British journalist with flak jacket arrested

Security personnel patrol Suvarnabhumi airport in November 2015. (Bangkok Post photo)

A British journalist transiting to Iraq was charged with possession of war weapons on Tuesday after checking-in a bag containing flak jacket plates and gas masks at Suvarnabhumi airport on Monday.

Anthony Cheng, 46, was detained on Monday along with Florian Witulski, a German freelance journalist, before he could board a flight to Iraq via Turkey on an assignment for Chinese broadcaster CCTV English.

Thailand's Arms Control Act stipulates that gas masks and ballistic vests are war weapons and those carrying them need a licence.

CCTV journalist Tony Cheng (CCTV photo from cntv.cn)

In August 2015, a Hong Kong photojournalist was arrested at the same airport for carrying body armour and a helmet. Charges were later dropped.

Mr Cheng was carrying three gas masks and four steel plates for a safety vest, said Somchart Maneerat, a police investigator.

"He faces charge of unlicensed possession of war weapons," Mr Somchart told Reuters.

Mr Cheng faces up to five years in prison if he is found guilty, Mr Somchart said.

Mr Cheng was released on bail of 100,000 baht ($2,930) on Tuesday. Mr Witulski, 31, was released earlier on Tuesday on bail of the same amount..

Mr Witulski told Reuters they were not aware that licences were required for the safety gear.

"The plates were loose and were taken as check-in baggage as we have done before many times," Mr Witulski told Reuters, adding that he and Mr Cheng had travelled to Iraq and Afghanistan several times and taken plates with them without being stopped by Thai authorities.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club of Thailand said that it “is deeply unhappy with the decision of the Thai authorities to file criminal charges against a British journalist for carrying personal body armour and a gas mask in his check-in luggage. … It should be noted that Cheng was leaving the country at the time of his arrest, and intended to use the banned safety equipment outside Thailand. He therefore posed no conceivable threat to national security.

“The FCCT has on a number of occasions offered to work with the Thai government to find a way whereby journalists and others (particularly medical personnel) who may be required to work in conflict zones can carry personal protective equipment.

“Some journalists based in Thailand have to cover armed conflicts in other countries, and are required by their employers and insurers to travel with adequate protective equipment. Under the present implementation of the 1987 law, they are presented with an invidious choice: break Thai law or increase the risk to life and limb.

"It is worth recalling that two foreign journalists were killed in the violence in Bangkok in 2010; both might have survived had they been wearing body armour."

In 2010, Reuters cameraman Hiro Muramoto and Italian freelance photographer Fabio Polenghi were shot dead, while covering clashes between anti-government protesters and Thai troops in the capital.