Our Rights To Privacy

[Wavefloater]

As much as I find the Pattaya One News and Pattaya Daily News sites to be in very bad taste, I have to admit that I occasionally go to them. Today there was a story about another victim who was drugged by a girl and cleaned out for a fair bit of cash and belongings. The victim went to the police station to report the incident and that's where (apparently) the people from Pattaya One News took pictures of him and even his passport (as they typically do). <br /><br />If I were the victim, I'd be feeling pretty bad and embarrassed, and the last thing I'd want is some a$$hole sticking a camera in my face or laying my passport out on a table to take a photo of the main page, yet we see that this type of thing happens regularly at Pattaya One News.<br /><br />I assume the police are fine with these voyeuristic creeps from PON doing that, but would I have a legal right to refuse these sick and mentally twisted pseudo-journalists from taking pictures and using them for their own profit and titillation by writing (to use the term loosely) a news article for their web site?<br /><br />Personally, if I were in a distressing situation and somebody from one of these tasteless e-rags tried to take pictures, the piece of garbage would be eating his camera or pulling it out of his backside.

[happyrobert]

Yep, couldn't agree more.

When I got finished with him and he recovered his camera, he could print photos of his large intestine.

Same with PDN. The National Enquirers of Thailand. Total trash.

[jdinasia]

Then another set of photographers would be taking your photos for the criminal act .... and yes a conviction on a criminal offense can and often does mean .... bye bye to Thailand.

[Soutpeel]

I agree very bad taste....but believe the worst part of this is that I believe both these "rags" are run by farangs who should know better...

If it was a case of the criminals themselves just getting their details published one could at least "understand this"....but passport numbers/photographs of the victims.....

I suppose you cannot even appeal to their journalistic "integrity" as they would have to be journalists to start with....

Shame on PON..PDN....

[mrtoad]

I agree very bad taste....but believe the worst part of this is that I believe both these "rags" are run by farangs who should know better...

If it was a case of the criminals themselves just getting their details published one could at least "understand this"....but passport numbers/photographs of the victims.....

I suppose you cannot even appeal to their journalistic "integrity" as they would have to be journalists to start with....

Shame on PON..PDN....

Yeah, but don't think those particular individuals have a lot of integrity

[Travel2003]

People buy the rags, so there is money to be made from them.

If money can be made of something, someone will make it and sell it.

Reminds me of peoples anger at the paparazzies after princess Diana died.

The very same people who were feeding the papparazzies by buying gossip papers with pictures taken by them.

I do not think there is any strong laws in regards to peoples privacy rights here in Thailand.

Someone in the Forum with more legal experience might answer that.

Remember the alleged highway robbers (robbed trucks and killed the drivers) that were caught.

One of the widows was allowed to walk over to the table and slap the face of one of the arrested.

On live coverage, BEFORE the trial.

Anyone arrested (guilty or innocent) is normally paraded infront of the cameras, or placed behind a table, with smiling Police officers standing behind them.

Privacy or human rights?

Hmm, very few.

[Richard4849]

Why should farangs know any better? Because they wre farangs and not Thais? When the world's most expoitstive tabloids are all owned and managed by farangs for farangs? I have to say, I don't understand the thought process here.

[happyrobert]

Then another set of photographers would be taking your photos for the criminal act .... and yes a conviction on a criminal offense can and often does mean .... bye bye to Thailand.

Hmm, tempting.

Think they'd pay my flight home?

[Mario2008]

Read the Thai constitution. As well as sever treaties to which Thailand is party it requires the government to respect ones privacy and only with a valid reason can the government violate ones privacy.

Many government policies are probably in violation of the constitution.

[Richard4849]

No. After you get out of jail, you stay in immigration lock-up up until you can pay your own way home. Indefinitely.

Still tempting?

[thunder30101]

I think if someone printed a copy of my passport in a newspaper I would file a complaint with my embassy, then I would stomp a mudhole in their arse.

[Richard4849]

Neither of which would achieve anything...

[melvinmelvin]

Whats the big thing about publishing a passport number?

In several English speaking countries the news publish name/address/age of anyone being arrested

as a suspect of having comitted a crime.

Hows that for personal integrity?

[DP25]

I suppose you cannot even appeal to their journalistic "integrity" as they would have to be journalists to start with....

I don't know why anyone would expect a journalist to have integrity. Especially the foreign journalists here, where the English language market is small and crowded and no one outside is interested. They're selling a product. If it sells and it's not illegal they will publish it. Some can aim at certain markets where they don't have to or can not be exploitative, but most can not.

[thunder30101]

Well being a certain middle eastern country likes to equip their hit squads with stolen passport numbers quite regularly I think they would be concerned enough to call them and explain the seriousness of it.

[saraburioz]

Today there was a story about another victim who was drugged by a girl and cleaned out for a fair bit of cash and belongings

Who is the victim here?

The monger is breaking the law. In case you didn't know, prostitution is illegal.

These girls are the victims.

[Richard4849]

Buying sexual services is not illegal. Only selling them is.

[mrtoad]

Today there was a story about another victim who was drugged by a girl and cleaned out for a fair bit of cash and belongings

Who is the victim here?

The monger is breaking the law. In case you didn't know, prostitution is illegal.

These girls are the victims.

I'm guessing that is said with tounge firmly in cheek.

[StreetCowboy]

I think if someone printed a copy of my passport in a newspaper I would file a complaint with my embassy, then I would stomp a mudhole in their arse.

I think I'd rant on an anonymous forum to make myself look hard.

That would discourage them from doing it again.

Then I would tear up one of their newspapers, to show that I meant business.

And I would start buying a paper every day from their competitor... no I wouldn't. Its not that bad. I really couldn't be bothered buying a paper every day. Not unless it had loads of pictures of people's passports in it

SC

[happyrobert]

Richard4849-

Do you have any:

sense of humor?

friends?

downtime for your ego?

Bovril?

[StreetCowboy]

Richard4849-

Do you have any:

sense of humor?

friends?

downtime for your ego?

Bovril?

You don't need to answer the first three - he only cares about the Bovril

To be fair, he's got me hankering for a bitter cold dark rainy afternoon in the piercing wind, standing on the terraces, a mutton pie and singed scalded lips from trying to drink still-boiling beef tea.

SC

EDIT: better use of vocabulary...

[happyrobert]

It's the same everywhere, ultimately.

In America, there's nothing left of our rights.

[Richard4849]

Richard4849-

Do you have any:

sense of humor?

friends?

downtime for your ego?

Bovril?

Huh? I don't even know &lt;deleted&gt; Bovril is!

[ballpoint]

Richard4849-

Do you have any:

sense of humor?

friends?

downtime for your ego?

Bovril?

Huh? I don't even know &lt;deleted&gt; Bovril is!

[ballpoint]

Then another set of photographers would be taking your photos for the criminal act .... and yes a conviction on a criminal offense can and often does mean .... bye bye to Thailand.

But it would be worth it just to do the re-enactment in front of the national TV cameras. Following surgical removal, see a man get his own camera re-shoved up his arse on Channel 3 news!

[moe666]

You donot really have a right to privacy from a newspaper. The laws in most countries enshrined in there constitutions only protects you from the government.

[johna]

Publishing a photo of his passport only confirms what every one knows, that a single European man traveling to Thailand is a sex tourist.

Pattaya has a well deserved reputation for this type of crime which he should have been aware of.

[trisailer]

Anonymous macho posturing aside, can anyone answer the question of; do the VICTIMS have any right to privacy? Would we have any legal standing to decline to allow our passports photographed? In this age of cybercrime I would think we do have some rights. Maybe tape over private information like our passport number. Any lawyers out there?

I don't much care about the criminals.

[Soutpeel]

Publishing a photo of his passport only confirms what every one knows, that a single European man traveling to Thailand is a sex tourist.

Maybe he was in Thailand to look at the temples / experience the culture or play golf at many of the world class courses around Pattaya