Blank space replaces NYT story
Second time in a week printer pulls content
The local printer of The International New York Times’ Thailand edition left a blank space on yesterday’s opinion page, the second removal of content from the internationally respected newspaper this week and the third time in three months.
A message saying, “The article in this space was removed by our printer in Thailand. The International New York Times and its editorial staff had no role in its removal,” appeared on page six in a blank box that was supposed to contain an article about the Crown Property Bureau written by Bangkok-based journalist Tom Felix Joehnk. The 1,050-word commentary, the online version of which remained accessible to readers in Thailand (at the time of writing yesterday), talks about the history of the bureau, its assets, revenues and how similar agencies in Britain, Norway and the Netherlands are run.
Just three days earlier, the SET-listed printer, Eastern Printing Plc, refused to print an article portraying a gloomy outlook for the country, leaving in its place large blank spaces at the centre of Tuesday’s front page and page six which carried the same message as yesterday.
The website version of the article, “Thai Economy and Spirits Are Sagging” written by its Bangkok correspondent Thomas Fuller, is still available to online readers in Thailand. It talks about the weak economy, pessimism after years of political turmoil, and concern about the royal succession.
Manager Online on Thursday quoted Eastern Printing chairman Yuth Chinsupakul as saying the article was too “sensitive”, citing its right under a contract to not print articles deemed violating Section 112 of the Criminal Code.
“The printer felt that the article risks offending the people. We decided to lift the article from Page 1 and Page 6 and leave the spaces blank.
“It is a normal practice under the contract we have with every customer,” Mr Yuth told the website.
The printer did not publish the entire Sept 22 edition because it contained an article about the future of the Thai monarchy that it said was “too sensitive to print”.
The daily, known until 2013 as The International Herald Tribune, recently announced that it would cease printing and distributing its print edition in Thailand as of year-end.
In a letter to subscribers, it attributed the decision to rising operating costs.
It is still available in six other Southeast Asian countries: Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Singapore.
New York Times spokeswoman Eileen Murphy was quoted in a Dec 1 Associated Press story as saying it was notified about the printer’s decision, but the newspaper played no role in it.
Ms Murphy said there have been rare instances in other countries where printers have chosen not to publish stories because they were deemed too sensitive.
“We understand the pressures local publishers sometimes face, but we regret any censorship of our journalism,” she wrote in an email.