2009
President's Report for the Year 2010
Heading an organisation like the FCCT opens one to face unforeseen challenges. This stems from the growing expectations of our members and the wider community of a club that has in its over 50-year existence become the premier institution of its kind in Southeast Asia. There is also the converse, of being challenged for who we are. In 2009, my first year as president, the unprecedented development of a lèse majesté complaint filed against the entire board remains a case in point.
But the events of 2010 tested the values of the club in a manner not experienced in recent times. Even as the newly elected executive committee was settling in, we had to grapple with an accusation made by sections of the Red Shirts that we were lackeys of the Thai government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. This absurd charge arose from the Red Shirts being told that they had to cancel a planned press conference because the club was in the process of being refurbished. Yet a couple of months later, once the Red Shirts had converted the Rachaparsong area into their protest site, the FCCT increasingly found itself feeling the heat from the other end of Thailand's political landscape: to defend the foreign press in light of criticism from sections of Thai society who despised the Red Shirts. The position we took - standing for the right to free expression - did not stop our detractors from insinuating that the FCCT had a pro-Red Shirt bias and that we were blessed with extraordinary editorial powers to influence the reportage of the protests in the foreign media.
The manner in which the club had to respond to the politically turbulent months resulting from the protests deserves mention. Besides the programmes we hosted to hear a range of views - including what was probably the best night at the club when four critics of the foreign press were given the liberty of condemning the international media - we did our best to help journalists based in Thailand and who flew into the kingdom to cover the protests. This even included the club's office manager, Khun Thanutra (Pink), having to negotiate with the Red Shirt guards at the bamboo barricades to permit our beer trucks to come through.
The e-mail traffic between board members probably reached a peak in May when we had to decide if the club should remain open or not as the military crackdown loomed. In the end, our decision to close the club for 10 days was based on one imperative: the safety of our Thai staff. And this may be a good time to appreciate the work that they have done for the club and, more importantly, the lengths they went to keep the club open despite the prospect of threats from the Red Shirts' guards. They are Khun Pink and Khun Pla from the office and Khun Roong, Khun Rienchai and Khun Santana from the bar.
It was also during this period that the board had to respond to the deaths of two colleagues, Hiroyuki Muramoto and Fabio Polenghi, who were shot while covering the April and May crackdowns. Besides issuing statements expressing concern about these deaths and the number of journalists and photographers who sustained injuries, we spoke to members of the government to press them to investigate the circumstances of Muramoto's and Polenghi's killing. But the pace of the investigations and the reluctance of the government to reveal what the Department of Special Investigations has unearthed up to now have been disappointing.
Yet that was not the only disappointment in our engagement with the government during the year that has ended. We were taken by surprise when the foreign ministry exerted pressure on the club (another first, I was told) to cancel a press conference organized by a Vietnamese human rights group in September. We were approached to inform the speakers flying in from Paris that they would be denied visas and entry into Bangkok. Our position, as is now known, was to tell the MFA that we were neither in the censorship trade nor that we enjoyed the powers of the country's immigration department.
But in fairness it must be said that such disagreements have not interfered with the healthy and open relationship we enjoy with the prime minister's office and the MFA. In fact, to their credit, officials from both institutions were in regular touch with me during the crackdowns, wanting to know how they could help foreign journalists during that period. The fact that Prime Minister Abhisit has addressed the club twice in our traditional PM's keynote speech and dinner and plans to come for the third successive year confirms his willingness to engage with the club, of which he has been a long-standing friend.
The other highlights of 2010 were the following: the growing success of our annual photo contest, which attracted 7,000 images this year, a quantum leap from a few hundred in 2007, the first year of the contest; the Saturday in November when the club was opened for journalists in Bangkok to cover the general elections in Burma; another successful year of the world film series; a full day session for journalists on how to stay safe when covering urban protests; the introduction of a new series of talks during lunch time; and publishing 20,000 copies of a soft-cover edition of The King of Thailand in World Focus, largely meant for distribution to Thai schools and universities to offer students some insight into how the foreign press has reported on Thailand's royal family for sixty years.
The club that you are in today is no more how it looked at the beginning of the year. A plan to refurbish this venue that was first discussed by the 2007 executive committee, my first year on the board, was completed. Other improvements, including upgrading our audio-visual system, were carried out. And if the increasing use of the club by a range of individuals and organizations for press conferences, evening panel discussions and networking nights are an indicator, then it seems that these changes have been well received.
The ability to pursue with all that I have mentioned among our achievements, and so much more that had to be left out to keep this report concise, was only possible due to the commitment and dedication extended by all the members of the 2010 executive committee. I could not have asked for more in terms of team spirit from Nirmal Ghosh, Dan Ten Kate, Tim Johnston, Henry Silverman, Dominic Faulder, Greg Lowe, Anasuya Sanyal, Patrick Barta, Umesh Pandey, Tony Doherty, Jim Pollard and Justin Moseley.
There are some people not on the board who helped us in many ways: Lekha Shankar, Jeanne Hallacy, Somchai Homlaor, Sunai Phasuk and Julian Hadden.
I'd like to end by also thanking Mom Tin, our landlord, the Canadian embassy, and our major corporate sponsors Coca Cola, Pfizer, Unilever and Laguna Phuket.
This year has been an education on why an organization like the FCCT is so important in this country's and this region's political, social and cultural landscape. And I'd like to thank all the members whose support gave me an opportunity to be on the frontlines of the events that we had to face. Some of you were my friends from before and some I got to know during my second year.
Thank you and please continue to support the club.
Marwaan Macan-Markar
President, January 28, 2011
But the events of 2010 tested the values of the club in a manner not experienced in recent times. Even as the newly elected executive committee was settling in, we had to grapple with an accusation made by sections of the Red Shirts that we were lackeys of the Thai government of Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva. This absurd charge arose from the Red Shirts being told that they had to cancel a planned press conference because the club was in the process of being refurbished. Yet a couple of months later, once the Red Shirts had converted the Rachaparsong area into their protest site, the FCCT increasingly found itself feeling the heat from the other end of Thailand's political landscape: to defend the foreign press in light of criticism from sections of Thai society who despised the Red Shirts. The position we took - standing for the right to free expression - did not stop our detractors from insinuating that the FCCT had a pro-Red Shirt bias and that we were blessed with extraordinary editorial powers to influence the reportage of the protests in the foreign media.
The manner in which the club had to respond to the politically turbulent months resulting from the protests deserves mention. Besides the programmes we hosted to hear a range of views - including what was probably the best night at the club when four critics of the foreign press were given the liberty of condemning the international media - we did our best to help journalists based in Thailand and who flew into the kingdom to cover the protests. This even included the club's office manager, Khun Thanutra (Pink), having to negotiate with the Red Shirt guards at the bamboo barricades to permit our beer trucks to come through.
The e-mail traffic between board members probably reached a peak in May when we had to decide if the club should remain open or not as the military crackdown loomed. In the end, our decision to close the club for 10 days was based on one imperative: the safety of our Thai staff. And this may be a good time to appreciate the work that they have done for the club and, more importantly, the lengths they went to keep the club open despite the prospect of threats from the Red Shirts' guards. They are Khun Pink and Khun Pla from the office and Khun Roong, Khun Rienchai and Khun Santana from the bar.
It was also during this period that the board had to respond to the deaths of two colleagues, Hiroyuki Muramoto and Fabio Polenghi, who were shot while covering the April and May crackdowns. Besides issuing statements expressing concern about these deaths and the number of journalists and photographers who sustained injuries, we spoke to members of the government to press them to investigate the circumstances of Muramoto's and Polenghi's killing. But the pace of the investigations and the reluctance of the government to reveal what the Department of Special Investigations has unearthed up to now have been disappointing.
Yet that was not the only disappointment in our engagement with the government during the year that has ended. We were taken by surprise when the foreign ministry exerted pressure on the club (another first, I was told) to cancel a press conference organized by a Vietnamese human rights group in September. We were approached to inform the speakers flying in from Paris that they would be denied visas and entry into Bangkok. Our position, as is now known, was to tell the MFA that we were neither in the censorship trade nor that we enjoyed the powers of the country's immigration department.
But in fairness it must be said that such disagreements have not interfered with the healthy and open relationship we enjoy with the prime minister's office and the MFA. In fact, to their credit, officials from both institutions were in regular touch with me during the crackdowns, wanting to know how they could help foreign journalists during that period. The fact that Prime Minister Abhisit has addressed the club twice in our traditional PM's keynote speech and dinner and plans to come for the third successive year confirms his willingness to engage with the club, of which he has been a long-standing friend.
The other highlights of 2010 were the following: the growing success of our annual photo contest, which attracted 7,000 images this year, a quantum leap from a few hundred in 2007, the first year of the contest; the Saturday in November when the club was opened for journalists in Bangkok to cover the general elections in Burma; another successful year of the world film series; a full day session for journalists on how to stay safe when covering urban protests; the introduction of a new series of talks during lunch time; and publishing 20,000 copies of a soft-cover edition of The King of Thailand in World Focus, largely meant for distribution to Thai schools and universities to offer students some insight into how the foreign press has reported on Thailand's royal family for sixty years.
The club that you are in today is no more how it looked at the beginning of the year. A plan to refurbish this venue that was first discussed by the 2007 executive committee, my first year on the board, was completed. Other improvements, including upgrading our audio-visual system, were carried out. And if the increasing use of the club by a range of individuals and organizations for press conferences, evening panel discussions and networking nights are an indicator, then it seems that these changes have been well received.
The ability to pursue with all that I have mentioned among our achievements, and so much more that had to be left out to keep this report concise, was only possible due to the commitment and dedication extended by all the members of the 2010 executive committee. I could not have asked for more in terms of team spirit from Nirmal Ghosh, Dan Ten Kate, Tim Johnston, Henry Silverman, Dominic Faulder, Greg Lowe, Anasuya Sanyal, Patrick Barta, Umesh Pandey, Tony Doherty, Jim Pollard and Justin Moseley.
There are some people not on the board who helped us in many ways: Lekha Shankar, Jeanne Hallacy, Somchai Homlaor, Sunai Phasuk and Julian Hadden.
I'd like to end by also thanking Mom Tin, our landlord, the Canadian embassy, and our major corporate sponsors Coca Cola, Pfizer, Unilever and Laguna Phuket.
This year has been an education on why an organization like the FCCT is so important in this country's and this region's political, social and cultural landscape. And I'd like to thank all the members whose support gave me an opportunity to be on the frontlines of the events that we had to face. Some of you were my friends from before and some I got to know during my second year.
Thank you and please continue to support the club.
Marwaan Macan-Markar
President, January 28, 2011