Bangkok Post And The Nation

[robbiecia]

If you have spent enough time here.............you will know what i mean.

Most of the stories in the local English language press regarding Thailand are rather tame!!!!!

With all the corruption, scandals and dodgy dealings going on here, dont you think this place is ripe for

some edge of your seat, meat of the matter journalism.

Or are all the local reporters worried about the guy riding pillion on the motorbike?????

Over to you.

[jdinasia]

If you have spent enough time here.............you will know what i mean.

Most of the stories in the local English language press regarding Thailand are rather tame!!!!!

With all the corruption, scandals and dodgy dealings going on here, dont you think this place is ripe for

some edge of your seat, meat of the matter journalism.

Or are all the local reporters worried about the guy riding pillion on the motorbike?????

Over to you.

You should familiarize yourself with Thai Libel law

[Samuian]

If you have spent enough time here.............you will know what i mean.

Most of the stories in the local English language press regarding Thailand are rather tame!!!!!

With all the corruption, scandals and dodgy dealings going on here, dont you think this place is ripe for

some edge of your seat, meat of the matter journalism.

Or are all the local reporters worried about the guy riding pillion on the motorbike?????

Over to you.

It's considered "non-thai", not polite, this is a non-confrontational society, based on buddhist values.. it's simply a "no,no"!

And then many may fear the "hammer" of the almighty, massive multi-million baht law suits, drive by shootings, 'accidents' and the like... are looming for someone "outspoken" around the next corner too!

So people are just considerate - there are outspoken ones - but it is done in a very different manner then the sensational stuff we know from the western journalism....especially that of the "rainbow" press....

Since the presence of the PAD - maybe these things may change too - but not with just simply pressing a button tha says: "ON"

[robbiecia]

Maybe by showing everyone whats really going on..............some of these changes will be for the better

The Thai libel law sounds like a reason to bury everything under the carpet.

[007]

Thailand is not a full-fledged democracy as are the U.S. or the U.K. The editors and journalists at both papers are very well aware of the fact, that the government can shut them down very easily, citing any bull-shit reason(s), which would result in closure long enough to have the 30,000 or so readers switch to the other paper, leading possibly to permanent loss of market share.

The difference to the Thai crap papers is, that the Thais would demonstrate immediately if one of their beloved papers were closed down. But who would demonstrate against closure of an English-language newspaper??

Edited September 12, 2008 by 7

[Murgatroyd]

I'd say that this quote from today's The Nation tells it like it is...

<H1>Coalition parties ready for People Power-led govt

By THE NATION

Published on September 12, 2008

Quoted from the article :

A source from a coalition party said the coalition members had agreed to continue supporting the PPP, as the budget bill has already been approved without cuts. The PPP also won support by promising not to dissolve the House anytime soon.

Huge sums running into hundreds of thousands of baht await each MP voting for Samak as prime minister, the source said. Even more - tens of millions of baht - are being offered as an incentive after Samak takes the prime minister's post for each MP to develop his constituency, the source said.

Another source, a close aide to a former minister in the Samak government, said Thaksin had insisted that only Samak could be considered for prime minister.

Thaksin wants Samak to complete amending the charter to let the 111 banned former executives of the now-defunct Thai Rak Thai party return to politics. He also wants legal cases against his family members cleared and their frozen assets released.

</H1> Edited September 12, 2008 by Murgatroyd

[Scott]

Sometimes its nice that they don't. Just let some of those politicians and others make complete fools of themselves with no one budding in!

[steveromagnino]

actually things are getting worse again for the media, but basically in the period from 1997 - 2001 there was relatively high press freedom to write what you wanted/say what you wanted.

Since then the fear of losing the ad revenue from AIS coupled with the threat of law suits (which were issued frequently) and combined with the knowledge that the judges would probably not be neutral then added to that the benefits of payoffs for writing consistently positively meant that very few magazines/newspapers/etc would write anything critical of the TRT/PPP governments; strangely coup leaders were less above it all and also perhaps less adept in controlling the PR aspects.

And also we have seen a lot of media interference with TRT owning ITV and effectively controlling 9 and 5, while since PPP ITV is gone but now there is NBT which reports to the PM's office via the PRD and so has been used by the govt as a mouthpiece since they were elected.

NBT reporters and shows were called into the Office of the PM to explain what they had reported during the coup, and what they had previously said for/against Thaksin in order to keep their jobs/get promoted.

Alledgedly of course

Of course ASTV is the exact opposite and equally biased if you want political news.

If pushed I'd say Matichon are one of the few in either language that is actually somewhat fair and balanced.

As for the idea that english vs. Thai news; well obviously BKK Post was pro Thaksin for the most part through ownership and a few other things IIRC plus AIS budget; Nation was hysterically anti...there are a few other Thai papers in the same boat, but most are somewhat neutral except of course Thai Raht who also sucks up to the government.

There have been Thai papers threatened just as much as english ones; to be honest the govt (at least TRT/PPP) cares more about the Thai language, as most of the Thais smart enough to read english papers are not really important enough in terms of vote numbers; 30,000 buyers (guess) of BKK Post vs. 800,000 Thai Raht buyers..... plus TRT/PPP have given up on BKK since about 2004 anyhow.

007 - the BKK Post and Nation have both been threatened - what type of Thai person reads them do you think? Now compare that to the rabble and hoi polloi who read Thai Raht. They have their supporters, they just happen to both be rather political, unless you miss the c&*p that is apparently news/opinion from ex TRT Minister and that moron Bleum previously; then we also get the same although marginally more readable drivel from Korn as well. At least he knows something. And wraps it as an ed piece.....

If you think about how low the pay is for journos here and the massive drop in journalist integrity worldwide in recent times (plus downsizings in most dailies) it isn't surprising we don't get the Watergate type journalism of 40+ years ago. News readers these days are hired on the basis of nice racks and perfect hair. Not having Dan Rather type integrity.

Except for Steve Colbert. That guy digs deep :-)

Edited September 12, 2008 by steveromagnino

[lannarebirth]

If you have spent enough time here.............you will know what i mean.

Most of the stories in the local English language press regarding Thailand are rather tame!!!!!

With all the corruption, scandals and dodgy dealings going on here, dont you think this place is ripe for

some edge of your seat, meat of the matter journalism.

Or are all the local reporters worried about the guy riding pillion on the motorbike?????

Over to you.

Well, there's the Thai libel laws to consider. They don't have any type of "public figure" exclusion and whoever has the deepest pocket can make a lot of noise. Additionally, once you get more than surface deep on any public matter here, a reporter is sure to run into "Lese Majeste" issues.

[fred2007]

Maybe by showing everyone whats really going on..............some of these changes will be for the better

The Thai libel law sounds like a reason to bury everything under the carpet.

Good luck

[dee123]

Johnathan Head of the BBC was earlier this year accused of "Lese Majeste" by a Thai policeman.He is the one BBC correspondent who has the guts to tell it as it is.The Thai language BBC radio is being closed down(financial reasons say Bosses ??)what makes me think is all those years of Broadcasting yet only recently has there been such accusations made against BBC correspondents,....I fear that the Thai journalist's working for the "Beeb" might have been just a bit too cosy there so tip- toed around awkward issues,and practiced "self censorship"

Edited September 12, 2008 by dee123

[dee123]

....All Thai TV is State owned,it was only Thaksin who had the guile to start his own propaganda machine.Unfortuneately as we have seen in the west with Robert Maxwell and his right wing opponents,they don't necesarily give you unbiased media.Thus strengthening the argument for an organisation like the BBC,....and guidelines similar to the "beeb" so the Thai people can see who the "bad guys" really are.Both PAD and Thaksin'ites are not backing this approach,but setting up "free media" laws that suit them only.