The editor of an influential English language newspaper that has criticized Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra has been moved out of his job. The action has renewed criticism by journalists and the opposition of government interference in Thailand's press.

Veera Prateepchaikul, who has been the editor of the paper, The Bangkok Post, for nearly two years, was moved Friday to another job in the corporation that runs the paper.

In December, Mr. Veera ran an unusually bold front-page headline based on a statement in King Bhumibol Adulyadej's annual speech in which he warned the prime minister not to be arrogant.

Few people disputed what the king had said about the prime minister, whose aggressive style had brought similar comments from him before.

But the coverage by The Post is said to have infuriated Mr. Thaksin, who ran a telecommunications and media conglomerate before becoming prime minister in 2001 and who has bristled at his critics.

The main opposition party and Thai journalists have complained that he tries to interfere with the editorial content in the newspapers.

"There has been a gradual reining in of the press since Thaksin came to power," said Lin Neumann, who until last month was based here as a representative of the Committee to Protect Journalists. "Every Thai journalist says there are a lot of phone calls from the government."

Soon after news of Mr. Veera's removal became public on Friday, 80 journalists at The Bangkok Post signed a letter saying they interpreted the move as a challenge to the paper's editorial independence.

The Nation, another influential English language daily, devoted most of its front page on Saturday to The Post's troubles. In a front-page commentary, it said that although The Post and The Nation had been rivals for three decades, they had competed for the sake of raising "public awareness of the prospects and problems of our society."

The storm over the dismissal was particularly intense because these two English language newspapers have taken a far more critical attitude toward Mr. Thaksin than the Thai language papers. The two newspapers said he had been inept in handling the bird flu crisis.

The two English-language newspapers are important because they are seen by the government as Thailand's face to the outside world, and most television outlets are owned by the Thai military or government departments, Mr. Neumann said.

Shin Corporation, the telecommunications company Mr. Thaksin founded, has a controlling stake in the one television station that is not government owned, known as iTV.

Post Publishing, which publishes The Bangkok Post, is 30 percent owned by the family of the retail group led by Suthikiati Chirathivat. He said Mr. Veera's removal was "purely a structural matter of the organization."

But at The Nation, the journalists were not convinced. Kavi Chongkittavorn, an editor, said he believed that Mr. Suthikiati decided that he should "better protect my interests and get rid of the editor who was critical of the government."

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Media Contact: Thomas Goff +1 323 202 1032 tom.goff@edelman.com