Thai news website denies that Soros foundation cash influences coverage

Prachatai director Chiranuch Premchaiporn told The Nation that the alternative news outlet dealt with Soros's Open Society Foundation rather than him individually.

She said there was nothing new about Open Society funding Prachatai and the online media outlet had never concealed the origins of its funding, with the registered foundation clearly identifying Hungarian-American Soros as its founder.

The billionaire donor's foundation has contributed to Prachatai an average of US$50,000 a year since 2005, according to Chiranuch. However, she said Open Society did not do so every year due to a foundation policy.

The "Soros Leaks," a deluge of documents regarding Open Society disclosed online by American hacktivist website DCLeaks on Aug. 13, revealed the impact of Soros's money and the special interests he represents when meddling in different non-governmental organizations around the world.

An article by the Bangkok-based New Atlas website suggested that the "grassroots activism" involving those NGOs may be driven by money and the hidden agenda of the donors.

"In reality, for good or for bad, there is nothing grassroots about them. Money and special interests drive them, be it interests within a nation, or well beyond their borders," said the article published last week.

In Thailand, the article said, most opposition NGOs — the ones that go against the junta — are co-funded by Soros' Open Society and the U.S. National Endowment for Democracy.Soros, who founded Open Society in 1993, was convicted of insider trading by European Court of Human Rights in 2002.

According to the leaks, Prachatai, the Thai Netizen Network, the Cross Cultural Foundation, and the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Thailand (FCCT) have all received money from or have a direct association with Open Society. The FCCT represents a collection of Western media organizations, including the BBC, Reuters, Agence France-Presse and Associated Press.

The New Atlas article claimed that the FCCT had not clearly disclosed the source of its funding and Open Society funds and influences the club and other Western news agencies that are associated with it.

Thai Netizen coordinator Arthit Suriyawongkul said the organization had received funding only once from Open Society, in 2012, for the development of its website.

"We also have other international donors and Open Society just supported us project by project," he said.

Arthit said he considered Open Society a foundation and did not think its funding affected his organization.

The FCCT denied it received financial support from Soros's foundation.

"No financial support from outside at all. We have no financiers, none," said FCCT President Dominic Faulder, who recently assumed the position.

"I have not read the (New Atlas) article but what I'm telling you is it is not true (regarding the FCCT)," he said.

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