Alan Morison and a Thai reporter Chutima Sidasathian from the Phuket Wan English-language paper face their first full court hearing today for allegedly defaming the country’s navy.
If found guilty, Mr Morison could face up to 14 years jail and heavy fines.
“It would help if [the Australian government] made some overtures to the [Thai] government in a public way to ask the Royal Thai Navy to drop the case,” he said.
“The embassy has been pretty good in monitoring the case and helping facilitate potential mediation with the Royal Thai Navy.”
At issue are quotes the paper carried from the Reuters news agency alleging Thai authorities were involved in the trafficking of Rohingya asylum seekers to Malaysia.
“The paragraph we are being sued over is actually a paragraph from a Reuters Pulitzer Prize winning article,” Mr Morison said.
“The paragraph has actually been reproduced in four or five other news outlets in Thailand but we seem to be the only ones charged so far.”
Phuket Wan reporter Chutima Sidasathian assisted Reuters with the story.
“The paragraph doesn’t mention the Royal Thai Navy, or at least it didn’t in the original English [version] we published,” Mr Morison said.
“It’s really odd in the Thai translation of the paragraph we published, the Royal Thai Navy is mentioned three times.”
Mr Morison says the Phuket Wan has covered the issue of Rohingya asylum seekers for about seven years.
“The exodus of the Rohingya from Burma is a remarkable saga and it comes down to the abuse of the Muslim minority in Burma,” he said.
“The Rohingya are being basically ethnically cleansed from Burma and being forced to seek sanctuary further south in Malaysia.
“As they catch boats down the Andaman Sea they come past the coast of Thailand, many of them come ashore there and are picked up by human traffickers who charge them extraordinary amounts to take them across the border to Malaysia. It’s now being claimed that some authorities are part of the trafficking network. “
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