The Nation (Thailand) coverage of international news. Their target audience is English-speaking Thai upper and upper-middle classes. After Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was elected in 2001, several companies associated with him ceased to advertise in "The Nation". The newspaper reported the advertising cuts and adopted a vehemently anti-Thaksin editorial line. Though "The Nation" has a far right opinion page, which welcomed the 2014 coup and military rule, its daily news coverage is more center-right, criticizing, for example, Thailand's lèse-majesté law. According to acclaimed, left-of-center journalist, Pravit Rojanaphruk, who worked at "Nation" for 23 years, in its heyday, "Nation" "...was a bastion of committed
Niwatthamrong Boonsongpaisan from Chulalongkorn University and is married to Boonphatcharee Boonsongpaisan. A close business associate of Thaksin Shinawatra, Niwatthamrong served as the Chairman of the Executive Committee-Media and Advertising front of Shin Corporation since 1995 and as Vice-Chairman since 2000. He served from 2001 to 2002 as Vice-Chairman of iTV and from 1993 to 1995, director of that company between 2002 and 2008, and a member of the board of directors between 2008 and 16 March 2010. Niwatthamrong served as director of the controversial rice pledging scheme, where rice was bought at inflated prices from farmers and subsequently was left to rot