Media has a significant role to play in life in Phuket and certainly with the number of companies and organisations involved in the distribution of media, an awareness of the boundaries of the laws in Thailand, which are different to laws in other jurisdictions, is valuable. Furthermore, where the �grapevine� or �gossip� forums are now ever increasing through the technology-based forms of communication � email, personal digital assistants and instant messaging chat tools � those that write their thoughts ought to exercise caution before putting pen to paper or, in today�s world, finger to �Qwerty� keyboard.
The relevant law relating to defamation is a clue in itself as to the seriousness of it in Thailand � the Penal Code, Chapter 3. For laypeople, that means that the offence of defamation attracts criminal liability and therefore potential imprisonment or a fine or both. The likelihood of being incarcerated ought not to be wielded by lawyers lightly as a possibility without a serious analysis of the distance between the alleged event, the court case and decision. However, a strong consideration for those that distribute media, is that upon a report to the police of defamation, an arrest may be made which will of course include the particularly unpleasant procedures for those that may well not view themselves as falling within the bracket of �criminals� � such as fingerprinting, photograph taking and a record of the complaint being lodged with the police authorities.
There is some protection against those that choose to vexatiously or casually assert that another party has committed such an offence. In the event that one person lodges criminal charges against another in bad faith, then the defending party can assert the same and file counter charges for the arrest of the individual or persons who misfiled a complaint. Therefore, those who wish to file a criminal complaint should also take heed and exercise caution, receiving advice before they proceed along such a path of action.
The offence of defamation is sufficiently wide to encapsulate all forms of communication � �propagation by other means� is a sufficient catch-all provision (s.327 of the Penal Code). The offence also relates to those that are dead and the family of the deceased (s.328 of the Penal Code) so dead people and their families are not �fair game� for spurious comment. The test for defamation in Thailand is also wide �likely to impair the reputation of such other person or likely to expose such other person to hatred or contempt�.
You should also be aware that even writing a truth can damage reputation and expose that person to hatred or contempt. Defamation is not necessarily limited to untruths.
The message in the law is clear: think before you write, seek advice before you write something that may damage the reputation of another and ensure that you have justification, evidence and support for writing or communicating your thoughts to others. Furthermore, even if you intend to write a truth, think carefully of the potential consequences of it.
Desmond Hughes is a partner in Belmont Limcharoen.
desmond@belmontlimcharoen.comwww.belmontlimcharoen.com
