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Two Foreign Journalists in Thailand Appeal Expulsion VOA News 26 Feb 2002 01:10 UTC 
Two foreign journalists ordered out of Thailand for threatening national security are appealing their expulsion.
Thai immigration authorities canceled the visas of American Shawn Crispin and Briton Rodney Tasker, journalists for the Far Eastern Economic Review, a Hong Kong-based magazine.
The expulsion is the harshest government action against journalists in more than a decade. Officials say the journalists threatened national order. The two reporters deny any wrongdoing.
The order is believed to be in reaction to an article in the January 10th issue covering a speech given by the Thai king that was considered critical of prime minister, Thaksin Shinawatra. The government banned that issue from sale in Thailand.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said the United States is concerned that Thailand may ban journalists for publishing reports critical of the government. Mr. Boucher said the United States encourages Thailand to uphold its reputation as a strong supporter of freedom of the press. He said the U.S. ambassador in Bangkok, Darryl Johnson, raised the issued in a meeting Monday with the Thai prime minister.
Thailand's Foreign Correspondents Club has appealed to the Thai government to reverse its order in the name of the freedom of the press, and for foreign and domestic journalists working in the country.
Some information for this report provided by AP and AFP.
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