Planets tell premier to gag himself
It came as a typical Thaksin-style surprise yesterday when the Prime Minister informed the reporters on board the plane coming back from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in South Korea, that he would stop giving any interviews and refrain from offering any comments to the media until next year.
 The Nation
November 21, 2005 - And then he proved that he was serious.
After landing at Don Muang Airport the premier was surrounded by a crowd of reporters seeking his comments, but he just smiled and pointed to his mouth.
"Thank you for seeing me back. Mercury is not in an auspicious orbit now. Just wait for the star to move across this year," Thaksin said smiling as he headed to his waiting private car.
Before arriving at the airport yesterday afternoon, Thaksin said to reporters on the Bangkok-bound flight that he felt tired of some branches of the media - singling out the printed media in particular - that had "misreported" his comments on certain issues.
"I say one thing, but they write it another way. They should report straight facts and let the people use their own judgement. They should not assert their own judgement in the reports in order to influence the people," he said.
"The media should take care of themselves and provide accurate reporting. I will take care of my own job as well as I can and they should also take care of their own," Thaksin added.
The self-imposed injunction by the premier means that his weekly meet-the-press session at Government House every Thursday will be shelved until at least January 2006. Any major issues that need addressing will be commented on during his weekly radio programme at 8am every Saturday, Thaksin said.
This is not the first time that Thaksin has chosen to gag himself to counter negative media reports against him and his government. He has done the same thing on a number of occasions throughout his five years in power. The weekly meet-the-press session held on Thursdays, which was introduced about three months ago, was a by-product of his last shunning of reporters outside of the confines of official press conferences.
Thai Journalists Association president Pussadee Kitavoranart said yesterday that the media organisation would hold a meeting today to discuss its stance on Thaksin's move.
"I feel disappointed with him for having chosen to do this. He should not be sabotaging his own chances to communicate with the media," she said.
This could be interpreted as Thaksin blaming the whole of the media for the barrage of criticism he has faced from Manager newspaper's founder Sondhi Limthongkul, Pussadee said.
"Sondhi does not represent the whole media. The premier should know how to separate an individual from media integrity overall," she said.
Meanwhile, Thaksin yesterday denied Sondhi's claim that the Thai Rak Thai Party has given a Chinese man named Yien Ping, or the Thai name Charnchai, the credentials to head its branch in China.
"This man, Charnchai, is a coordinator between China's Communist Party and the Thai Rak Thai Party. We don't have a party branch in China," he told reporters on the flight back to Bangkok.
Thaksin said he understood that the allegation had stemmed from a personal grudge over a business matter in China.
"This is a matter of private interests after all," he said.
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