CNN, BBC Fully Deserve Criticism Over Thai Protest Coverage

[eggomaniac]

Seems Mr. Sherman getting a lot of flak here, by posters who have so far not been able to rebut even one of his many factual arguments.

Telling of the intellectual status of some TV posters, isn't it?

I perceive most of the posters are, correctly, pointing out it's a case of the pot calling the kettle black.

quid pro quo --- they didn't cover some of the events, agreed, now your turn, how many Thais did the BBC and CNN throw in jail for practicing freedom of speech?

Maybe 'star' reporter brown nose Sherman should do a piece on them to show balance and open mindedness, you think?

There were foreign journalists armed with cameras who got shot up for Vishnu's sake!!!. S is a sycophant compared to them. was he even there???These 2 reporters were.

>>>

A Canadian journalist is in hospital recovering from serious injuries after being shot three times during a clash between Thai protesters and troops in Bangkok.

Nelson Rand, a Canadian-born correspondent with the France 24 network, was shot in the leg, hand and abdomen on Friday, his network reported.

He is reportedly out of danger after a successful operation.

Rand, based in Bangkok, is one of the network's two Thailand correspondents.

In his last report before being shot, Rand spoke to France 24 by telephone from Bangkok and described a chaotic scene at one of the smaller protest areas occupied by the Red Shirt protesters.

"The soldiers have been trying to clear the avenue for about 45 minutes now," Rand said. "They've been firing tear gas. The protesters have been moving back."

France 24's Cyril Payen, who was at the scene of the clashes in Bangkok, reported that the army was the only side firing.>>

================================================

If Thailand does not really, really stop being led around the nose by juvenile, badge collecting mobsters, they should call in Burmese and N Korean experts to show how to properly run a corruption seething system. This OP is a sacrilege to the recently slaughtered unarmed real reporters.

[ROBJSThailand]

its all right for you lot to be pontificating about the coverage after the fact but did any of you do anything whilst it was going on?

i complained bitterly to the Times on line, CNN and BBC about their biased one sided coverage

i also wrote to Al Jazeera to comment favourably on theirs

i spoke to the Sun newspaper by telephone and the British embassy about Jeff Savage whose name i broke first on this very forum.

i had responses from them all, not helpful but responses that made them aware someone was out there

i sent over 30 text messages to Abhisit's SMS service offering advise and support

if you want to make a difference then take a little time out and do it at the pertinent time, not after

its easy to comment after the game......

I for one of "us lot" did complain extensively during the turmoil thank you very much.

[Vulcan]

McCos is correct about the lower number of casualties among the military - in the recent fighting the soldiers KNEW they were fighting against some of the armed members of the red and black shirt guards - unlike the night of April 10. I am guessing on the night of the first major clash they may have not even worn their flak jackets as intelligence got it wrong thinking there were no armed protestors, hence the higher number of soldliers killed.

For those that say ALL the civilians were killed by the military during the clashes, you clearly are as biased as those "government supporters" you bash. The more likely scenario is that the civilian deaths were cause by both sides. Do you forgot the actions of the Chiangmai Red Shirts Rak Chiangmai 51 (or something like that) in the recent past killing unarmed yellow shirts - including one who was operating a yellow radio station? The Red Shirt movement is not and will NOT ever be free of violent elements. They may have started out with a just cause, the end does not justify the means.

Edited June 21, 2010 by Vulcan

[Samuian]

And who are you Mr. Sherman. ...

I for one would believe CNN and BBC and rather than Mr Sherman AND THE NATION, but I am a long visitor to Thailand to I do not need any of the propaganda to help me make my own decisions. I see it with my own eyes everyday.

Sherman is apparently the Yellow Shirts' (and government's) answer to Conor Purcell or Jeff Savage. There are a lot of Purcells and Savages on the Yellow government side, only they hide behind the internet.

Polarization is a bad tool for clarification, neither it delivers any, not even the vaguest hint of whether

his (Dave's) accusations/clarification are wrong or one sided!

[eggomaniac]

I think you'll be quite surprised how thin yellow shirt support is amongst those with a bit of an education; something you commonly cite as being the source of "independent minded people". Although it is admittedly much higher than those supporting the reds.

On the contrary I think the way you put it is very accurate.Those with a "bit of an education" tend to support the yellow shirts.In all seriousness, I'm perfectly well aware that the PAD/yellowshirt view has wide support among middle class Thais which one must presume to be the best educated part of Thai society.My own view is that what foreigners think is really neither here nor there.Some of us enjoy letting off steam but we are essentially irrelevant.The feral foreign reds turn my stomach and I equally recognise that most foreign businessmen here, while not yellow, are highly critical of the Reds and their leadership (and would generally support the views on Western media coverage of the crisis - again broadly echoing the Sino-Thai urban middle class.What I am saying however that the really impressive Westerners, the ones with long experience of the Kingdom achieved at a high level will tell one, albeit discretely, that there is much in the red cause with which they sympathise.

Absolutely spot on.

Spot off! Insight says 'thin' support, jayboy says 'wide' support. Which one is true?

A poll in Dec had 70% of Thais claiming to be neither red OR yellow, The Mute Majority. The school yard is being run by a few bullies, red ones up country, yellow in BKK.

A poll of the most crucial, root of the problem, issues would garner a 95% yes vote.

Do you want fair elections?

Do you want corruption filtered out of government offices?

[TAWP]

Michael Yon is a distinguished war correspondent but he knows nothing about Thailand.He made some observations which have been hawked around by the social media and the Government PR people.Of course it's harde to cover conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.Read his Thailand material and see whether you think he's on the ball.

You claim he knows nothing about Thailand, ignoring the fact that he is a regular visitor to the nation for many years when his 'tours' in Afghanistan allowed him R&R and at the same time ignoring that he has been here longer time then several of the BBC and CNN journalists you so try to defend.

What does that say about you?

[mazeltov]

Does anybody know where you can view these videos online? A cursory youtube search didn't show anything of the sort...

j.

[/url]

[Insight]

I think you'll be quite surprised how thin yellow shirt support is amongst those with a bit of an education; something you commonly cite as being the source of "independent minded people". Although it is admittedly much higher than those supporting the reds.

On the contrary I think the way you put it is very accurate.Those with a "bit of an education" tend to support the yellow shirts.In all seriousness, I'm perfectly well aware that the PAD/yellowshirt view has wide support among middle class Thais which one must presume to be the best educated part of Thai society.My own view is that what foreigners think is really neither here nor there.Some of us enjoy letting off steam but we are essentially irrelevant.The feral foreign reds turn my stomach and I equally recognise that most foreign businessmen here, while not yellow, are highly critical of the Reds and their leadership (and would generally support the views on Western media coverage of the crisis - again broadly echoing the Sino-Thai urban middle class.What I am saying however that the really impressive Westerners, the ones with long experience of the Kingdom achieved at a high level will tell one, albeit discretely, that there is much in the red cause with which they sympathise.

Absolutely spot on.

Spot off! Insight says 'thin' support, jayboy says 'wide' support. Which one is true?

A poll in Dec had 70% of Thais claiming to be neither red OR yellow, The Mute Majority. The school yard is being run by a few bullies, red ones up country, yellow in BKK.

A poll of the most crucial, root of the problem, issues would garner a 95% yes vote.

Do you want fair elections?

Do you want corruption filtered out of government offices?

The damage to the PAD's following was entirely self-inflicted through the airport takeover; it was a step "too far" in the eyes of many I know. Evidence of this damage to their reputation can be observed through the naming of the pink shirts/multicolours. It was clear the use of "yellow" could act as a deterrent to many.

And while academics may agree with parts of the red shirt manifesto the fatal flaw is who the red shirts expect to implement it, as Jayboy has identified, and what methods they use to do so. Inciting hate through doctored "evidence" should really be setting the alarm bells off, and this was months before the serious use of force by the reds.

The reds needed a serious manifesto in order to gain support. Problem is the people funding and leading the movement are the last people in Thailand I would expect to see it through.

[jayboy]

Michael Yon is a distinguished war correspondent but he knows nothing about Thailand.He made some observations which have been hawked around by the social media and the Government PR people.Of course it's harde to cover conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.Read his Thailand material and see whether you think he's on the ball.

You claim he knows nothing about Thailand, ignoring the fact that he is a regular visitor to the nation for many years when his 'tours' in Afghanistan allowed him R&R and at the same time ignoring that he has been here longer time then several of the BBC and CNN journalists you so try to defend.

What does that say about you?

It doesn't say anything about me.

Read his material on Thailand and make up your own minds

[jackdawson]

And while academics may agree with parts of the red shirt manifesto the fatal flaw is who the red shirts expect to implement it, as Jayboy has identified, and what methods they use to do so. Inciting hate through doctored "evidence" should really be setting the alarm bells off, and this was months before the serious use of force by the reds.

The reds needed a serious manifesto in order to gain support. Problem is the people funding and leading the movement are the last people in Thailand I would expect to see it through.

well put

Edited June 21, 2010 by jackdawson

[Thai at Heart]

I think you'll be quite surprised how thin yellow shirt support is amongst those with a bit of an education; something you commonly cite as being the source of "independent minded people". Although it is admittedly much higher than those supporting the reds.

On the contrary I think the way you put it is very accurate.Those with a "bit of an education" tend to support the yellow shirts.In all seriousness, I'm perfectly well aware that the PAD/yellowshirt view has wide support among middle class Thais which one must presume to be the best educated part of Thai society.My own view is that what foreigners think is really neither here nor there.Some of us enjoy letting off steam but we are essentially irrelevant.The feral foreign reds turn my stomach and I equally recognise that most foreign businessmen here, while not yellow, are highly critical of the Reds and their leadership (and would generally support the views on Western media coverage of the crisis - again broadly echoing the Sino-Thai urban middle class.What I am saying however that the really impressive Westerners, the ones with long experience of the Kingdom achieved at a high level will tell one, albeit discretely, that there is much in the red cause with which they sympathise.

Absolutely spot on.

Spot off! Insight says 'thin' support, jayboy says 'wide' support. Which one is true?

A poll in Dec had 70% of Thais claiming to be neither red OR yellow, The Mute Majority. The school yard is being run by a few bullies, red ones up country, yellow in BKK.

A poll of the most crucial, root of the problem, issues would garner a 95% yes vote.

Do you want fair elections?

Do you want corruption filtered out of government offices?

Sorry for the nested quotes. I was praising Jayboy's analysis.

I have seen it first hand how avidly neighbours close to my up country house tuned in every day to watch the PAD and believed that Sondhi was against corruption. I would consider them definitely of the "better" off part of middle class. They cannot find a way to 'side' with farmers. They have nothing at all in common with them.

I tried in conversation to calm their feelings and think a little of the consequences by saying, "Well I hope they manage to help get rid of corruption and don't treat anything that transpires afterwards as simply a witchunt for Thaksin". Well here we are an no real progress on corruption so far. I told them that the precedent set by the PAD was very bad and may cause problems in the future. Nuff said really.

I have worked with farmers all over Thailand, and they do need the government to intervene into the system to provide better education for their kids, solidity in their produce markets, help with research to provide crop diversity and efforts to smash the "middle" man system.

I would say that in my experience, all people get exasperated with corruption be it at a lower class or middle level. They just can't do anything about it. No one in their right mind can defend burning down buildings as legitimate protest, but that doesn't change the fact that Thailand has been becoming more and more divided economically for the last 10 years. That is the real issue of the day, and Abhisit and Korn have their handsful trying to solve it.

Do I support the red leadership? How can anyone. Does that make me pro-PAD or yellow? Not at all. I am pro-Abhisit not because I believe he is completely legitimate as a PM but because he is simply the only bloke I would dare to have as PM right now. Do I like the Democrats? They aren't blatent crooks like the PTP, but then look at the plonkers Abhisit has around him and their utter incompetence. The one guy given responsibility for security has failed utterly, and the Foreign minister even made speeches on the PAD stage.

The way this country is going right now, red v yellow will get the country only deeper into the mire. I wonder if Abhisit looks good in orange.

The Future's Bright. The Future's Orange

[BNZ]

I was on a visa run for most of the time the crackdown started.  It was hard to get any factual news since the Thai Government had shut down any websites that were deemed to be supporting the "terrorists" -- like Prachatai.  Has anyone read the news that the head of the Prachatai website, a woman, is facing eight years in prison!!

The Nation and the Post were obviously engaged in self-censorship for self-preservation.  I was watching BBC, CNN, and Channel News Asia to get my news.  Of the three, I found CNA's reporting to be very good because their coverage included interview with Thai acadmics in Singapore and the UK to provide political analysis on the conflict.  It is very sad that Singapore, a country where the press is tightly controlled, could provide better news coverage than any English media outlet in Thailand!

The state of emergency has created such an atmosphere of hysteria and unrestricted government censorship, that it is nearly impossible to get any balanced news coverage in Thailand.  Thailand is slipping in the index of press freedom and deservedly so.

Whether one thinks reconciliation is possible or not, a free society in Thailand cannot be built on a foundation of government censorship that is clearly unwarranted.

I don't see ".an atmosphere of hysteria and unrestricted government censorship "  anywhere in Thailand in fact it's quite the opposite, all calm and peaceful now and you and others are free to write what you like everyday as proven on this forum. The Government is not censoring you, just don't incite insurrection or violence what's wrong with that ?

The only "hysteria" is in your post..

..it's hysterical !  

[SpoliaOpima]

Further instances where CNN fell down:

*Dan Rivers on March 14th announcing that the Reds had shut down all BKK -- bit of an exaggeration

*Neglecting to mention anywhere (as far as I could tell) that the UDD fell 950,000 short for the million man march

*Rivers covering the seizure of Thaksin's money on Feb 26, then concluding absurdly, as Redshirts dance in the background, "The question on everyone's mind is if the government can survive the next 24 hours."

*During Songkran a CNN reporter goes north and asks a crowd of Reds "If you succeed what do you want?" Several people shouting the answer in Thai, "Bring back Thaksin!" repeatedly, but no translation for the video. Finally one redshirt says something that doesn't mention Thaksin, and the reporter chooses to translate, via his fixer, "They are concerned about the cost of gas and healthcare," the sole answer/translation.

*CNN reporter standing at Rajprasong, surrounded by posters in Thai, and red headbands on the rally-goers reading "Bring back Thaksin" or simply "Thaksin" and saying "The redshirt movement has gone beyond its relationship to Thaksin, etc."

[SpoliaOpima]

And who are you Mr. Sherman. What are your credentials ? Did the Nation or the Thailand Government pay you well for your rebuttal ?

Thank you for your opinion piece, but it only supports the government and does not help any any type of national reconciliation. You are being used or willing being used. The government propaganda fight to ward off any blame at all in Thailand's problem is well served by you.

I for one would believe CNN and BBC and rather than Mr Sherman AND THE NATION, but I am a long visitor to Thailand to I do not need any of the propaganda to help me make my own decisions. I see it with my own eyes everyday.

Having also watched the story unfold myself, Mr. Sherman is simply telling the real story, something CNN failed badly to do.

His "credentials" are thus well beyond that of someone like Dan Rivers.

Or said the other way around, CNN has lost its credential for accurate unbiased reporting, though that did not happen recently.

Whatever his credentials may be, he appears to understand the situation a lot better than Daeng Rivers.

[jayjay0]

like i said before

the joke that was the CNN/BBC reporting makes u think about all the other western reporting from hot spots that has come before (tiananmen , iraq , etc.)

if u live in bkk (walked among them like i did) and lived through the two month-long red squat in at ratchaprasong , u know they were a combination of uneducated , murderous black-sheathed thugs (i.e., motorcy and tuk tuk drivers and out-of-work soldiers) and paid-by-the-day (from montengro) large sized middle age isaan houswives between rice crops w/ absolutely nothing to do but come down and f up the nation's capital

before burning a lot of it down

i don't know how a reporter having flown in the night before and staying at a 5 star hotel with a great breakfast buffet could have missed this

Thank you for this useful and intelligent insight.It's always a good sign when a post begins "like I said before", an indicator of a first class intellect at work.

As you will note, your views are shared by many on this forum, although it is rare to have them expressed with such clarity and incisiveness.I hope you will not be shy about sharing your insights. clearly based on wide reading and study of Thai history and politics.What impresses me most however is your generosity of spirit, though while clearly sceptical about the Red agenda still prepared to reach out with a touching display of human understanding.

Just what the he l has a wide reading and study of Thai history and politics got to do with CNN and BBC inept reporting. Perhaps you could stick to the theme and point out where the article was wrong.

[jackdawson]

Daeng Rivers

brilliant !

[jayjay0]

The assertion that soldiers were only shooting at armed protesters is clearly rubish. They managed to shoot quite a few journalists - one of them three times just because he was wearing a black T shirt and sunglasses. There were many other filmed examples of unarmed protesters being shot at indiscriminately. As with the police the soliers had insufficient training and in most cases were just blasting away at the first target they found. Disgraceful!

Good God man if 10% of what you say was true there woulld have been hundereds killed. How do you know it was a unarmed or for that matter a armed protestor they were shooting at.

Was there a llne drawn from the barrel of the gun to the person it was aimed at?

[gemini81]

Further instances where CNN fell down:

*Dan Rivers on March 14th announcing that the Reds had shut down all BKK -- bit of an exaggeration

*Neglecting to mention anywhere (as far as I could tell) that the UDD fell 950,000 short for the million man march

*Rivers covering the seizure of Thaksin's money on Feb 26, then concluding absurdly, as Redshirts dance in the background, "The question on everyone's mind is if the government can survive the next 24 hours."

*During Songkran a CNN reporter goes north and asks a crowd of Reds "If you succeed what do you want?" Several people shouting the answer in Thai, "Bring back Thaksin!" repeatedly, but no translation for the video. Finally one redshirt says something that doesn't mention Thaksin, and the reporter chooses to translate, via his fixer, "They are concerned about the cost of gas and healthcare," the sole answer/translation.

*CNN reporter standing at Rajprasong, surrounded by posters in Thai, and red headbands on the rally-goers reading "Bring back Thaksin" or simply "Thaksin" and saying "The redshirt movement has gone beyond its relationship to Thaksin, etc."

Well, its true Dan's reporting was piss poor. All of those concerned who emailed or called required that I explain all of the gaps that were left in Dan's report, and/or his distortions of the truth and the facts. The good thing is that there were an abundance of camera and a lot of evidence discovered. I think Dan ought find a different career and change his name.

[jayboy]

Just what the he l has a wide reading and study of Thai history and politics got to do with CNN and BBC inept reporting. Perhaps you could stick to the theme and point out where the article was wrong.

If you are genuinely incapable of understanding how knowledge of the background helps one to assess media coverage, I'm afraid I'm not in a position to help.

[rabo]

Does anybody know where you can view these videos online? A cursory youtube search didn't show anything of the sort...

j.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=zHeZFk7YjPE

<oversized picture removed, see above>

Sorry Mazeltov, as you know, that's not the video discussed in the article. Here is the correct link. Sigh.

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=6rGqZDvRa_U

[brd]

Travelling overseas between EU and USA at the end of the sad saga I was chocked every one mentioning Thailand, Thailand when Greece was much more violent and a bankrupt country instead.

For sure that has affected tourism in favour of Thailand in view of CNN, BBC and other media reporting not fairly at all.

Shame for them.

PM Abhisit is absolutely right once more in his own judgement.

brd

Edited June 21, 2010 by sbk
no need to quote the OP

[Bakseedaa]

I wonder what Dave Shermans log in is on Thai Visa, the crap he spouts can be seen on a daily basis on here, another sad expat that has bought the government propaganda.

Come Dave, out yourself, which is your log in?

Change a few words Mr Webster and you comment could apply to yourself.

No, I say it as I see it, not what other people want me to see. Sherman talks about things and one poster (mjnaus)has asked another (capealava) to prove his point, well why does mjnaus not prove his point, simply because he has no proof, neither side has proof, the government are busy concocting that as we speak. The fact remains though from evidence seen so far that the army shot and killed unarmed civillians,and if they say it was in defence (ie they were under fire from the protesters) then I have to ask why so few soldiers were killed or injured compared to the protesters. Dress it up how you want, but in my opinion based on what I have seen the army killed unarmed protestors, if they were only shooting in self defence why did reporters and first aid get shot and killed, I guess them cameras and bandages are really dangerous.

Tony, where is your proof that it was indeed the Thai army who killed these peoples... could it not have been the "men in Black" ? let me in on the proof..!

[hammered]

'CNN and BBC chose to create simple, distorted narratives rather than tackle the complex reality of this truly fascinating story. The disservice they did to the story, to Thailand, to their viewers and to themselves was immense. Many people, including myself, no longer trust these networks to report the truth. The criticism heaped upon them in the wake of their sub-par reporting is just and fully deserved.'

I think you need to pull your your head out of your bum as it seems firmly lodged up there.

This is standard journalistic practice. Short memes. Fit facts to the story your readers undertand/want to hear. No more than cursory background needed. Try to throw in an authoritative sounding celebrity journo too if you have the chance. All media outlets use this technique to a lesser or greater deal. It also works on the nmodern belief based societies that we live in especially if the off the shelf meme is one of the home run kind.

Unless you actually witness a story you dont often see this although many western media sources especially the NY Times were badly exposed in the run up to Iraq war.

[ianf]

its all right for you lot to be pontificating about the coverage after the fact but did any of you do anything whilst it was going on?

i complained bitterly to the Times on line, CNN and BBC about their biased one sided coverage

i also wrote to Al Jazeera to comment favourably on theirs

i spoke to the Sun newspaper by telephone and the British embassy about Jeff Savage whose name i broke first on this very forum.

i had responses from them all, not helpful but responses that made them aware someone was out there

i sent over 30 text messages to Abhisit's SMS service offering advise and support

if you want to make a difference then take a little time out and do it at the pertinent time, not after

its easy to comment after the game......

I was in the UK when the troubles were happening. I watched BBC News 24 and the coverage did not relate in any way to events on the ground, the political analysis was totally incorrect. For example they put up a caption which said that the protests were happening "because the Abhisit government had been declared unofficial". By whom? When? Where did they get that slant from. I wrote to them and complained. I am still awaiting their answer. Their factual inaccuracies (which ever side of the political spectrum you are on!) were simply astounding. As a result I would never ever trust another BBC report about anything.

[OzMick]

The assertion that soldiers were only shooting at armed protesters is clearly rubish. They managed to shoot quite a few journalists - one of them three times just because he was wearing a black T shirt and sunglasses. There were many other filmed examples of unarmed protesters being shot at indiscriminately. As with the police the soliers had insufficient training and in most cases were just blasting away at the first target they found. Disgraceful!

Can you not possibly grasp the concept that the guns shown in the hands of protesters also shoot bullets. As they managed to shoot very few soldiers, what were the armed protesters shooting at?

Your denigration of the soldiers is not based on fact but your own bias.

[BigC]

And who are you Mr. Sherman. What are your credentials ? Did the Nation or the Thailand Government pay you well for your rebuttal ?

Thank you for your opinion piece, but it only supports the government and does not help any any type of national reconciliation. You are being used or willing being used. The government propaganda fight to ward off any blame at all in Thailand's problem is well served by you.

I for one would believe CNN and BBC and rather than Mr Sherman AND THE NATION, but I am a long visitor to Thailand to I do not need any of the propaganda to help me make my own decisions. I see it with my own eyes everyday.

You seem to ignore the fact that the above piece mentions a lot of vital information that was simply IGNORED by the mainstream press; forget about who's site you think you're own, this is just simply what happened...

Unlike the writer of the above piece, you immediately take a stand and feel the need to express you're political views. Why the need for this? Just discuss the topic at hand; nobody cares about your political views. The writer didn't seem to express any view favorable to either side; he just criticizes the reporting done by CNN and BCC, and I think he's right in doing so (and many others who have been criticizing the mainstream media).

Don't try to turn every topic relating to the protests in another thread about annoying farang Expats who feel the need to vent their views.

the man is pointing out facts no opinons. He is right. the media coverage on thai news was allot more clear than the western networks like bbc and CNN. Makes me wonder what to believe when they are reporting about stories else where across the world

[sbk]

One flame has been deleted, more will earn suspensions.

And lets all note this IS NOT a discussion of whether or not red shirts were shooting people but about the international media's portrayal of the events in Thailand and their understanding or lack thereof of those events.

Keep it ON TOPIC and PROPAGANDA FREE because I am sorely tired of the hijacking going on in this forum.

[TAWP]

Michael Yon is a distinguished war correspondent but he knows nothing about Thailand.He made some observations which have been hawked around by the social media and the Government PR people.Of course it's harde to cover conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq.Read his Thailand material and see whether you think he's on the ball.

You claim he knows nothing about Thailand, ignoring the fact that he is a regular visitor to the nation for many years when his 'tours' in Afghanistan allowed him R&R and at the same time ignoring that he has been here longer time then several of the BBC and CNN journalists you so try to defend.

What does that say about you?

It doesn't say anything about me.

Read his material on Thailand and make up your own minds

I read his posts and he shows greater understanding than Rivers or even you.

And your celebration of any journalist - even if they are here for only 2 weeks - because they spout some red lines, and then castigating a person that has been here, visiting and working, far longer as being a 'newbie' that 'knows nothing about Thailand'[sic] is funny bar-talk but not very productive.

Now, if you want to point to proof that he 'knows nothing about Thailand' or point out some very weird posts about the nation from him, you are welcome. I have yet to see any.

[Robby nz]

Put this on another thread but will put it here also as it fits just as well.

Didnt watch either BBC or CNN as things were hapening but I did see some of their stuff online and it didnt seem to match what I was seeing on Thai Tele at the time.

Did read something else by a jurno who said they had to be very careful of what they said and filmed in the red camp as if they did the wrong thing they could have been either evicted, beaten up or killed.

Whether this can be used as some sort of excuse for only reporting what the reds wanted reported.......

If all the reds who are posting here want to get the red side they can go watch "Voice TV" owned by Thaksins son I believe, saw on it less than an hour ago video footage of the peaceful red stage declaring their honest intentions. If all red TV has been taken off air why has it been with us throughout? Not what the station or website is but the content that gets some banned.

Incidentaly I noticed an example of the reds attempt at censorship when they tried to burn down TV3 with all the people inside

[chainarong]

I Thought the press did not give enough back ground infomation on Thaskin , who they (Red Shirts) were on the streets for ,at the begining,( then changed to poor V rich), a despot , who was in the proccess, when in power of turning Thailand into Thaskinland.