General elections in Thailand: RSF raises alarm over persistent harassment of women journalists and calls for reforms

During two recent RSF-led workshops, women journalists described how physical attacks, online abuse, and coordinated smear campaigns are commonplace in Thailand. This training workshop, organised in partnership with the NGO Co-fact Thailand at the end of 2025, brought together 25 women journalists from across the country to discuss and receive guidance on physical risk management, digital security, dealing with online harassment, and protecting mental health while working in particularly stressful environments.

Though Thailand has a dynamic media landscape, it is still a dangerous environment for journalists, especially those covering political rallies or events. In 2024, a scandalous attack took place when a member of parliament physically assaulted Thai PBSjournalist Duangthip Yiampopwhile she was on assignment -an attack that went unpunished.

Over and above physical violence, women journalists are, in general, far more likely to be targeted by a wide range of different kinds of violence than their male colleagues. These attacks include online harassment, sexist abuse, coordinated smear campaigns, and targeted threats designed to intimidate them and discredit their work. Thailand ranks 85th out of 180 in RSF's 2025 World Press Freedom Index, largely due to a legal and security climate that encourages hostile attitudes towards journalism.

Training workshops for sharing experiences and tackling violence

Journalists participating in these sessions highlighted the importance of this kind of workshop for combating isolation and for finding collective ways to address violence. Buarat Ubonprasert, a journalist with the online regional media Epigram Newsfrom eastern Thailand, said that "as women journalists, what we need are training sessions and support spaces that help us understand that we are not at fault. Being able to share these experiences with other women journalists allows us to build collective responses." Another participant, who wished to remain anonymous, highlighted that the sessions made her "realise there are very specific security risks that you don't even suspect exist if you are not a woman."

Thai journalists are also victims of abusive legal action, including threats under the lèse-majesté law, which carries sentences of up to 15 years in prison. Defamation and cybercrime laws are also used to put pressure on journalists, as they run the risk of paying excessive legal costs.

In light of these multifaceted risks, and with elections approaching, RSF issues the following recommendations:

To parliamentary candidates :

• Guarantee journalists' safety, investigate all acts of violence, and fight impunity.
• Criminalise particular forms of online harassment in penal law, particularly when there are aggravating circumstances, because the victims are women journalists or journalists who belong to gender minorities.
• Protect journalists covering women's rights, as well as the media professionals supporting them.

To police and judicial authorities:

• Establish national committees focusing on journalist safety that include representatives from the judiciary, police, and journalist associations, so that they can maintain a regular dialogue.
• Appoint liaison officers within the police who can collect witness statements from victims of physical or online attacks.
• Document attacks on journalists covering women's rights and gender-based violence, in liaison with the relevant newsrooms.

To digital platforms:

• Treat reports of cyberharassment against journalists and notifications from civil society organisations urgently and as a priority.
• Promptly respond to judicial orders concerning violence against journalists.
• Combat anonymous threats and coordinated online harassment campaigns by enforcing content removal and account suspension measures, and hire an adequate number of staff so that content can be moderated effectively.

To newsrooms:

• Establish legal defence funds and networks of pro bono lawyers to fight abusive lawsuits.
• Train journalists on cyberharassment and implement gender-sensitive protocols for reporting violence without fear of reprisals in the workplace.
• Prioritise mental health by offering trauma-informed advice and peer-support networks to mitigate the psychological impact of online sexual abuse and workplace intimidation.

The two "Holistic Safety Training" sessions for Thai women journalists were conducted by the RSF Asia-Pacific Bureau, in collaboration with Co-fact Thailand, as part of a programme supported by the Embassy of Canada to Thailand through the Canada Fund for Local Initiatives.During the workshops, RSF also shared its safety guide for journalists and its recommendations, both available on the RSF Resources for Journalistswebsite.