In Thailand, New Media Balance Journalism With Activism

“For Chalini Thongyot, witnessing the mass arrest of protesters in Thailand during anti-government demonstrations was a turning point.

At the time, Thongyot was helping the activist group Umne of Anarchy manage its social media platforms and live stream protests taking place across Thailand.

The protests, which started in 2020, regularly ended in clashes, with police using rubber bullets, pepper spray and water cannons, and arresting hundreds of protesters.

Seeing the police response to those protesting government policy or demanding reform of the monarchy sealed Thongyot’s decision to be a journalist.

“At that time, I just think this duty is the most suitable for me because I was the one who was producing social media, live broadcasts,” Thongyot told VOA in Bangkok.

The 23-year-old is now part of Thalufah, an organization that grew out of the protest movement and straddles journalism and activism.”

Tommy Walker, writing for Voice of America, details a a developing grass-roots media culture in Thailand that has grown out of the soil of activism and popular protest over the last few years. He gives us a glimpse into this world through the figure of Chalini Thongyot, a young activist and journalist who has come up against police harassment for her work, and who struggles with her organization, Thalufah (partly translated as “breakthrough to the sky”) to be seen as a legitimate media platform, a title necessary not just for safety from the state but also to be taken seriously alongside professional press associations.

Their media is fully entangled with their activism, and perhaps this is why the state has targeted them; they are not voices on the ground to be covered, but rather they are the voices on the ground speaking for themselves, making loud demands and proud demonstrations for their rights.