SONDHI LIMTHONGKUL is one of the most pugnacious, aggressive and thick-skinned journalists in Asia, so when his television talk show, Thailand This Week, was taken off the air, it was no great setback to him.

His piercing criticisms of Thaksin Shinawatra, Thailand’s Prime Minister, had become too much for the television station, so Mr Sondhi simply took them to the streets.

He began putting on his show in Bangkok universities and in Lumphini Park in the city. But then he found himself with another problem — a 500 million baht (£7 million) defamation suit brought against him by Mr Thaksin.

Then the newspaper owned by Mr Sondhi, 58, was subjected to another 500 million baht claim from the same source. And he believed that he was being followed by plainclothes members of the Thai Special Branch.

Last Thursday came the most dramatic development of all — small, but noisy bombs that exploded without injury at his office and at the temple of Luangta Maha Bua, a revered Buddhist monk.

The two men have one thing in common — they have recently made vociferous criticisms of the Government. On Friday Mr Thaksin’s spokesman found himself denying what plenty of people in Thailand suspect: that the country’s Prime Minister, or his supporters, are pursuing a determined, and perhaps even violent vendetta against the press.

Although this is unproven, senior journalists in Thailand and human rights monitors around the world are convinced that the country’s media are facing a crisis. By a combination of defamation suits and tactical buyouts of media companies by friends and allies, the Prime Minister is accused of cowing what used to be one of the most lively and independent media communities in Asia.

Brad Adams, the executive director of Human Rights Watch, said: “The Thaksin Administration uses powerful political and financial means to stifle media freedom and shape an unchallenged public image of a strong government.”

Mr Thaksin’s power over the media stems from his background as the head of Shin Corporation, a huge telecommunications conglomerate.

Of the country’s 500 radio stations, 200 are owned by the military, 140 by the Government’s public relations department, 62 by companies controlled by people close to Mr Thaksin and many of the rest by the police. The six national television stations are similarly dominated. Two of the most respected newspapers, Matichon and the Bangkok Post, recently fought off hostile takeover bids by Paiboon Damrongchaitham, an old business associate of the Prime Minister.

Government spokesmen dismiss talk of conspiracy, and say that the Prime Minister has the same rights as anyone to defend his reputation against slander. Perhaps his strongest defence is his popularity — despite recent by-election losses he maintains a huge majority.

Even the fearless Mr Sondhi supported him until a few months ago. “He’s doing what Chávez has done in Venezuela or Juan Perón in Argentina,” Mr Sondhi said.

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