Australian journalist optimistic of fair trial in Thailand

An Australian journalist being tried on defamation charges brought by the Royal Thai Navy is feeling optimistic after prosecution witnesses gave evidence on the first day of the case.

Alan Morison, 67, the Australian editor of online newspaper Phuketwan, and Thai reporter Chutima Sidasathian face up to seven years' jail if found guilty on the charges, which include breaches of Thailand's tough Computer Crimes Act.

The court proceedings in Phuket, 840 kilometres south from Bangkok, is being overseen by a senior deputy chief justice whose seniority, Morison said, offered some hope he and Chutima would receive a fair trial.

"We're very positive, very positive. There were no surprises and I think our lawyers did an admirable job in making the points that they wanted to make," Morison told AAP.

"There have been no negatives about the day's proceedings really. It seems to be shaping up as a very fair trial at the moment," he said.

The Royal Thai Navy brought the charges against Morison and Chutima after they published in Phuketwan in June 2013 an excerpt of a Reuters report that alleged Thai security forces had been involved in the smuggling of Muslim Rohingya from Myanmar.

The navy accused Phuketwan of defaming it in the Thai translation of the June 13 Phuketwan article. The English version had not mentioned the navy, referring instead to the involvement of a much broader "security force" in the smuggling ring.

The international and Thai media, including Phuketwan, have been at the forefront of reporting on human-smuggling operations in Southern Thailand and Malaysia in a business worth millions of dollars a year.

The discovery of mass graves of up to 200 smuggled Rohingya people led to a major crackdown by Thai authorities, and the issuing of warrants and arrests for more than 100 people.

At Tuesday's hearing in the Phuket Provincial Court, naval captain Pallop Komlotok said he had filed the defamation case on behalf of the navy.

"He also confirmed that the Phuketwan quotes were lifted from Reuters article," Siriwan Vongkietpaisan, a lawyer for the accused, told French news agency AFP.

Reuters has not been charged over its reporting and rights groups have accused the navy of trying to muzzle the smaller Phuket-based English-language media outlet.

"We do not understand why the military government has not withdrawn the case.

"The initial pursuits against Reuters were dropped. We quote exactly the same paragraph ... (They are pursuing us) for only one paragraph reproduced word-for-word from Reuters," Morison told AFP.

About 40 people attended the hearing including representatives from the Paris-based Reporters Without Borders and legal representatives of Australia's Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance and the International Commission of Jurists. Australian consular staff from Bangkok were also present.

Phil Robertson, from Human Rights Watch, called the trial a "scathing indictment of the Thai government's unwillingness to respect media freedom".

"Prime Minister General Prayut should have ordered the Navy to stand down and withdraw the charges - but instead he effectively endorsed their effort to gag media critics, and in doing so, administered another body blow to what little remains of Thailand's international rights reputation," he said in a statement.

ICJ representative Kingsley Abbott said the jurists' primary concern was "to see that a fair trial is provided to the two journalists and I can only reiterate the call previously that these charges be dropped immediately".

The United Nations Human Rights Office for Southeast Asia added its backing to the journalists in a statement on Tuesday, saying the trial was a breach of freedom of the press.

On Wednesday, the second day of three-day hearing, Morison and Chutima will give testimony along with other witnesses. A ruling by the judge is expected by mid August.