Exploitation Of 12 Y/o Tsunami Victim

[hellohello]

from the Phuket Gazette, Jan 5th, 2008

A disturbing story written here several months ago about the exploitation of

twelve year-old Kay Sayluu from Ko Lanta's Old Town has done little to convince

the Swedish parties involved to clear the air.

Kay's family house and two long tail boats were smashed by the tsunami which

was detailed in a Swedish-language book entitled "Kay from Koh Lanta",

published by LL Forlaget Publishing in Sweden, a company partially funded by

state grants.

Swedish author Johanna Starkenberg-Frojd and photographer Anna Rehnberg

arrived on the island shortly after the December 2004 natural disaster

looking for a real life survivor's story and found Kay (and family) a

perfect subject.

The family never signed an official release form of permission to publish

Kay's story but trusted that the benefits would eventually flow back to

them. The editor promised Kay a trip to Sweden which never materialized but

the family assumed a small amount of the books proceeds would be forthcoming

to help jump start Kay's education.

LL Forlaget Publishing, which sells the book online for 120 SEK (562 Baht),

have refused, after several polite requests by locals, to make a donation to

Kay's education fund. Now locals are seriously considering legal action to

right this injustice.

They point to Section 35 of the new Thai constitution, that states

"Assertion or circulation of a statement or picture in any manner whatsoever

to the public and disclosure of personal information without the consent of

the information owner, which violates or affects a person's family rights,

dignity, reputation or the right to privacy, shall not be made except in the

case which is beneficial to the public".

Because it's clear the publishers did not receive written consent from Kay's

parents to use his story for commercial gain locals claim the publishers are

deliberately choosing to manipulate tsunami victims for financial advantage.

Anyone interested in making a donation to Kay's education fund, which will

be managed by Kay's parents, can contact them at

[email protected]. This will allow Kay to have private

English lessons while he continues to work in the family fishing business,

so that one day he can work as a longtail boat guide in the tourist sector.

[staccyy]

I was on Koh Lanta once, It was full of Swedes mostly buying over priced villas.

[birdbirdbat]

man....where are the morals of these people?

[Ulysses G.]

On one hand, it would cost a pittance to buy the little sucker off, but, on the other hand, lots of books are written about people without having to pay them. I don't see this as "exploitation".

[Travel2003]

On one hand, it would cost a pittance to buy the little sucker off, but, on the other hand, lots of books are written about people without having to pay them. I don't see this as "exploitation".

True.

Another sad story about someones life.

Reporter makes money by writing a story.

Publishing company makes money by publishing a book.

Village wants to make money by law suit.

Wonder how many that will contribute money to the add, for this kid?

Better spend money for a humanitarian project, that can benefit more then one individual.

[billp]

I think you're all overestimating the amount a publishing company might have made on a $12 book in Swedish. Margins in the publishing industry are razor thin, unless it's a big bestseller. And they certainly wouldn't be bound by Thai law. However, you'd think they'd make a contribution to the young fellow's education, just on moral grounds alone.

[Travel2003]

I think you're all overestimating the amount a publishing company might have made on a $12 book in Swedish. Margins in the publishing industry are razor thin, unless it's a big bestseller. And they certainly wouldn't be bound by Thai law. However, you'd think they'd make a contribution to the young fellow's education, just on moral grounds alone.

Seems like the locals think the profit the Publisher make is good enough to take legal actions.

btw, I dont think anyone miss the moral issue here.

It would not hurt the company to hand out a few K$ to the kid and his family.

Would probably have made good PR for the Publisher as well.

[meadish_sweetball]

I think you're all overestimating the amount a publishing company might have made on a $12 book in Swedish. Margins in the publishing industry are razor thin, unless it's a big bestseller. And they certainly wouldn't be bound by Thai law. However, you'd think they'd make a contribution to the young fellow's education, just on moral grounds alone.

Seems like the locals think the profit the Publisher make is good enough to take legal actions.

btw, I dont think anyone miss the moral issue here.

It would not hurt the company to hand out a few K$ to the kid and his family.

Would probably have made good PR for the Publisher as well.

This is the first time I hear of this story, but it is quite possible the locals are over-estimating the profit made from the sales of the book since you are correct that the competition in the publishing industry have reduced margins significantly.

The article has no comment at all from the publishing company and author - not even a note saying they declined to make a comment. Makes me wonder whether the journalist took the trouble to contact them and ask them about their side of the story?

They point to Section 35 of the new Thai constitution, that states

"Assertion or circulation of a statement or picture in any manner whatsoever

to the public and disclosure of personal information without the consent of

the information owner, which violates or affects a person's family rights,

dignity, reputation or the right to privacy, shall not be made except in the

case which is beneficial to the public".

If the selling of this book brought about increased funds for the public as a whole, which of course will be difficult to prove but is a reasonable assumption all the same, then this argument would not hold.

Suing a Swedish publishing company under Thai law, for a book distributed on the Swedish market, seems a little odd as well, even if the subject is Thailand.

Finally, I do agree that it would be good publicity for the publishing company to support the child with education money.

[aehn]

Am i missing something here, or did they actually promise that the thai family would gain any sort of profit from this, be it money or a trip to Sweden (why would anyone wanna go to that hel_l hole anyway, lol), and they did not gain anything, i think its pretty bad to say the least.