Thai police and soldiers conducted a surprise raid on the Karen Information Centre (KIC) based in the Thai border town of Mae Sot on 4 February 2010.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) expresses its concern over a statement made by Information and Communication Technology Minister Ranongrak Suwanchawee of Thailand threatening to pursue legal action against websites and their respective Internet service providers (ISPs) where posts discussing the King’s health allegedly caused the drop in the Thai bourse last month.

Speech and Internet advocates in Thailand are questioning why the Thai police invoked the Computer Crimes Act in going after two Thais accused of spreading rumors on the King's health, media reports in Bangkok say.

BANGKOK, Aug 31 (IPS) - Thailand’s draconian lese majeste law is steadily emerging as a testing ground for the principles that renowned international human rights lobbies stand for.

The Southeast Asian Press Alliance (SEAPA) condemns the guilty verdict and 18-month extended house arrest meted out to Burmese opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi on 11 August 2009. SEAPA joins the international community in rejecting this judgment, and in demanding the immediate release of Suu Kyi, a democracy icon in Burma and for the rest of the world.

The Centre for Independent Journalism (CIJ) views with concern plans afoot to filter the Internet to block so-called undesirable websites, as reported in the local media. This is a clear violation of the commitment made in the promotion of the Multimedia Super Corridor and the Bill of Guarantees that ensures no censorship of the Internet. Any form of control or filtering is a violation of freedom of speech, as enshrined in Article 10 of the Federal Constitution.

On the Thai-Burmese border--When the dogs start baying at night, fear begins to grip those living in a village in the west of Burma (Myanmar) where the Rohingya people live. More often than not, the howling of the dogs means soldiers are coming and one of the villagers will be taken away.

As the target date for launching the ASEAN human rights body (AHRB)
nears, civil society groups have warned depriving it of watchdog
powers would erode the credibility of the regional organization.