MATICHON TAKEOVER: Grammy faces boycott as social outrage grows

Published on September 15, 2005 - Civic, media-freedom groups join forces in gesture of solidarity

Thai-language daily Matichon’s struggle to fight off the takeover bid by entertainment tycoon Paiboon Damrongchaitham gained public support yesterday, with civic and media-freedom groups joining forces to ally themselves with the paper’s fight.

The solid show of solidarity in support of Matichon ranged from a consumer group’s call for protests and a boycott of products and concerts by Paiboon’s GMM Grammy Plc, to academics forming a “Friends of Matichon” action group to help the newspaper.

Matichon insiders said the paper’s office was flooded with telephone calls all day from those who voiced support for its fight against the takeover bid, while hundreds of other similar messages were posted on its website, www.matichon,co.th.

Representatives of many civic groups also turned up at Matichon’s head office in Prachachuen area to give bouquets to its executives in a show of moral support.

Paiboon, known to have a close relationship with Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, has already spent Bt733.29 million to acquire a 32.23-per-cent stake in the Matichon group through GMM Media Plc, a subsidiary of the GMM Grammy Plc.

He also announced a bid to acquire up to 23.6 per cent in Post Publishing Plc, publisher of the Bangkok Post, Post Today and other publications.

Facing harsh criticism, Paiboon has denied any political motivation behind the deals and said he would maintain the newspapers’ editorial independence.

Stunned by the hostile takeover bid, Matichon Plc founder Khanchai Boonpan has secured about 31 per cent of shareholders’ support to counter Paiboon’s move.

Addressing civic groups’ joint press conference in Bangkok yesterday, Foundation for Consumers manager Sairung Thongplon said it was hard to believe that the taking over of both newspapers by an entertainment giant with close ties to a powerful political figure would not affect the publications’ neutrality.

“This is a sign of danger to media consumers and society as a whole. Newspapers have to strictly maintain professional ethics and must not be taken just as commercial products to make profits for a company’s shareholders,” she said.

Sairung called on Paiboon and other top GMM Media executives to take growing public opposition into consideration and rethink their takeover bids.

“We urge the Thai public to get messages across to the company by any means. If the circumstance requires, we will go as far as organising a boycott of GMM Grammy’s products and concerts and even holding protests at its concert venues,” she said.

Speaking at the same press conference, Foundation for the Blind spokesman Torpong Selanon said that in practice GMM Grammy could intervene in the newspapers’ content after the takeover and thus use the publications to benefit its entertainment business.

“I am physically blind but my mind can see clearly. If we allow the media to be manipulated, our society will be blind intellectually,” he said.

Campaign for Media Reform (CMR) vice chairman Pittaya Wongkul denounced the takeover bids as an attempt to monopolise the media to serve politicians.

In a related development, Rangsit University lecturer Wipa Daomanee said academics were planning to form an action group under the name of “Friends of Matichon” (FoM) to help the newspaper fight off GMM Media’s bid.

“We have preliminarily discussed the move among prominent academics and civic groups and agreed that we must join forces. We will do all we can to make the company give up the [Matichon] takeover bid,” she said.

Wipa said among advocates of the planned FoM were CMR secretary-general Supinya Klangnarong, Rangsit University’s Wittayakorn Chiangkoon, Thammasat University’s Parinya Tewanaruemitkul, and the Friends of Anand group adviser Prasan Maruekhapitak.

To drum up support for Matichon’s struggle, civic groups yesterday invited members of the public to post their opinions on the Web board of www.solidarity.org.

Meanwhile, the Southeast Asian Press Alliance (Seapa) expressed deep concern about the takeovers, saying the move is a “threat to media independence in Thailand”.

Considering Paiboon’s closeness to Prime Minister Thaksin, Seapa believes the attempt to buy into Matichon and the Bangkok Post must be viewed in the context of overlapping political and business interests that have long threatened to undermine the country’s free media.

Reacting to the media takeover controversy, National Human Rights Commission member Charan Dista-apichai said yesterday the panel would open a public forum on the issue next week and invite all parties involved to express their views.

The Thai Journalists Association, meanwhile, will today hold a seminar on the takeover bids to hear further opinions on the issue.