Premsak Piayura, a district municipality mayor in Khon Kaen, has called on Prime Minister Prayut Chan-o-cha to use Section 44 under the interim charter to reform the media after claiming certain reporters violated his privacy rights.
The Ban Phai mayor submitted a letter to Gen Prayut at the complaints centre at Government House on Friday morning, demanding the premier bring about reforms in the media by using his special powers under Section 44 as chief of the National Council for Peace and Order to improve professional standards in the media industry.
The call came after he claimed a group of reporters from five media outlets had barged into his office and coerced him into giving information about his personal life. He said such behaviour violated his right to privacy.
The media should not force a source to give information against himself or herself no matter what the issue is," Dr Premsak said yesterday after filing the complaint at the centre.
Dr Premsak, a former Khon Kaen MP, is accused of ordering subordinates to strip the trousers off Korsit Kongchom, 64, a reporter for Daily News, a Thai-language newspaper, in front of four other Khon Kaen-based reporters while they were all locked in a room in his offices on Tuesday.
A report on the front page of the Daily News on Tuesday that suggested Dr Premsak and a Mathayom 5 girl became engaged during a ceremony had angered him.
The reporters filed a complaint against Dr Premsak with the Khon Kaen provincial police commander over the incident.
A panel chaired by the provincial assistant governor was set up to look into the accusations.
Dr Premsak insisted yesterday that he did not invite media to his office and did not order his subordinates to strip the reporter.
He declined to answer questions about his personal life.
Earlier, Dr Premsak also petitioned the Office of the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) secretary-general Takorn Tantasith, calling for an investigation into the report that he said defamed him.
He also demanded NBTC to revoke the licences of the five media outlets whose reporters were allegedly involved in the incident on Tuesday.
Mr Takorn said the NBTC would examine the reports the reporters filed to see whether they were distorted.