BBC accused of endangering World Service Vietnamese staff

The BBC’s Vietnamese-language service has traditionally operated out of London, along with most World Service operations. Photograph: Ian West/PA

Journalists at the BBC World Service have said plans to move its Vietnamese service from London to Thailand pose a danger to press freedom.

Several reporters at the World Service raised concerns that the Vietnamese state had a history of abducting journalists from Thailand. They also suggested that BBC bosses failed to comprehend that just because both countries were in south-east Asia, it did not mean Vietnamese people were naturally at home in Thailand.