The Journalists Association condemns the use of "IO" to intimidate the media and distort facts after a prominent journalist received abnormal defamatory messages concerning questions raised about the 4th Army Region commander's remarks on the assassination attempt of MP Kamolsak.
15 Apr 2026 GMT+7 The Thai Journalists Association The Rights, Freedom, and Media Reform Division expresses deep concern over the case where Information Operations (IO) have been used to severely harass the media. This targets Ms. Thapanee Iadsrichai, a reporter for The Reporters news agency, after she questioned the 4th Army Region commander at a press conference, who also serves as the director of the Internal Security Operations Command of the 4th Army Region Front (ISOC 4th Army Region Front) regarding the assassination attempt on Mr. Kamolsak Liwamo, MP for Narathiwat from the Prachachat Party. The 4th Army Region commander responded with the statement, "If it were me, I wouldn’t have let him get away." This response caused alarm in society, especially coming from a high-ranking military officer.
More concerning is that after these questions, many social media pages simultaneously spread defamatory messages about Ms. Thapanee in a coordinated manner with clear intent, flooding general users’ feeds. Such rapid, abnormal behavior reflects characteristics of orchestrated information operations with hidden backers, rather than natural public opinion.
We affirm that journalists have full rights and duties to ask questions on issues the public is concerned about, especially when questioning state officials at press conferences, which is central to journalism. The problem lies not with the journalist's questions but with the authorities’ attitudes, which should not be used to justify retaliation, attacks, or inciting hatred that threatens media safety.
The use of Information Operations (IO) by security agencies in the southern border provinces has been widely criticized over a long period in parliament and civil society as creating narratives to stir unrest and stigmatize dissenting individuals or groups, including politicians, citizens, and media. Currently, these operations have escalated into a new form of media harassment aimed at destroying the credibility of those who scrutinize state power. This constitutes a serious violation of media freedom and an attempt to "silence the press" through methods that are difficult to detect but cause societal harm.
The Journalists Association therefore condemns the use of information operations to harass the media and calls on relevant agencies to urgently investigate and halt policies that sow division, as the media must be able to freely and safely perform their role of holding state power accountable to protect the public interest and democracy. .