kwilco

I hope to God that the treatment he received was totally appropriate.

I just completed this quiz. My Score 60/100 My Time 47 seconds  

Let’s face it, if you can’t appreciate that the Thai media's reaction to the current Thai-Cambodian conflict has been in general nationalistic, sensationalist, and, in many corners, disturbingly uncritical , you are just a media patsy.. So here’s a look at the dynamics and what is revealed about the broader issues surrounding media literacy and public gullibility in Thailand – including the expats…… Anyone reading or watching the media in the last few days must have noticed a tsunami of jingoism over journalism. The coverage overwhelmingly portrays Thailand as the righteous victim defending its sovereignty, with Cambodia as the unmitigated aggressor, when in reality the factual situation is far more nuanced, ambiguous or bilateral. Always in these situations the main media is state-influenced to say the least, for a start the military owns most of the TV channels and there are many other state-owned outlets (e.g., Channel 5, Thai PBS, Royal Thai Army Radio) All these readily adopt an overtly patriotic tone, mirroring government or military positions, without scrutiny or balance. There's little effort to explore Cambodian motives, context, or grievances or look at the history of international agreements in Cambodia’s favour— the narrative is reduced to "they're threatening us" with near-zero nuance. Successive Thi governments have been able to take advantage of the nation’s public gullibility and naïve trust in authority, which is still deeply embedded in the old Sakdina caste system. The result is a blind faith in military and monarchy-linked voices. There is an almost obsessive compulsion not to disrupt “harmony” – a powerful way of quelling any criticism. Decades of top-down messaging have fostered a public that often equates criticism of military actions with disloyalty or disruptive. So often Thai people instinctively side with official narratives, assuming they must be protecting the nation's harmony and therefore its interests. Education has played a major part in all this; there is no media education at all - Thai audiences, especially outside urban centres, aren’t taught to critically evaluate news sources. This leaves them vulnerable to manipulation and misrepresentation. This also can be seen in a lot of the comments by expats on this site. Facebook and Line groups serve as echo chambers, reinforcing this nationalist fervour. “Fake news” and misinformation spreads rapidly, and then are responded to with equally apocryphal counter-narratives by Cambodia, A lot of the international and legal angles are dismissed or censored or banned by the Thai media Even on the streets of Thailand we have seen the demonization and dehumanization of Cambodia; even attacks on Cambodian people. Thai history is to blame too - most academic histories of Thailand are banned often under the draconian lase majeste laws Historical misrepresentation stands uncorrected for decades with old nationalist tropes such as the Preah Vihear temple dispute used to vilify Cambodia as duplicitous or inferior. Loaded language is everywhere Cambodians are referred to as “encroachers,” “invaders,” or “puppets of foreign influence” (with China sometimes hinted at) This is used to create an “us vs. them” siege mentality. It is common in many countries to blame “foreigners” or any readily identifiable group as the source of the problems – we’ve even had “Reds Under The BEDS” spy scares! There are also many potential ulterior motives for the current situation. This sort of thing often happens at times of domestic discontent or “unrest”. Conveniently, the media-fuelled border scare comes at a time of government instability. It’s a time of economic anxiety, corruption scandals, and unpopular leadership. Nationalism becomes a tool to unify the public and distract from internal criticism. Thailand seldom has room for dissent. Any Thai public figures or journalists who raise questions about the government’s handling of the conflict or urge restraint are branded as unpatriotic or “Cambodian sympathizers.” What this all says about Thai Society is that it reveals the national propensity for gullibility and naivety. Their widespread acceptance of simplistic, emotional narratives shows how vulnerable parts of Thai society can be to state-led narratives and shallow nationalism. For many years now the control of information has remained strong. Despite internet access, much of the population still consumes heavily filtered or biased content. (nearly 200.000 web sites are blocked by the Thai government – they even considered blocking Facebook) Alternative viewpoints are not welcome especially English Language ones from independent Cambodian media, they rarely reach a mass audience. Thailand has a dire need for critical literacy: (as does this site) The crisis exposes the urgent need for independent journalism, civic education, and platforms that foster critical thinking. To sum up, the Thai media’s nationalistic coverage of the Cambodian conflict is not just biased reporting, it’s a more, it’s a window into how state-aligned narratives are absorbed, internalized, and echoed by a population raised on loyalty, not inquiry. It’s a case study in how media, when weaponized, can obscure the truth, manipulate emotions, and make the public complicit in sustaining conflict , and they don’t even realise it!

"It's clear that you're changing the subject from what I was saying." - THere's nothing clear about your post it's just a fug of confusion.

You'd better believe it. Not sure you read my post, but that's a good start to complying with the stereotype. I'm not changing anything, I'm answering YOUR questions - duh!

"How many years have you lived in Thailand?" - over 20 "Have you ever studied the Thai language?" At University and work "Have you ever paid attention to the opinions of the Thai people," - I worked with Thai adults for over 20 years "or do you just spend your days reading translations of Thai articles into English on forums like Aseannow?" - THe whole point is to be able to read abpout THailand and uae critical thinking skills to analyse what you are reading. You show none of this ....A lot of the good stuff is actually banned in Thailand "What exactly are you talking about" - Yes! agreed it looks as if it's gone way over your head! Do you even know that, since 2011, most of the political conflicts have involved civilian governments - you clearly are unaware of the history of this conflict and how Thailand is governed. You need to do a lot of reading and get up to speed...I don't think you're up to it, though... You remind be of the guy, who, when asked to write an essay on William II, replied y saying "I don't know anyrhing about him, so here's what a know about William I"

not sure what you're on about - jibberish? Nothing to do with my post. ike so much of the gullible and naive public you seem pretty unaware of the hisotry of the situation - I have already written about the effects on tourism elsewhere.

It seems to me that both we (foreigners) and the Thai general public are being played. It's hard not to notice how nationalistic, even borderline hysterical the Thai media coverage of the Cambodia conflict has become? (I’m sure the Cambodian media is equally unbalanced) In Thailand, it’s the usual script: Thailand = innocent and righteous, Cambodia = sneaky aggressor. There’s no context, no nuance, no effort to understand the bigger picture — just flag-waving and recycled paranoia from the previous conflicts... You’d think the entire nation was under siege. What’s even more worrying is how easily the public buys into it. It’s like with Trump and Brexit. There’s zero critical thinking, just blind trust in anything stamped with a uniform or a royal seal. Decades of top-down messaging have trained or accustomed people to equate loyalty with obedience, not inquiry. This isn’t really about national security, it is a convenient distraction from economic hardship, corruption, and political discontent? An excuse to either bolster the government or set the stage for a coup. Any are voices calling for restraint or realism being branded as "unpatriotic"? It seems we are not allowed to question anything anymore…

or Russia and Ukraine?

So what's your version?

Basically, one has to question the sanity of the Thai authorities

"If international pressure to close the scam centres was brought onto Cambodia, that would be 40% of its GDP gone overnight. Who has the most to lose here, Thailand or Cambodia?" - So how do you think it affects the current conflict? I think you're confusing things you don't like with actual factors that affect the conflict

It is in general agreed that the black economy is about 50 to 60% size of the "legal:" economy. but how do you think this will influence the outcome of the current Thai/Cambodian conflict?

I think they are – the borders we live in were largely set up in the 19th and early 20th centuries by Western colonial powers – their influence is very much on the wane thanks to people like Trump and there is likely to be worldwide criticism as such

Do you have the figures for that? AFAIA – the Cambodian economy is an open market system with rapid growth, particularly in the last decade, driven by tourism, manufacturing, real estate, and construction. It is, of course, marred by all-pervading corruption, but this is not that different from Thailand – both have repressive and undemocratic regimes. Tourism is a key driver in both economies: in Cambodia, nearly 10% but in Thailand, it represents a huge 20% – so they have much more to lose.