in arrest, seizure of the accused's passport if they are a foreigner, and court proceedings that may last for years, do not require the participation of police or government prosecutors but can be filed directly with a court by the accuser; courts rarely reject these cases. Slander carries a maximum sentence of one year's imprisonment and/or a fine of up to 20,000 baht, while libel is punishable by up to two years in jail and/or a fine of up to 200,000 baht. Freedom of the press The Southeast Asian Press Alliance noted that freedom of speech in Thailand's domestic media environment—prior to the 2006 coup considered one of the freest and most vibrant in Asia—had quickly deteriorated following the military ousting of Thaksin Shinawatra. It noted the closure of community radio stations in Thai provinces, the intermittent blocking of cable news channels and the suspension of some Thai websites devoted to discussing the implications of military intervention to Thai democracy. SEAPA also noted that while there seemed to be no crackdown on journalists, and while foreign and local reporters seemed free to roam, interview, and report on the coup as they saw fit, self-censorship was a certain issue in Thai newsrooms. In 2018, British journalist Suzanne Buchanan reported on a series of tourist deaths and sexual assaults on Ko Tao. Though she has not been to Thailand in years, she is wanted by police who say she is peddling fake news. In 2022 she published a book on the subject called The Curse of the Turtle "The True Story of Thailand's Backpacker Murders" published by Wild Blue Press. In December 2019 a Thai reporter was sentenced to two years in prison for a comment she made about worker's grievances filed against a Thammakaset Company poultry farm. She sent a tweet in 2016 in response to a ruling that the company pay 14 migrant workers 1.7 million baht in compensation and damages for having to work 20 hours a day without a break for 40 consecutive days at a wage less than the legal minimum. In her description of the ruling, she used the term "slave labour" to describe the workers' employment. Thammakaset sued her and the workers for criminal defamation, but lost the case against the workers. The court ruled that her choice of words misrepresented the facts and damaged the firm's reputation. In October 2020, Human Rights Watch wrote