Media Spin Is Not Working; Public Still In The Dark: Thai Opinion

[webfact]

EDITORIAL

Media spin is not working; public still in the dark

The Nation

Official information on the flood situation is contradictory and confusing; the govt needs to get its act together or go down with the water

For anybody watching TV or reading SMS texts during prime-time news hours these days, one can't escape noticing that there are networks of spin-meisters hard at work out there. Their job is to make Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra look good and respectable, like a God-sent heroine. The more these people try to do this job, the more it has backfired. This helps to explain why there are so many new spokespersons informing audiences at home what the government plans to do about the flood crisis.

One would have thought that such information would be easy to disseminate in a straightforward manner. Unfortunately, that is not the case because most of those involved in the relief operation and public relations efforts are still very partisan. What is sad is how Yingluck's own preference is being undermined. The more she refers to assistance to the flood victims as being a non-partisan endeavour, the more her colleagues and minions do the opposite - in an effort to gain more support from their political base in flood-affected areas.

During this crisis, the government information agencies and personnel have seemingly done their best to explain to anxious Thais about what they might have to face in the next few hours, few days or even months. But everybody has their own theory and rationale, and there is no consensus. In front of the cameras, every spokesperson becomes an instant expert on floods and gives all kinds of advice. Obviously, some can be construed as better than others.

Sad but true, during the earlier weeks of the floodtide, there was absolutely no practical information from the government or advice on how ordinary people ought to cope with the possibility of inundation. All the information was about the volume of water and its diversion from one place to another. So it was left to ordinary people, some of whom have never experienced anything so dreadful, to figure out themselves what to do.

Based on untimely and inaccurate information, people went out to stock up on food, water and other basic necessities. Over the past few days nearly a million Bangkokians have left their homes for dry land outside the capital. Few have heeded the oft-heard official advice - don't panic but be prepared - which comes too late and too little.

The new government spokesperson, Dr Tongthong Chantrarangsu, has done a better job in explaining the latest data and trying to frame expectations for the public for the coming days. But this seems not to have helped much because the prime minister has not been able to provide the kind of leadership and spirit that is needed in a time of crisis. Every time we see her on TV, her body language does not flow with her narrative. She has wept several times in the process. Tears can draw sympathy but will not stop the deluge or reduce anxieties among the public. When the nation is in crisis, as it is today, there is no room for mediocrity or politicking, which have unfortunately been the government trademarks over the past few weeks. Not surprisingly, allegations already abound of misused funds and hoarding of relief items including foodstuffs and water.

Positive spin on news can be considered normal in any democracy and media-consumed society like Thailand. However, when the government and its information teams overcook data and views, and cannot agree on anything, it turns the government into a theatre of the absurd. What is not timely and accurate can cause destruction and despair. Yingluck has no more time to lose; she either stays to help manage this situation and the rehabilitation in the aftermath, or she has to go with the floods.

-- The Nation 2011-11-03

[tominbkk]

I do not rely even 1% on what the govt. is saying. Thank goodness for forums like Thai Visa to allow us to share the truth with one another. I have been relying on my own eyes, the smart locals around my village, and Thai Visa to get me through. Tell the truth, I rarely turn on broadcast TV, and definitely did not start it up at this time! People's eyes are all peeled at the TV in the lobby at my hotel, whenever the news is on, and it is all pap.

Edited November 3, 2011 by tominbkk

[yoshiwara]

Call it bad luck if you will but Yingluck and her cabinet were not expected to manage a crisis. Yingluck's job was to win an election and provide an attractive face for PTP and lessen memories of the snarling reds. The cabinet members were appointed to effect one priority: get Thaksin back to Thailand without being locked up at the airport.

Unfortunately as Macmillan (a former British PM) once commented, events happen to disrupt well-laid plans. The floods crisis has exposed the threadbare capabilities of the government. The Nation is, in its article, pointing to Yingluck as not really being up to managing, but since she is a clone the fingers should be pointing to her brother Thaksin. He appointed her, he chose the cabinet members and his interests supersede any other considerations. Yingluck is just collateral damage. Another one to take his bullet if necessary.

[Moruya]

You are right Tom but further than the ex-pat community and thanks largely to many Thais now having smartphones and being able to access real time news and social media updates, the public is pretty much fully aware of what's going on.

[h90]

Call it bad luck if you will but Yingluck and her cabinet were not expected to manage a crisis. Yingluck's job was to win an election and provide an attractive face for PTP and lessen memories of the snarling reds. The cabinet members were appointed to effect one priority: get Thaksin back to Thailand without being locked up at the airport.

Unfortunately as Macmillan (a former British PM) once commented, events happen to disrupt well-laid plans. The floods crisis has exposed the threadbare capabilities of the government. The Nation is, in its article, pointing to Yingluck as not really being up to managing, but since she is a clone the fingers should be pointing to her brother Thaksin. He appointed her, he chose the cabinet members and his interests supersede any other considerations. Yingluck is just collateral damage. Another one to take his bullet if necessary.

Well it would have been so easy: Declare State of Emergency. Wait. The army would have done it but still a lot would have been flooded. When the flood is nearly over blame the army for all the problems.

In public minds it will be seen that just when Yinglucks takes power back the water goes down. The army can be blamed and maybe some generals can be kicked (if you do something there will be wrong things which can be inflated).

No need to be a good manager to do that

[Jaivin2011]

I know that its mean to say this......but the thais deserve whats hapenning to them as they voted in this stupid govt. Also the pure thais should start some firm actions after the floods as the thai chinese are the ones that are exploiting the whle situation by marking up rices, etc.

[jonclark]

I know that its mean to say this......but the thais deserve whats hapenning to them as they voted in this stupid govt. Also the pure thais should start some firm actions after the floods as the thai chinese are the ones that are exploiting the whle situation by marking up rices, etc.

Please define 'pure Thai' - Thailand is a mix of many ethnicities and the mainstay of Thai ancestry came from China 400 years ago (or so). How can i tell if a Thai person is pure Thai and more importantly how do pure Thais know if another person is pure Thai? DNA Check?

Your post is racist based on stereotypical assumptions of appearance and skin color.

[whybother]

I know that its mean to say this......but the thais deserve whats hapenning to them as they voted in this stupid govt. Also the pure thais should start some firm actions after the floods as the thai chinese are the ones that are exploiting the whle situation by marking up rices, etc.

This sounds like one of those religious statements: "Hurricane Katrina Struck New Orleans Because It Was 'Planning A Sinful' 'Homosexual Rally'".

It wouldn't have mattered who was in power. They wouldn't have been able to stop the flooding.

[huanga]

I know that its mean to say this......but the thais deserve whats hapenning to them as they voted in this stupid govt. Also the pure thais should start some firm actions after the floods as the thai chinese are the ones that are exploiting the whle situation by marking up rices, etc.

get back to your racist hole where you crawled out from...

pure Thai - define what this is??

Thai Chinese - the only one that is jacking up the prices???

How about the landlord that raises the rent price and the politicians that are hording the relief supplies and the boat taxis that are charging unusual amount for the short trip inside to the moo baan. The list goes on and they all got to be Thai-Chinese then.. I would rather you just say supply and demand, the human greed, the inhuman actions, etc, and drop your racist hat!

because you are sounding to me like a PURE IGNORANT BUFFONE

Edited November 3, 2011 by huanga

[Bpuumike]

You are right Tom but further than the ex-pat community and thanks largely to many Thais now having smartphones and being able to access real time news and social media updates, the public is pretty much fully aware of what's going on.

The public might be aware of what's going on hour by hour as events unfold but they have no clear idea of what's going to happen next. Apart from their mismanagement of the flooding, the government mismanagement of information has been abysmal both before and during the flooding and continues still.

This is not in any way a capable and competent government, purely a façade, and I hope the Thai people will realise a façade for what.

[jybkk]

I know that its mean to say this......but the thais deserve whats hapenning to them as they voted in this stupid govt. Also the pure thais should start some firm actions after the floods as the thai chinese are the ones that are exploiting the whle situation by marking up rices, etc.

This sounds like one of those religious statements: "Hurricane Katrina Struck New Orleans Because It Was 'Planning A Sinful' 'Homosexual Rally'".

It wouldn't have mattered who was in power. They wouldn't have been able to stop the flooding.

I believe the situation is more complicated than: "the government is responsible" or its opposite "nobody could have done anything".

This disaster seems to me as the combination of:

• exceptional rainfalls at the end of the rainy season
• bad water management since april (i.e.: under supervision of 2 different governments, water was stored in the dams much earlier than previous years, despite normal rainfall at that time)
• bad coordination in the disaster management once it was inevitable

I don't think any of us here in Thaivisa have enough elements to determine which of these 3 factors were the most critical and to what extent the crisis could have been adverted or lessened.

This can only come from an inquiry conducted later on by independent experts, which we know won't happen here.

However, the crisis is still not finished, and I'd really like the government get their s***t together, especially with the rescue operations in the flooded zones. Some of my relatives are in 1.5m of water for 2 weeks already. They are staying partly because we bought a small motor boat which allow us to bring supplies anytime to them and many of their neighbors who had nowhere else to go. It seems they haven't seen any official/rescue team yet.

I'd like to see the FROC on TV point to a map and show, per region, how much boats, trucks, personnel are deployed. How their supply chain is organized. Which area they can reach already and which they can't.... Organizing supply in adverse conditions is supposed to be one of the main focus of any respectable army in the world as you can't win anything without that. Have the thousands of Thai generals been trained for that or are their stars and medals only rewarding bureaucratic skills?

[sparebox2]

As usual, 1% of the people make 99% of the news.

To be hornest, I have been in bangkok for a long, and I have not seen even a mm of water. Maybe I am lucky to live and work in downtown. Maybe I am just the 99% of the people who do not appears on the news.

Remember last years? 99% of Bangkok life goes on as usual; howvere BBC et al make us believe that bangkok is like Beirut of the past decade. Go search u-tube for "Battle of bankok" etc, you can see the whole city burnt to the ground, shooting in every street coners, people dying en-mass. I admit I have never been to Beirut. But i guess that life goes on as usual for 99% of peopole in Beirut, at the time when bad news stream out hourly.

In every crisis, I still feel sorry for the 1% however.

[jonclark]

I know that its mean to say this......but the thais deserve whats hapenning to them as they voted in this stupid govt. Also the pure thais should start some firm actions after the floods as the thai chinese are the ones that are exploiting the whle situation by marking up rices, etc.

This sounds like one of those religious statements: "Hurricane Katrina Struck New Orleans Because It Was 'Planning A Sinful' 'Homosexual Rally'".

It wouldn't have mattered who was in power. They wouldn't have been able to stop the flooding.

I believe the situation is more complicated than: "the government is responsible" or its opposite "nobody could have done anything".

This disaster seems to me as the combination of:

• exceptional rainfalls at the end of the rainy season
• bad water management since april (i.e.: under supervision of 2 different governments, water was stored in the dams much earlier than previous years, despite normal rainfall at that time)
• bad coordination in the disaster management once it was inevitable

I don't think any of us here in Thaivisa have enough elements to determine which of these 3 factors were the most critical and to what extent the crisis could have been adverted or lessened.

This can only come from an inquiry conducted later on by independent experts, which we know won't happen here.

However, the crisis is still not finished, and I'd really like the government get their s***t together, especially with the rescue operations in the flooded zones. Some of my relatives are in 1.5m of water for 2 weeks already. They are staying partly because we bought a small motor boat which allow us to bring supplies anytime to them and many of their neighbors who had nowhere else to go. It seems they haven't seen any official/rescue team yet.

I'd like to see the FROC on TV point to a map and show, per region, how much boats, trucks, personnel are deployed. How their supply chain is organized. Which area they can reach already and which they can't.... Organizing supply in adverse conditions is supposed to be one of the main focus of any respectable army in the world as you can't win anything without that. Have the thousands of Thai generals been trained for that or are their stars and medals only rewarding bureaucratic skills?

JyyBkk - Liked the last paragraph of your post, would be interesting seeing if FROC knows what's its got and where it is. It seems to me that the onus is still on flood prevention as opposed to help those stranded. Here in miniburi we've seen sweet FA and most of the people in my moo ban have basically started to work collectively. One of the local restaurants has in he moo ban is asking for help and supplies from all the residents and getting people together to cook for the entire moo ban as supplies run low so that everyone gets at least a single hot meal a day. Very mush like what you see in the temples upcountry if there is a funeral - the local women all go and cook the food for the funeral at the temple and take their turn helping out.

Also gives people a place to meet, eat and take their mind of the current situation and generally life the spirits of people a bit. Wife has already disappeared with some rice, spices and pork.

[Gippy]

1320286783[/url]' post='4817773']

As usual, 1% of the people make 99% of the news.

To be hornest, I have been in bangkok for a long, and I have not seen even a mm of water. Maybe I am lucky to live and work in downtown. Maybe I am just the 99% of the people who do not appears on the news.

Remember last years? 99% of Bangkok life goes on as usual; howvere BBC et al make us believe that bangkok is like Beirut of the past decade. Go search u-tube for "Battle of bankok" etc, you can see the whole city burnt to the ground, shooting in every street coners, people dying en-mass. I admit I have never been to Beirut. But i guess that life goes on as usual for 99% of peopole in Beirut, at the time when bad news stream out hourly.

In every crisis, I still feel sorry for the 1% however.

1%? Look at a map of how much of Thailand and Bangkok is flooded and then see if your figure of 1% is realistic.

[zydeco]

This government, FROC, and all the other "decision makers" should do the honorable thing. Retire themselves--permanently.

[Eileenchog]

Problem is who speaks for the Government

Suggest that all reporters etc have to quote the Supplier of Information Rank, Name, and name of Government Department in any article they write.

If they cannot do this then do not allow publication. If it is still published then apply draconian fines or punishment

Any person either reporter or supplier of information to be penalised if Info is wrong or distorted

This probably needs to be revised into proper legal terms.

Edited November 3, 2011 by soundman
Font.

[DocN]

I know that its mean to say this......but the thais deserve whats hapenning to them as they voted in this stupid govt. Also the pure thais should start some firm actions after the floods as the thai chinese are the ones that are exploiting the whle situation by marking up rices, etc.

Yes it is mean to say. And it is stupid as well. Did you go to the election, saying "Oh well...let's see which of these parties will serve me best in an earthquake?" If you did, I hope you voted "NO!".

[Moruya]

You are right Tom but further than the ex-pat community and thanks largely to many Thais now having smartphones and being able to access real time news and social media updates, the public is pretty much fully aware of what's going on.

The public might be aware of what's going on hour by hour as events unfold but they have no clear idea of what's going to happen next. Apart from their mismanagement of the flooding, the government mismanagement of information has been abysmal both before and during the flooding and continues still.

This is not in any way a capable and competent government, purely a façade, and I hope the Thai people will realise a façade for what.

I hope the public will see so too - at least now they are beginning to have access to the facts. As a technologist I find it interesting to watch the majority of the Thai nation bypass the PCbypass Microsoft!!!) and start their "computing" with IOS or Android.

[inquisitive]

I know that its mean to say this......but the thais deserve whats hapenning to them as they voted in this stupid govt. Also the pure thais should start some firm actions after the floods as the thai chinese are the ones that are exploiting the whle situation by marking up rices, etc.

I've heard quite a few people express what you just wrote. I told them that they were perhaps being unkind, and asked why the apparant hostility. They told me that if the Thais had voted in this government by mistake, or misunderstanding, or plain ignorance, it would be different. They said that the two reasons they were feeling anger were 1) that they loved thios country and only wanted to see good come for it; and 2) the voters that messed it all up were motivated by pure greed. They sold their votes, they voted for free handouts, and they didn't care what happened to everyone else. Yes, I was told, you could make a case that the voters were stupid to believe the outrageous campaign promises, but the truth is that like every victim of a con artist, if they hadn't been blinded by greed, they would have realized that something was wrong and averted their own destruction.

[Arkady]

I know that its mean to say this......but the thais deserve whats hapenning to them as they voted in this stupid govt. Also the pure thais should start some firm actions after the floods as the thai chinese are the ones that are exploiting the whle situation by marking up rices, etc.

Please define 'pure Thai' - Thailand is a mix of many ethnicities and the mainstay of Thai ancestry came from China 400 years ago (or so). How can i tell if a Thai person is pure Thai and more importantly how do pure Thais know if another person is pure Thai? DNA Check?

Your post is racist based on stereotypical assumptions of appearance and skin color.

If you really analyse things in racial terms the super rich Chinese Thais have conspired with ethnic Thai, Lao and Khmer Thais to put the squeeze on middle class Chinese Thais and Southerners of all ethnic background. The racial undertones are all mixed up.

[Gweiloman]

I know that its mean to say this......but the thais deserve whats hapenning to them as they voted in this stupid govt. Also the pure thais should start some firm actions after the floods as the thai chinese are the ones that are exploiting the whle situation by marking up rices, etc.

You are just a troll and enjoy baiting everyone in the forum with your outrageous posts, in many other threads.