Journalist facing jail in Thailand over ‘weapons’
Print Edition
A BRITISH journalist is facing up to five years in a Thai jail after he was arrested for carrying a gas mask and plates for a bullet-proof vest through Bangkok’s main airport on his way to cover fighting in the Iraqi city of Mosul.
Tony Cheng, who works for Chinese state broadcaster CCTV, was detained at Bangkok’s Suvarnabhumi airport on Monday night under a law that has been heavily criticized by media groups.
Gas masks and ballistic vests are frequently used by reporters in and out of dangerous zones around the world but are classified as “war weapons” in Thailand and require a license, something journalists have been unable to obtain.
Violating the 1987 law is punishable by up to five years in jail.
“A British national was arrested and charged with illegal possession of war weapons last night at the airport,” Suvarnabhumi airport policeman Somchart Maneerat told reporters yesterday.
Cheng, who is married to a Thai national, and German colleague Florian Witulski were on their way to report from war-torn Mosul where troops are battling the Islamic State group.
The pair previously reported from Mosul in March.
Witulski was briefly detained alongside Cheng but was later released and has not been charged.
Suvarnabhumi police said that Cheng was released yesterday afternoon after his wife paid a 100,000 baht (US$3,000) bail and he agreed to forfeit his passport.
In a Facebook post from an airport detention cell Cheng said yesterday the plates and gas mask were “for use in Mosul where ISIS are well documented to be using gas.”
Dangerous zones
Media groups have repeatedly criticized the Thai law and say journalists should not be punished for carrying body armor and protective gear in and out of dangerous zones.
In a statement on Cheng’s arrest, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand said reporters based in the country who travel to dangerous assignments are “presented with an invidious choice: break Thai law or increase the risk to life and limb.”
In August 2015 a Chinese photographer from Hong Kong was charged with violating the law for carrying a bullet-proof vest and helmet while covering a deadly bombing in Bangkok.
A Thai court later quietly dropped the case.
During Thailand’s regular bouts of deadly street protests, both demonstrators and journalists have donned ballistic vests and helmets, largely without falling foul of police.
Two foreign reporters were killed by gunfire while covering the worst round of political unrest in 2010.
“Both might have survived had they been wearing body armor,” the correspondents’ club statement said.
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