CRES lifts ban on material satirising political elite

The Centre for Resolution of the Emergency Situation yesterday agreed to lift the ban on satirical items created by protesters to insult the political elite, as CRES spokesman Colonel Sansern Kaewkamnerd said it had found no violators of the regulation - despite reports of arrests.

The authority had prohibited distribution of political material such as rubber sandals with Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva's face on them, as such items might create divisions in society. Security officials had the authority to confiscate such items.

However, civic groups criticised the order, saying it violated Thais' basic rights, and claiming such satire would never cause social divides.

The criticism was raised after reported arrests of vendors who sold flip-flops with Abhisit's face on them during red-shirt rallies, including the gathering last week at Bangkok's Ratchaprasong Intersection.

The prime minister urged the CRES to review the order, as it was against freedom of expression.

While such items could be regarded as defamation, they had nothing to do with national security or social order, he said.

However, Sansern said the decision to lift the ban was made because the authority had found nobody was in actual violation of the order, and not because of public opinion or the prime minister's instruction.

"Our intelligence indicates that no such item really exists in the market," he said. "If we find anybody distributing such material, we will issue a new order to ban it again."