Thailand

Thailand ranks 85th out of 180 in the 2025 World Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders (RSF), with a score of 56.72—classified as “problematic” and the highest in ASEAN, up from 87th in 2024. Physical violence against journalists is rare and no journalists were killed in Thailand in 2025 or early 2026, per RSF, CPJ, and IFJ global tallies (which report 128-129 worldwide killings, none in Thailand).

No targeted murders or major attacks tied to reporting occur, contrasting with regional hotspots. Challenges include police batons during protests, occasional physical assaults (e.g., a 2024 MP slapping a Thai PBS journalist, unpunished), online harassment, coordinated smears (especially against women journalists), and extralegal threats. Lèse-majesté (Section 112), defamation, and cybercrime laws enable harassment, SLAPPs, arrests (e.g., reporters covering anti-royalist graffiti), and self-censorship. Impunity for abuses persists amid military/royal elite influence on media and political polarization.