The chief White House correspondent for Next News Network, Gary Franchi, says Thailand has placed him and American adviser Michael B Alfaro on its blacklist after they reported on the Cambodia-Thailand border crisis.
In a statement on his Facebook page, Gary Franchi claimed the Thai government acted following his coverage and the work of Michael B Alfaro, who he said had encouraged direct intervention by United States President Donald Trump over the escalating border conflict.
Gary Franchi added that while Thailand could blacklist him and Michael B Alfaro, it could not erase the information they had already provided to President Donald Trump.
Michael B Alfaro travelled to Cambodia after the August ceasefire, where he live-streamed from border areas showing displaced families sheltering in plastic tents, schools, and damaged temples. He also reported on the 18 Cambodian soldiers being held by Thai forces.
According to Gary Franchi, Alfaro’s live broadcast attracted more than nine million viewers within just one hour, spreading accounts he said mainstream outlets had largely ignored. He added that the Next News Network had shared the coverage with millions more.
He accused the Thai military and left-leaning journalists of running a campaign to discredit them, portraying Alfaro as a lobbyist and himself as only a YouTuber, in what he described as an attempt to obscure the facts.
On August 15, Michael B Alfaro visited refugee camps and disputed areas along the Cambodian-Thai border, including Banteay Meanchey province, where he reported that Thai troops had dug trenches and built barricades around Khmer homes.
Two days later, the Thai newspaper Khaosod quoted government spokesperson Pravit Rojanaphruk as saying that Michael B Alfaro was no longer welcome in Thailand. He said the decision was based on claims that Alfaro had misrepresented facts about the border crisis and that, despite a prior invitation, Thailand had since determined Alfaro was not an accredited White House correspondent but simply a lobbyist for Cambodia.
In response, Gary Franchi insisted that Michael B Alfaro was not a lobbyist for Cambodia and had not received any money from its government. He said Alfaro paid for his travel after the White House provided documentation to One America News confirming its awareness of his mission and the security risks on the Cambodian-Thai frontier.
