Libel suits are not the only way to challenge criticism

Given events in the past few years in Thai society, Assistant Professor Thamrongsak Petchalert-anan said when a giant company launches a lawsuit demanding a huge amount of money from its critics, it cannot be interpreted as anything other than  intimidation.

Thamrongsak was sued by iTV station for Bt80 million for an article criticising former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra's business network's takeover of the television channel.

Another big corporation, Tesco Lotus, is seeking Bt100 million in damages from a reporter and a columnist who made negative comments about its business in a newspaper. It is also seeking Bt1.1 billion from another critic, a businessman,  whom they sued in criminal court.

The critics said their comments were without ill intention and for the public interest as the business's development has a major impact on the lives of Thais.

The company said its image and reputation were damaged because of the comments.

A Tesco Lotus executive said criticism of the company reached an unacceptable level, but refused to elaborate.

Prasong Lertratanawisute, vice president of the Thai Journalist Association, agrees with the use of defamation laws to protect reputations. Those who face the charges need not worry if their comments were based on facts.

Prasong, as senior editor of Matichon, a Thai-language daily, has faced defamation charges over his articles.

In one case, a company demanded Bt10 billion in damages from Prasong and the paper.

He said though defamation laws make reporters and columnists take more care to choose reliable sources and information, demands for huge sums of money can be seen as an abuse of the legal mechanism to intimidate critics.

Group advocates of freedom of expression say companies should seek to respond to criticism through other channels, rather than through defamation cases.

"It might be legitimate for a large corporation to bring a defamation case but, as powerful public actors, such corporations are required to tolerate a greater degree of criticism than ordinary citizens," Article 19, a nonprofit promoting freedom of expression, said.

Thamrongsak supports the idea.

There are plenty of ways for a business to challenge criticism, he said.

As many big companies play a part in national policy both directly and indirectly, they cannot avoid criticism, he said.