Whoever is in power must recognise that there must be room for difference of opinion, said Suranand Vejjajiva, a cousin of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva and a columnist at The Bangkok Post newspaper.
Suranand was speaking yesterday at a symposium on media freedom organised by Chulalongkorn University's Institute of Security and International Studies (ISIS) and funded by the European Union.
He said Thailand is currently facing many censorship problems.
"Who's going to define national security? What constitutes lese majeste? Who is going to define that? ... We're living in special circumstances because the emergency decree is out there. ... Right now you can close down community radio without having to go through the judicial process," said Suranand.
The emergency decree, he added, enabled the government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva to detain "Voice of Taksin" editor and red-shirt key member Somyos Phruksakemsuk for three weeks although no coherent charge was ever made against him.
"No one can explain that to him.
"There are no clear rules of engagement on what you can do and what you can't," said Suranand, who admitted that when he was in charge of the government-controlled media under the Thaksin Shinawatra administration, some Thai Rak Thai MPs wanted to shut down anti-Thaksin ASTV television.
The government at that time sought the court's opinion and was told it would be unconstitutional.
Suranand said a lot of mainstream media are too accommodating of the current government and have overblown the fear of Thaksin as a threat to the "super structure" of the Kingdom, while in fact Thaksin is merely a threat to the present government.
Very few print media continue to ask what happened with the 90 deaths, he said.
"[As for] The Nation and The Bangkok Post, I don't see them asking anymore," he said, adding people were being forced by the media and the government into believing in "one-sided propaganda", which dictates that: "You have to be united in only one direction" and that, "anyone who has a different opinion is loyal to Thaksin and disloyal to the King".
Presenting a different view, Thepchai Yong, director of TPBS television and former group editor of The Nation, said that according to a recent poll, a majority of Thais could accept the extension of the state of emergency.
Thepchai said the mainstream media today is not controlled by any generals and some self-censorship is practised because the media themselves are "mindful of the public" which is politically divided.
Some truths out there are not uncovered by the media because "they may play into the hands" of those with ill-intentions towards society.
"The Thai media are Thai. They have been like that for decades," he said, adding, that the mainstream media should themselves look back and reflect on their role in order to regain the lost trust.
"How can they win back the trust that they have lost. This is a big question.
"It has less to do with the issue of media freedom. The Thai media have all the freedom in the world to report on what they want to report."