Pattaya News Flow, Something Is Really Distorted

[Jingthing]

It seems like pretty much EVERY crime incident here is reported in the news section, small and large. I DO NOT see this happening in other regional forums. For example, can you imagine how many THOUSANDS of news items would be posted here each week in the BANGKOK regional forum if every little petty crime got a unique news thread? I think I may have identified an important factor in the etiology of the dreaded Pattaya Derangement Syndrome^TM (PDS).

Is there any REAL HARD evidence that there is higher rate of crime here than Bangok, Chiang Mai, and Phuket? If so, cough it up please ... The epidemic incidence of PDS, which is spreading like wildfire, is NOT evidence, except of a MANIA.

Edited August 9, 2010 by Jingthing

[gotlost]

Look at this way Jingthing. At least Pattaya has a few daily rag sheets to report all the fun that is going on in Pattaya and its surrounding area. Key word DAILY. Chiang Mai only has a weekly rag that reports news that two weeks old.

[Jingthing]

Bangkok is a major world capital and of course real important news happens there. So their news focuses on things of more substance than specific crime stories. Only really spectacular crimes would be of much interest in Bangkok. In provincial Pattaya, it seems a Russian having his gold chain pilfered is front page caliber.

[taninthai]

there is nothing distorted phuket gets it fair share off bad news reports same as chang mai or where ever these terrible crimes take place they are reported seems certain areas do attract the lower forms off life, what would you prefer the bib cover up these stories push them under the carpet and pretend they never happened. there are some people that love pattaya some people that hate it whichever way you feel about there is no denying pattaya does have a pretty bad reputation and is not well known as one off the nicest and pleseant places in thailand to visit...

[gotlost]

Just goes to show there really is nothing important going on in Pattaya. If the rags dropped all the SIN CITY stores they would be back to only publishing on a weekly bases.

[Jingthing]

Just goes to show there really is nothing important going on in Pattaya. If the rags dropped all the SIN CITY stores they would be back to only publishing on a weekly bases.

Of course, this is a story about yellow journalism needing sensationalistic content to feed on. Nothing else. I am convinced the reality on the ground is not even close to being as bad as reading the local crime press would have you think.

[Michaelaway]

Very interesting. I dunno about the crime rate; I figure that in our extreme city, we are offered (for our viewing pleasure?) "all the extreme news that's fit to show." And, it gets weirder. The daily news, on Pattaya local TV is, well... nearly surreal. First, each report of a tragic event (there so many!) is delivered in a deadpan, matter-of-fact manner by the presenter. Weird. Then, the camera work shows more gory detail than you see in most countries... yet, blurs out the (obvious) stuff they feel is not proper to show here. Weird, too. Then, the local custom for many offenders is to reenact their crime soon after being collared. Here, naturally, these are media events, photo-op's, whatever you wanna call 'em, but the public's gotta know... right? And, we get to see it all... every day.

Happily, local news also covers all the good news stories around Pattaya, too. But, for me, part of your point is that in Pattaya, the bad stories seem to outnumber the good by far too many...

[taninthai]

in first post you mention if every petty crime was reported below is a list of reported news in just the last 4 days hardly petty crime is it

Norwegian Arrested In Pattaya Underage Sex Bust

Body Of Newborn Child Discovered At Pattaya Rubbish Dump

Cambodian Fisherman Killed Outside Convenience Store In Sattahip

16 Year Old Girl Shot In The Arm During East Pattaya Armed Robbery Inciden

Danish National Drugged By Unscrupulous Working Girl

Coyote Dancer Found Dead In Her North Pattaya Apartment

Brazen Shooting Incident Results In Death At Pattaya Nightclub

Headless Corpse Found On Island Off The Coast Of Sattahip

Gang-Related Shootout On Jomtien Beach Leaves One Man Badly Injured

these are all serious incidents seems to me things are really bad on the ground

Edited August 9, 2010 by taninthai

[LennyW]

there is nothing distorted phuket gets it fair share off bad news reports same as chang mai or where ever these terrible crimes take place they are reported seems certain areas do attract the lower forms off life, what would you prefer the bib cover up these stories push them under the carpet and pretend they never happened. there are some people that love pattaya some people that hate it whichever way you feel about there is no denying pattaya does have a pretty bad reputation and is not well known as one off the nicest and pleseant places in thailand to visit...

And yet strangely enough Pattaya gets as much if not more visitors than most other Thai cities - go figure!

[taninthai]

there is nothing distorted phuket gets it fair share off bad news reports same as chang mai or where ever these terrible crimes take place they are reported seems certain areas do attract the lower forms off life, what would you prefer the bib cover up these stories push them under the carpet and pretend they never happened. there are some people that love pattaya some people that hate it whichever way you feel about there is no denying pattaya does have a pretty bad reputation and is not well known as one off the nicest and pleseant places in thailand to visit...

And yet strangely enough Pattaya gets as much if not more visitors than most other Thai cities - go figure!

how do you know this i doubt this very much try pp island ,phuket ,ko samui and bangkok for most visitors

yes and the problem is obviously the type of visitor it attracts

Edited August 9, 2010 by taninthai

[Michaelaway]

there is nothing distorted phuket gets it fair share off bad news reports same as chang mai or where ever these terrible crimes take place they are reported seems certain areas do attract the lower forms off life, what would you prefer the bib cover up these stories push them under the carpet and pretend they never happened. there are some people that love pattaya some people that hate it whichever way you feel about there is no denying pattaya does have a pretty bad reputation and is not well known as one off the nicest and pleseant places in thailand to visit...

Beg to differ, krap: Pattaya is known as "one off (sic) the nicest and pleseant (sic) places..." in the world to visit! It depends on one's perspective...

http://www.askmen.co...n-cities_1.html

[taninthai]

there is nothing distorted phuket gets it fair share off bad news reports same as chang mai or where ever these terrible crimes take place they are reported seems certain areas do attract the lower forms off life, what would you prefer the bib cover up these stories push them under the carpet and pretend they never happened. there are some people that love pattaya some people that hate it whichever way you feel about there is no denying pattaya does have a pretty bad reputation and is not well known as one off the nicest and pleseant places in thailand to visit...

Beg to differ, krap: Pattaya is known as "one off (sic) the nicest and pleseant (sic) places..." in the world to visit! It depends on one's perspective...

http://www.askmen.co...n-cities_1.html

cant argue with that lol

however dont quote me on this but i have read somewhere that sex touristsonly cover 10% of the total tourists coming thailand so i doubt patters attracts as many tourists as the beautifull scenic places in los

[gotlost]

Yes sir welcome to Pattaya, SIN CITY. The Sodom Gomorrah of Thailand. You can not hide the fact it has earned the reputation.

[Jingthing]

Pattaya indeed is the most popular beach resort in Asia by far, which is quite a feat considering how crappy the beach is!

[Rimmer]

The unfortunate fact is that sensationalism sells, people love to read about it and the more grisly or off the wall the better, have a look at Pattaya Clipping posts today:

Mass Ordination of Monks organized by Pattaya Police and Pattaya Lions Club.....108 views

Nong Nooch Gardens prepares for Mothers Day parade......40 views

And now these all posted today around the same time.

Norwegian Arrested in Pattaya Underage Sex Bust........912 views

Thai Superstar Bashed & Robbed on Pattaya Beach Road.........767 views

These people are running a newspaper for profit and in order to generate cash to pay the bills so it is fairly obvious which stories will run.

Pattaya news is a small market where every view and every click counts so I would assume they do not have the luxury of posting all the really nice stuff if there is some high volume nasty stuff available. At the end of the day profit is a function of volume.

[Rimmer]

One inflammatory Troll post deleted

[taninthai]

The unfortunate fact is that sensationalism sells, people love to read about it and the more grisly or off the wall the better, have a look at Pattaya Clipping posts today:

Mass Ordination of Monks organized by Pattaya Police and Pattaya Lions Club.....108 views

Nong Nooch Gardens prepares for Mothers Day parade......40 views

And now these all posted today around the same time.

Norwegian Arrested in Pattaya Underage Sex Bust........912 views

Thai Superstar Bashed & Robbed on Pattaya Beach Road.........767 views

These people are running a newspaper for profit and in order to generate cash to pay the bills so it is fairly obvious which stories will run.

Pattaya news is a small market where every view and every click counts so I would assume they do not have the luxury of posting all the really nice stuff if there is some high volume nasty stuff available. At the end of the day profit is a function of volume.

there is nothing sensationalized in the storys who wants to read about some gardens preparing for mothers day sensationlized is when they hype the story up and maybe exagerate it about, to me their telling it how it is........................

[moo9]

What should the local press of the small city report instead? Getting bored of all the suicide news and accidents (although those are sad individual cases).

I agree, Bangkok could fill an entire daily newspaper with those news probably.

[craigt3365]

When in the US, I cancelled my subscription to the Las Vegas Review Journal. Every day all it reported was robberies, stabbing, shootings, car accidents, etc. It got old. Nothing interesting and very little international/national news. Same is true here. But like Rimmer has said, sensationalism sells. Always has, always will.

It is interesting Bangkok does not have a local rag like we do here. Like stated above, if they did, it would be 5 times as big and filled with all the crazy stuff that only gets reported in the Thai rags. Take a look at those Thai rags someday. Blood and guts all over the front page. I can barely even look at the pics sometimes!

As for all the crimes reported by taninthai, many are Thai related. Again, if this was Bangkok, there would be at least 10 times that amount...check the Thai rags for proof.

P.S. I am one of those 40 views for Nong Nooch Gardens. Might even pop by to see the elephants in the parade....

[mark45y]

I lived in Pattaya for two years. I got rolled once, wallet stolen once, cell phone stolen twice, charged by an angry elephant in a bar once and watched a machete fight once.

I have also lived in Chiang Mai and Bangkok and Rayong. None of those things happened to me in those cities.

Still I like Pattaya. I doubt if I live in Pattaya again will I make a habit of going out after midnight and I have secured my wallet and cell phone better now.

I don’t think I would hang around with that Russian mob guy again, well he was actually Estonian.

And the gay discos to pick up women would be out. I may have upset some people late at night. Not a lot of women at gay discos but when you do find one they are easy to pick up.

The Thai clubs were a lot of fun especially the ones with Issan in their names but may be tempting fate.

[craigt3365]

I lived in Pattaya for two years. I got rolled once, wallet stolen once, cell phone stolen twice, charged by an angry elephant in a bar once and watched a machete fight once.

I have also lived in Chiang Mai and Bangkok and Rayong. None of those things happened to me in those cities.

Still I like Pattaya. I doubt if I live in Pattaya again will I make a habit of going out after midnight and I have secured my wallet and cell phone better now.

I don’t think I would hang around with that Russian mob guy again, well he was actually Estonian.

And the gay discos to pick up women would be out. I may have upset some people late at night. Not a lot of women at gay discos but when you do find one they are easy to pick up.

The Thai clubs were a lot of fun especially the ones with Issan in their names but may be tempting fate.

I know for sure there are people who have gotten rolled, robbed, attacked, etc., in pretty much every city in Thailand. Just because it only happened to you in Pattaya doesn't mean it doesn't happen elsewhere here in Thailand. Though I do agree if you hang out on Beach Road in the wee hours of the morning, your chances of having a problem are greatly increased....

[toenail]

-- By reading the local newspapers, it makes me be more "street wise" / cautious/ on-guard ,,,than if I thought Pattaya was the quaint seaside resort. Let's face it, Pattaya does not attract the 5 star traveling families to the town, but caters mostly to the single male who wants to party and ____, And like most tourist cities around the world, the "locals" are not from the area, but from outside the city;thus, with NO communities ties to the city (except to earn a baht or two).

What scares me are the crime/ deaths we don't read in the newspaper.

[WaatWang]

Just goes to show there really is nothing important going on in Pattaya. If the rags dropped all the SIN CITY stores they would be back to only publishing on a weekly bases.

Of course, this is a story about yellow journalism needing sensationalistic content to feed on. Nothing else. I am convinced the reality on the ground is not even close to being as bad as reading the local crime press would have you think.

I subscribe to TVs SMS service and have received so many messages about bombs going off in Bangkok, Chiang Mai, Issan... I for one am just happy that we don't have that going on here. After living here almost a year now I have never feared for my safety. So I agree with you JingThing, I think the amout of bad news being reported is out of proportion to other places. Sure there are prostitutes drugging tourists, Thai on Thai violence, blah blah blah but I am grateful that I haven't had to worry about possibly being blown apart the next time I need something at Big C.

[Jingthing]

I've lived here for years, worse thing that has happened is a pickpocket of a coin purse on a baht bus, knock on wood. The other day I was almost accosted by an insane prostitute on 2nd road, but once she realized I wasn't drunk, she gave it up. I think that can important, not getting too drunk.

[contemplating]

Of course sensationalism sell, but at least its not as boring as the mayor or other official opening something new, or telling us that everything is fine and there are more tourist than ever, and next month, there will be even more. I wonder if the city hall sponsors these papers? Nothing wrong with some good news, but if it is just BS, then I can do without.