George Interviewed; The Founder Of Thailand's Biggest Forum Thaivisa, Answers The Critics

[cognos]

People asked to become moderators have "...shown a history of intelligent and informative, non-aggressive posts,.."

Should we take from this that posters not asked to moderate have shown a history of stupid, misinformed, and aggressive posts?

I will re-check my inbox, perhaps I have missed my invite?

I "nominate" Garro for a Moderator, bacause I know he's sober..and neversaydie..for the crazy-funny-looking head man..

[JimsKnight]

The interviewer tanked it by not asking many hard questions (and allowing him to deflect those that he did ask), and it looks like the I/V was undertaken by e mail, which is always a lazy cop out for an interviewer (though I do it myself sometimes!!).

It was good to see the elusive George fly down from his ivory tower and reveal some of the inner secrets of TV like that.

It certainly wasn't hard talk but then George isn't a politician either who needs to be blasted about like that.

I think if you fire too much hard talk it starts to get personal and a bit unfair.

I didn't know the unleashing of the adverts was because of server overload and TV needing its own servers to cope with increased traffic.

I just figured George and crew were having an 'empire moment' one day in Bangkok and went for it that way.

So seeing this other side to the argument was interesting and changed my view of the advert angle a bit.

I liked the stats and geographical traffic stuff, up and up they seem to go!

Those are levels my frugal websites could only dream of.

Pretty good stuff.

[Scott]

My guess is that many people get asked to moderate, but probably turn it down due to time constraints and other considerations.

Moderating is a like dancing naked in front of a one-way mirror--never quite sure if someone's watching you or not.

Anyway, thanks for the interview and the post.

[JimsKnight]

It is a kick-in-the-pants, fun-forum, with huge amounts of humor

Not in the Phuket sub-forum, it isn't.

Apparently, humour is frowned upon there.

Sir Burrs usual knightly humour perhaps?

[neverdie]

My guess is that many people get asked to moderate, but probably turn it down due to time constraints and other considerations.

Moderating is a like dancing naked in front of a one-way mirror--never quite sure if someone's watching you or not.

Anyway, thanks for the interview and the post.

Scott,

Please just stick to the moderating dude, your leaving me with a really bad mental picture of you dancing naked in front of a mirror. I remember homer simpson did that once, thankfully the viewers only got a rear end view.

[footman6]

I believe that the most loudest Thailand bashers are those who are more or less forced to live here like economic refugees, due to low pension and such. They probably want all the comfort they had in their homeland, but for 1/5 or the price or less.

Interesting interview with George!

I think many of the loudest Thai bashers are people who came here with naive expectations about Thailand, but now feel let down. Ah, didums.

Like dogs who keep on moving from place to place, to escape the fleas, they never consider that they might be carrying the fleas with them.

The rest of the Thai bashers are people who wouldn't be happy anywhere.

Ten Years ago that might have been Real but today ..............things have changed..........Even for the Well off...

[Thaddeus]

The interviewer tanked it by not asking many hard questions (and allowing him to deflect those that he did ask), and it looks like the I/V was undertaken by e mail, which is always a lazy cop out for an interviewer (though I do it myself sometimes!!).

It was good to see the elusive George fly down from his ivory tower and reveal some of the inner secrets of TV like that.

You should hear him sing

[ChiangMaiThai]

20 million visitors in 6 months. For those of you who know a little about adsense, imagine the revenue on even a .5% CTR!!! Wish I had had the foresight to start this forum...

[Lite Beer]

A post criticising Moderation has been deleted as per Forum Rules.

If you have any issues, as George said in his interview, contact him or Admin.

Thanks.

[Insight]

Probably need to stick a few more ads up - The server's struggling tonight....

[Pib]

Very good interview and article. The ThaiVisa website/forum definitely provides an important service (i.e., information) to expats/tourists/farangs.

[trevorg]

Very good interview and article. The ThaiVisa website/forum definitely provides an important service (i.e., information) to expats/tourists/farangs.

I like Thai Visa, as you can find out some factual information about a specific situation, and generally you can get the facts. Occasionally, or, should I say frequently this may be disrupted by people moaning about Thailand and then having a go at each other and their situation, or 'why don't you use the search function?' and 'if you type xxxxxx into Google you get this?' and you've obviously never seen this, or done this or.........

There does appear to be people on the forum, who (and sometimes correctly - but not always) want to beat up 'virtually' somebody who doesn't agree with their opininon, morally, socially, politically, religiously etc

Anyway, this is my first post (and before you say it - I know there is a designated place for me to post the first post and Sorry if I've broken the rules), but this is ThaiVisa - it is in Thailand isn't it?

Nearly went off topic - well done George!

Trev

[kjhbigv]

One surprising statistic from this.....60% of Thai Visa's members only READ but do not post! Why? Nothing to say? No opinion? Can't be ar*ed? Strange!

[TEFLMike]

TV is like my first morning's first mug of tea.

Once I have one, I cannot stop drinking it for the rest of the day.

[george]

TV is like my first morning's first mug of tea.

Once I have one, I cannot stop drinking it for the rest of the day.

Same same ;P

[wedders]

Probably a typo. The current mod team list is more like 37, plus admins.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/the-moderating-team.html

If you could confirm the figure (that link gives 31 mods, global and forum, plus admins), I'll amend the article - the total of 17 was what George gave me originally.

Thanks.

[Lite Beer]

Probably a typo. The current mod team list is more like 37, plus admins.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/the-moderating-team.html

If you could confirm the figure (that link gives 31 mods, global and forum, plus admins), I'll amend the article - the total of 17 was what George gave me originally.

Thanks.

That list is the up to date list of Admins and Moderators

[MediaWatch2009]

It was interesting to note the ThaiVisa legal advisor's comment that being able to prove that a comment made (in an article, etc) was true, was not in itself an adequate defence against defamation. This goes a long way towards explaining the lack of anything approaching investigative journalism in the Nation or the BB Post ... and the true state of democracy that exists here

RE: Thai Visa rule which forbids, "... criticism of sponsors .."

So Thai Visa merging , first with The Nation and now the Phuket Gazette, ( i can't say what I think about that publication ) means no calling out the papers for any alleged bias or NON reporting

This is why media consolidation is a bad thing for democracy , good for profit though, and if that's your motive..

Edited June 19, 2009 by MediaWatch2009

[meelousee]

Good interview.

I'm always put off by the negativity and Thailand bashing that can go on here. I'm glad to see the interviewer brought those points up.

Took the words right out of my keyboard

[Journalist]

RE: Thai Visa rule which forbids, "... criticism of sponsors .."

I'm sure they wouldn't mind people disagreeing with the tone of an editorial or the content of an article.

Thats part of the cut and thrust of the business. Its designed to elicit reaction. *

There's a massive difference between that and criticising their ethics, honesty and business practises.

*Having said that I sulk all day if I receive a criticism of an article.

[posttenebraslux]

Take TV for what it is ! A truly excellent piece of information not found elsewhere in Asia.

There is no need to read and comment everything - being informed is the most important thing in our daily lives.

Having lived and worked in most countries of South East Asia over the last 40 years and still being a true democrat of Swiss origin I appreciate your constant efforts to educate people about facts they cannot find elsewhere: Knowledge of any sort is one of the roots of democracy that can lead to the discussion of differing opinions, to understanding and eventually to following actions.

Please go on and thank you very much !

posttenebraslux

[DisainaM]

Thaivisa is far and away the biggest ...

Virtually every farang in the country with an Internet connection, ... checks out the threads now and again. (They may pretend they don’t ;-)

yeah, I remember the time, befor thaivisa, there was only the ajarn forum, and some travel boards.

thaivisa did a good job, thks to the unpaid moderator in these times.

so, keep it on

[TAWP]

It was interesting to note the ThaiVisa legal advisor's comment that being able to prove that a comment made (in an article, etc) was true, was not in itself an adequate defence against defamation.

I can't see where he says that. Can you point me in the right direction pls.

This is what your after.

Justification, where the defendant in a civil action may escape liability if he/she can prove that the statement was substantially justified, i.e. true, but more than just true. There has to be a valid reason for having made the statement even if true. It is not an absolute defense to a criminal prosecution for libel to prove that the statement was simply true.

As a note, this is the case in many countries. Publicly stating something that is true but with the intent of causing embarrassment etc for the person in question still goes under libel in my home-country for instance.

[jellykookabanj]

One surprising statistic from this.....60% of Thai Visa's members only READ but do not post! Why? Nothing to say? No opinion? Can't be ar*ed? Strange!

I think that you might consider that many people scroll through TV on most topics. They may all have an opinion but sometimes, like me. they may get too insensed by some of the moronic posts that do occur occassionaly and they may write something inappropriate if done while still angry. On many issues the posts are credible and some are humorous but the number of vitriolic posts sicken me sometimes. so I opt for not sending a post on many issues.

I feel for the moderators as they are obliged to decide what is and isn't inappropriate and sometimes have to allow a modicum of leeway on occassions.

The posters I despise the most are those that always state "if you don't like it, go home". Sensible discussion and healthy debate have helped many solutions to be decided and it is not beyond belief that a Thai person reading some of the criticism might actually start to think that maybe there is room for change in some things.

Anyway, good interview George. Hope TV remains strong for many years to come.

Edited June 19, 2009 by jellykookabanj

[DrDave]

I'm intrigued by the slander/defamation issues, and all of the associated hand-wringing by administrators and moderators that seems to be happening lately.

Based upon the opinion of the TV legal staff in this article, no sort of publicly-disseminated negative information that could cause a loss of revenue to a business is allowed, according to Thai law - and proof of the truth of the offending information is no defense. Does that mean that a newspaper could only publish positive reviews of restaurants? Could a movie theatre suffer from a negative movie review? What about hotel booking sites that feature customer reviews? Some of these reviews can contain specific references to incidents and experiences that could potentially steer future customers away. Are these newspapers and websites liable?

Does Thailand have jurisdiction in the event that the website's servers and administrative staff are physically located outside of Thailand?

While the intent of the law is fairly reasonable, its actual implementation and practicality is about as clear as mud. The applicability of these laws seems to be vague at best, but it appears that it has caused a great deal of fear in the online community. It would be interesting to see examples of cases where there has been successful prosecution under the law.

[samran]

You have to kill a Mod and present his/her head to George on a silver platter to be allowed in

Is that an open invitation?

Do you want a couple of suggestions?

Strike me off the list. Not a mod anymore

[teetersb]

One surprising statistic from this.....60% of Thai Visa's members only READ but do not post! Why? Nothing to say? No opinion? Can't be ar*ed? Strange!

I think that you might consider that many people scroll through TV on most topics. They may all have an opinion but sometimes, like me. they may get too insensed by some of the moronic posts that do occur occassionaly and they may write something inappropriate if done while still angry. On many issues the posts are credible and some are humorous but the number of vitriolic posts sicken me sometimes. so I opt for not sending a post on many issues.

I feel for the moderators as they are obliged to decide what is and isn't inappropriate and sometimes have to allow a modicum of leeway on occassions.

The posters I despise the most are those that always state "if you don't like it, go home". Sensible discussion and healthy debate have helped many solutions to be decided and it is not beyond belief that a Thai person reading some of the criticism might actually start to think that maybe there is room for change in some things.

Anyway, good interview George. Hope TV remains strong for many years to come.

I'll second that!

[Lite Beer]

Posts commenting on moderation deleted.

As George said if anyone has a problem with a particular Moderator please contact him or Admin.

Thank You.

[Explorer]

Take TV for what it is ! A truly excellent piece of information not found elsewhere in Asia.

There is no need to read and comment everything - being informed is the most important thing in our daily lives.

Having lived and worked in most countries of South East Asia over the last 40 years and still being a true democrat of Swiss origin I appreciate your constant efforts to educate people about facts they cannot find elsewhere: Knowledge of any sort is one of the roots of democracy that can lead to the discussion of differing opinions, to understanding and eventually to following actions.

Please go on and thank you very much !

posttenebraslux

Second that and information it is.

ThaiVisa was and is the only place where newbies or long staying visitors to thailand could get an up-to-date information on all related matters - immigrations and visa, based on experience of other members and experts who are specialised in the field.

When the tsunami of 2004 hits Thailand, ThaiVisa were fortunate to have reports from first hand eye witness account from members of the effected areas. The first post of the account (if i'm not mistaken) was reported as early as members felt the earthquake in the morning of boxing day. Members of ThaiVisa were the first to post pictures of the aftermath before any other news could. ThaiVisa also setup a lost person forum to help other members or guests searching their love ones. Even at one point, i believe some internet based news sites uses ThaiVisa as their link for news as the information here is more up-to-date then anywhere else.

Also ThaiVisa was like a life line to blood need patients in Thailand, as some blood group was hard to find, thaivisa was the source to help locate required blood type among its members.

Then we saw the tragedy of Santika, yet again Thaivisa is the only place where first hand eye witness account would flow in before other news site would publish it. We also saw discussions of the incident from members who were fire experts and building construction expert that gave other members here knowledge and understanding what could had taken place.

So to George, the team and other members that contributed so much with sharing your knowledge - thank you and keep it up!

Explorer

[sabaijai]

Probably a typo. The current mod team list is more like 37, plus admins.

http://www.thaivisa.com/forum/the-moderating-team.html

Case in point, over-moderation. 

According to a survey of 2,533 thaivisa.com members, your viewpoint would fall in the 5.8 percentile. 91.4% chose 'fair moderation' and 2.7% 'too lenient.'

Good interview, George