,000 during the past anti-drug war, the murder by state agents of ten unarmed Burmese protestors apprehended at a hospital in Ratchaburi province during the Chuan administration, control of media and near-total lack of response from successive Thai governments to international and local appeals for human rights protection and transparent investigation of violations are legion.
Thus Thailand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs needs to assess its approach to human rights as it seeks U.S. cooperation in mending fences with Saudi Arabia on the one hand, and in working together with the world community on the other to safeguard the interests of the Burmese people.
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(Frank G. Anderson is the Thailand representative of American Citizens Abroad. He was a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer to Thailand from 1965-67, working in community development. A freelance writer and founder of northeast Thailand's first local English language newspaper, the Korat Post -- www.thekoratpost.com -- he has spent over eight years in Thailand "embedded" with the local media. He has an MBA in information management and an associate degree in construction technology. ©Copyright Frank G. Anderson.)
