The Nation Newspaper

[grantbkk]

What is up with The Nation newspaper? In 2003 I changed from the Bangkok Post to The Nation for home delivery. At the time the Post seemed to be pandering to the elected government and The Nation seemed to be more balanced in their news reporting. Now it appears The Nation is going through hard times, reporting just a small portion of the news, just little sports and they actually give most of the paper away for free during the weekdays. I've been pretty loyal and supported The Nation for a long time but it looks like a sinking ship and it's time to change newspapers again.

Does anyone know what happened?

[bannork]

In my view they've made some fundamentally flawed decisions regarding readership and targeted groups. Many readers enjoyed their hard hitting style in the Thaksin years and their pool of journalists\analysts such as Thanong, Tulsit, Thepchai, Sutichai won many readers.

But faced with the more popular BP they went for the yuppie Thai sector, big photographs, more entertainment news, alienating the seasoned foreign and Thai readers. Then they switched to a business paper! Do they think there's enough English speaking businessmen in Thailand to sustain that? In addition the free Express was poorly laid out with contents all over the place.

It's a fact many journalists there are fearful for their jobs and are busy looking elsewhere.

Still we can enjoy free all the contents on their website, in my view their regular columnists frequently beat the BP regarding Thai issues for interest and incisiveness.

I think they should go back to their old format, cover all the news, improve their distribution network, make their advertising section more efficient and shake up their outlook section.But is there enough potential readership for 2 English language papers in Thailand?

[NotNew2You]

But is there enough potential readership for 2 English language papers in Thailand?

That's the main question...and the answer is probably not

And the Nation has the cheek to charge the same as the Post for a clearly smaller and inferior paper (can't charge less...sia num na ) The writing was on the wall when they underwent their big format change a year or so ago...a clearly desparate attempt to save money and try to eak out a profit in a declining industry.

They used to be a more hard hitting newspaper than the Post but the Post always had much more and varied content and better production values (especially their daily special sections).

Even the Post has shrunk the news-hole markedly recently and also the physical size of the paper to save money. Can't blame them as any business has to have a rational business model and cost structure but sad nonetheless.

[Pierrot]

Does anybody know who read the Nation, or the B P ?

All the Thais I know read Thai newspapers, so who reads these english newspaper beside foreigners ?

[cmsally]

I've stopped buying both of these newspapers. I think they have both gone downhill.

A lot of people I know are the same. Mostly use the internet or television instead.

[Travel2003]

Does anybody know who read the Nation, or the B P ?

All the Thais I know read Thai newspapers, so who reads these english newspaper beside foreigners ?

You know, that is actually a very good question.

I have had the Post delivered home for many years.

But as you mentioned, who else buy the paper?

I have never seen a Thai pick this paper up.

Not in any stores, air ports, etc.

[Tod Daniels]

While freedom of the press is a great ideal, realize this country has what is generally referred to as "self censorship". Neither English printed paper would dare publish something that is "out of line" with the government's idea of how things should be spun to the foreigners residing here. It also appears the English reading public may in fact be a very small financial pie to divide between two newspapers, hence the decline in both content and cost saving measures implemented by both papers.

Both the Bangkok Post and the Nation News are designed to put a very pro and very "we-b-thai" slant on anything going on in this country. For the most part the papers are far less critical of things than even the most conservative thai language paper. I won't even comment on the fact that the English printed newspapers cost more than twice as much as a thai language paper.

Learning to read thai has given me the opportunity to delve further into most things given only cursory treatment if any in english printed papers. Unfortunately the use of idioms, slang, and catch phrases makes reading a thai newspaper a very tough slog at times.

[Groongthep]

I saw a very interesting documentary on PBS about a year ago about the Los Angeles Times and how they and many other once great newspapers the world over are struggling to survive. According to the report newspapers are finding it very hard to compete with the convenience of the internet. It appears the days when every large city had it's own first rate newspaper are coming to an end. The trend is now for entire countries to have only one or two major newspapers which have news bureaus around the world and the other smaller papers to concentrate on local news and get their world news reports from the newswires like Reuters and the Associated Press. The Nation and the Bangkok Post are not in the same category as the worlds greatest newspapers but I'm sure they are feeling the same economic pressure on circulation that other papers are experiencing and will unfortunately continue to decline in quality as cutbacks are made on staff, offices and salaries.

Edited August 23, 2008 by Groongthep

[Wandering]

From 1980-1990 I felt that the Bangkok Post was the best newspaper in the world.

Far more international news than any other and leaps better than the NewYork Times, Washington Post or other American papers.

That was then.

Then from 1995-2003 The Nation began to really impress me.

For instance, one year there was a coup. The new govt. forbade all newspapers from printing the story for fear that the King (who was traveling) would hear about it. The Nation made the front page blank saying "We are sorry to say that we are unable to print our front page story."

When the king saw this he asked and found out what had happened.

The king publicly reprimanded the coup leader and put the elected Prime Minister back in power.

This kind of News reporting ROCKS!

So sad to see both papers slip away into a pathetic byline in history.

Oh well at least we have the internet.

[dominique355]

After The Nation changed its format, I also noticed a sharp decline in quality and I certainly did not like the new format with actually 2 papers and I never knew where to look for something. So I did not renew The Nation and switched to Bangkok Post.

Anyway, I believe you can use either paper only for the local (i.e. Thai) news. As for the rest of the world, all they offer is uncommented reprints from news agencies, often inaccurate, mostly insufficient for a full information. That is why I re-subscribed to the newspaper from my hometown, which is now sent to me by airmail and arrives at my home usually 3 days later.

But it remains a problem to really get all the information I want and I (think I) need.

Who reads the Bangkok Post? Many of my Thai friends actually read them both. But I guess they are a small minority, who not only are fluent in English but also have a need for information.

[Thaddeus]

Oh well at least we have the internet.

But the Bangkok Post no longer has a forum, all content has been removed...... wonder what that is all about.

[Pierrot]

I saw a very interesting documentary on PBS about a year ago about the Los Angeles Times and how they and many other once great newspapers the world over are struggling to survive. According to the report newspapers are finding it very hard to compete with the convenience of the internet. It appears the days when every large city had it's own first rate newspaper are coming to an end. The trend is now for entire countries to have only one or two major newspapers which have news bureaus around the world and the other smaller papers to concentrate on local news and get their world news reports from the newswires like Reuters and the Associated Press. The Nation and the Bangkok Post are not in the same category as the worlds greatest newspapers but I'm sure they are feeling the same economic pressure on circulation that other papers are experiencing and will unfortunately continue to decline in quality as cutbacks are made on staff, offices and salaries.

Why would you pay for something you can find free of charge ?

On the other hand, some specialized newsletters can charge a little fortune for only a few issues a year.

The problem is too many people realized they won't be able to achieve anything in their life, so they rather criticize what other people do than try to do anything. And that's why we have now so many journalists and so little readers.

[stickman]

Does anybody know who read the Nation, or the B P ?

All the Thais I know read Thai newspapers, so who reads these english newspaper beside foreigners ?

I think the problem is the target market. These newspapers may be written in English which leads foreigners to believe that they are targeting the foreign market. Foreigners seem to be the vast majority of people who buy and read The Nation and the Post.

The problem is that so many of the articles are written for a Thai audience and have little appeal to foreigners.

This is one reason the Internet is so popular amongst foreigners here - neither newspaper covers a lot of newsworthy events here in Thailand that interest foreigners.

[Pierrot]

Does anybody know who read the Nation, or the B P ?

All the Thais I know read Thai newspapers, so who reads these english newspaper beside foreigners ?

I think the problem is the target market. These newspapers may be written in English which leads foreigners to believe that they are targeting the foreign market. Foreigners seem to be the vast majority of people who buy and read The Nation and the Post.

The problem is that so many of the articles are written for a Thai audience and have little appeal to foreigners.

This is one reason the Internet is so popular amongst foreigners here - neither newspaper covers a lot of newsworthy events here in Thailand that interest foreigners.

There are three kinds of people : Thai, Foreigners and "local" Foreigners : people leaving in Thailand, calling Thailand their home, but more comfortable in a "cosmopolite" environment than a strict local one. If there is a target for an English newspaper, it should be this one.

[Groongthep]

From 1980-1990 I felt that the Bangkok Post was the best newspaper in the world.

Far more international news than any other and leaps better than the NewYork Times, Washington Post or other American papers.

That was then.

Then from 1995-2003 The Nation began to really impress me.

For instance, one year there was a coup. The new govt. forbade all newspapers from printing the story for fear that the King (who was traveling) would hear about it. The Nation made the front page blank saying "We are sorry to say that we are unable to print our front page story."

When the king saw this he asked and found out what had happened.

The king publicly reprimanded the coup leader and put the elected Prime Minister back in power.

This kind of News reporting ROCKS!

So sad to see both papers slip away into a pathetic byline in history.

Oh well at least we have the internet.

I fully agree with the OP and Wandering that the Bangkok Post and the Nation were once much better than they are now, though to say that the Bangkok Post was once the best newspaper in the world is a bit of a stretch. Even though they had very good reporters they had nowhere near the number of news bureaus around the world like the New York Times or the Washington Post (or many other large international newspapers for that matter) from which to gather first hand news. They received most of their international copy from newswires. They where however, great local papers and highly respected for their reporting on Thai matters.

Before the recent coup in 2006 the last coup was in February of 1991. The Bangkok Post ran the story the next day.

Bangkok Post Feb. 24, 1991 The coup was well planned to coincide with the coalition invasion of ground troops into Kuwait, thus insuring that the coup would be overshadowed in the foreign press by the much bigger news of the allied ground invasion in the first Gulf War. I think the blank front page event happened after the military open fired on protesters who where demanding that the coup leader General Suchinda step down and he responded by having his troops open fire on the crowd killing scores of the demonstators. The government forbade the papers to report this and hence the blank front page issue. The King eventually summoned the leader of the protesters, Chamlong Srimuang and the coup leader General Suchinda to the palace where the very famous photo was taken of Chamlong and Suchinda at the feet of the Monarch. The King essentially forced Suchinda to resign and the (then) respected former General Anand Panyarachun was appointed interim Prime Minister. Elections the next year brought a coalition government formed by the Democrats to power headed by Prime Minister Chuan Leekpai. Unfortunately, a number of years later the good name of Chuan was besmirched by the old Thai bugaboo of corruption, this time involving government land deals meant for the poor going to Democrat party leaders with ties to Chuan in the South.

I agree that it is "sad to see both papers slip away into a pathetic byline in history" as you have noted.

Edited August 23, 2008 by Groongthep

[jeffer]

It saddens me to to say it but I have to agree that The Nation is in decline. Why I don't know exactly but I suspect the same amount of money isn't being put in to it as before. You only have to see the decreasing standard of English especially on the website to realise that there can't be very many native English speakers employed anymore. Almost everyday there are articles printed that don't add up, by that I mean simple facts and statements are made that don't make sense yet few reporters ever think to ask how can that be, but I suppose the Nation is not the only newspaper in Thailand guilty of that.

Do Thais read The Nation? I can't ever remember seeing a Thai with a copy and the guy who delivers my paper says I am the only person he delivers to, but he does deliver a few copies of the Post along with all the Thai language papers. One place I visit has newspapers for people to read but unless there is another western person about (rare) I always find The Nation to be the only paper left as everyone else waiting reads the Thai papers. Some Thais must read the Nation because if you have a look at their competition winners and golf day photos you will struggle to find a western name or face. There are also the advertisments all in Thai which has always struck me as strange for an English language paper.

[bannork]

I was told by a Nation reporter that the majority of the readership of the BP was Thai, whether she was referring to subscribers as opposed to casual readers I don't know.

I heard that the Central owner is trying to sell his shares in the BP, fed up of the strong union was the supposed reason.

Regarding English language quality on the Nation website, I believe it's run by only 4 staff members, so they have their work cut out; and poor salaries at that.

[Travel2003]

Oh well at least we have the internet.

But the Bangkok Post no longer has a forum, all content has been removed...... wonder what that is all about.

I looked at that Forum once.

Have to say I was amazed about all the fighting there.

Packed with immature people.

Probably also the Forum where I have seen most hate posts.

[KhaoNiaw]

From 1980-1990 I felt that the Bangkok Post was the best newspaper in the world.

Far more international news than any other and leaps better than the NewYork Times, Washington Post or other American papers.

That was then.

Then from 1995-2003 The Nation began to really impress me.

The Bangkok Post was pretty good in the early 90s, don't think it was that good though. I switched to the Nation some time in the mid-90s. It was really on the right track then. But I think the economic crisis set it right back. I've not bothered much with either of them since then.

One blemish for the Bangkok Post was in May 1992, when they at least went part way to complying with the government's censorship by replacing stories with white space on the front page. The Nation carried on as normal.

Edited August 23, 2008 by KhaoNiaw

[geriatrickid]

Perhaps part of the problem common to all newspapers now is the lack of differentiation. In an attempt to cut costs, there is a reliance upon common news feeds like AP, Reuters etc. As a result, the international sections and even the the business sections of many papers all read the same now. It's no big secret that Reuters is heavily influenced by some of its vested interests so one gets less of the hardhitting digging on many stories. As well, the use of "stringers" for both photographs and reporting has allowed considerable bias to creep into reporting. In the heyday of reputable newspapers, there would always be a variety of opinions with a general balance. Today, one doesn't see that. Even the once grand New York Times is a pathetic rag at times. The Nation and Post, are no different. I also recognize the fact that many newspapers have had sordid pasts in the good old days, whether it be the Hearst chain and it's nastiness that pushed the Spanish American war, or the seedy UK tabloids that spread bogus stories and cheap innuendo. Again, the Thai papers aren't any different. Consider the approach to the recent issue with the Temple in Cambodia (or in Thailand depending on your position) or the treatment of crime reports.

[Wrong Turn]

In my view they've made some fundamentally flawed decisions regarding readership and targeted groups. Many readers enjoyed their hard hitting style in the Thaksin years and their pool of journalists\analysts such as Thanong, Tulsit, Thepchai, Sutichai won many readers.

But faced with the more popular BP they went for the yuppie Thai sector, big photographs, more entertainment news, alienating the seasoned foreign and Thai readers. Then they switched to a business paper! Do they think there's enough English speaking businessmen in Thailand to sustain that? In addition the free Express was poorly laid out with contents all over the place.

It's a fact many journalists there are fearful for their jobs and are busy looking elsewhere.

Still we can enjoy free all the contents on their website, in my view their regular columnists frequently beat the BP regarding Thai issues for interest and incisiveness.

I think they should go back to their old format, cover all the news, improve their distribution network, make their advertising section more efficient and shake up their outlook section.But is there enough potential readership for 2 English language papers in Thailand?

The paper seems to have change. Why are journalists fearful of their jobs? TIA.

[Andrew Hicks]

What is up with The Nation newspaper? In 2003 I changed from the Bangkok Post to The Nation for home delivery. At the time the Post seemed to be pandering to the elected government and The Nation seemed to be more balanced in their news reporting. Now it appears The Nation is going through hard times, reporting just a small portion of the news, just little sports and they actually give most of the paper away for free during the weekdays. I've been pretty loyal and supported The Nation for a long time but it looks like a sinking ship and it's time to change newspapers again.

Does anyone know what happened?

I too preferred The Nation for a time but I think the decline is due to assive financial problems in the Nation Group as a whole. I believe they made some foolish moves relating to their building and premises and loss vast sums of money. They are now trying to cut costs in every way possible. I often found that The Nation was sold out on the stands in Bangkok well before The Bangkok Post. This was because they could not afford to print more and risk them being unsold and returned.

Now horrible things are happening to their staff inclding expat subeditors... being laid off and selectively re-employed on poor free lance terms. The quality is sure to slide.

Repositioning as a business paper with the free Xpress is going for broke, but newspapers are not that profitable and proprietors often have to carry them when advertising revenue is thin. It seems that Nation Group cannot afford to at the moment and I wonder what the future will bring.

[grantbkk]

What is up with The Nation newspaper? In 2003 I changed from the Bangkok Post to The Nation for home delivery. At the time the Post seemed to be pandering to the elected government and The Nation seemed to be more balanced in their news reporting. Now it appears The Nation is going through hard times, reporting just a small portion of the news, just little sports and they actually give most of the paper away for free during the weekdays. I've been pretty loyal and supported The Nation for a long time but it looks like a sinking ship and it's time to change newspapers again.

Does anyone know what happened?

I too preferred The Nation for a time but I think the decline is due to assive financial problems in the Nation Group as a whole. I believe they made some foolish moves relating to their building and premises and loss vast sums of money. They are now trying to cut costs in every way possible. I often found that The Nation was sold out on the stands in Bangkok well before The Bangkok Post. This was because they could not afford to print more and risk them being unsold and returned.

Now horrible things are happening to their staff inclding expat subeditors... being laid off and selectively re-employed on poor free lance terms. The quality is sure to slide.

Repositioning as a business paper with the free Xpress is going for broke, but newspapers are not that profitable and proprietors often have to carry them when advertising revenue is thin. It seems that Nation Group cannot afford to at the moment and I wonder what the future will bring.

I have been patiently waited for The Nation to turn this mess around however our partnership is about to come to an end. By way of example today's (Sunday) paper has 16 pages of mostly pictures and adverts. I do not expect 1,000 or so pages like the Sunday New York or Los Angeles Times but The Nation has reached the point where someone in authority should ask, "Why bother?"

As the OP I want to thank each and every poster for their input and insight.