BANGKOK authorities have rejected media requests to interview an Australian being held in Phuket jail because, an official says, ''we are worried about our image.''

In the past, written requests for interviews from Phuketwan and other media organisations, both Thai and international, have been passed by local authorities at Phuket jail to prisoners who decide individually whether they wish to talk to media.

Under a change in policy, requests now have to go to Bangkok, and it appears that they are no longer likely to reach prisoners.

The Department of Corrections official said from Bangkok today that last year's British television series, 'Big Trouble in Tourist Thailand,' highlighting the activities of a Phuket jet-ski operator, Winai ''JJ'' Naiman, was the cause of the clampdown on media access to expat prisoners.

Last year, the crew of 'Big Trouble' was permitted access to Western prisoners on Phuket, Samui and in Pattaya during the making of the series.

Bangkok authorities later concluded that the show's depiction of ''JJ'' appearing to make extortion demands of British visitors was outside the formal permissions granted to the British makers of the series.

Soon after, despite the difference of opinion between permissions authorities and the show's producer, Gavin Hill, Phuket governor Wichai Praisa-ngob introduced a world-first insurance scheme aimed at ending widely-recognised scamming by jet-ski operators.

Phuketwan has been told that the case against Khun Winai remains open for investigation and is still being assessed.

However, a complete ban on access requests by Thai and overseas media to expat prisoners represents a change in approach that may protect the image of authorities at the expense of the rights of those charged.

Australian Andrew Clements, 51, until December a teacher on Phuket, is accused of abusing a four-year-old boy at an international school on the island.

The Australian is understood to have protested his innocence and to have since said that his ''life has been ruined'' by the publication of news reports in Thailand and Australia with a photograph, taken at a Phuket police station.

At least one expat chat site in Thailand has been carrying comments that mostly consist of speculation about his guilt or innocence.

Mr Clements, it now appears, no longer has the option of expressing his viewpoint through a media interview, and may have to wait months for a trial.

However, the outcome of the case is unlikely to receive the same scale of media attention as has been generated by his arrest and publication of the photograph.

The Superintendent of Phuket's Thalang Police Station, Colonel Thammanoon Thaiju, told Phuketwan today that the boy has been interviewed twice so far in the presence of his parents, a lawyer, a social welfare officer, a psychiatrist, the prosecutor, a policeman, and a teacher from his school.

Earlier this week, Len Peters, head of the Phuket Iinternational Day School, issued the following statement:

''We regret to confirm that a former teacher at the Phuket International Academy Day School, Mr Andrew Clements, was arrested over the weekend by the Royal Thai Police and charged with committing an act of child abuse against a student at the school.

''This is profoundly distressing for everyone connected with the school. As soon as we learned of this allegation, we immediately offered our full and unconditional cooperation to the family involved, and to the Royal Thai Police.

''It should be noted that Mr Clements was dismissed from the school in December 2009. There is absolutely no connection between his dismissal from the school and the criminal charge which he now faces.

''The safety and welfare of the children in our care, and of their families, is our absolute priority.

''We have already contacted the parents of all the children who attend the school, and our staff, to notify them of the situation.

''We will keep them fully informed as the situation develops, and will provide whatever support is necessary to the wider school community.

''Given the highly sensitive nature of the allegation, and of the need to protect the privacy of the family involved, we are not able to make any further comments.''