Are There Any Professional Critics In Thailand?

[attrayant]

I just noticed the thread where somebody complains about some awful restaurant. It was locked with the following comment:

topic edited, due to Thailand's criminal defamation laws name and shame is not allowed.

I know the law is what it is, and that's not what this thread is about. My question is: does this mean that there are no such things as restaurant critics, movie reviewers or consumer-advocate type folks in Thailand?

I used to love the consumer reports part of the daily news program back home. Some nice lady would inspect and review products or services and report her findings, letting all know if the product was snake oil or if it really did work as advertised. Is it impossible to have these kinds of public servants, working for the public good, because of Thailand's criminal defamation laws?

[phl]

Has not stopped JT from doing food reviews

[Jingthing]

You can say stuff like the salad was too salty for your taste especially if you say something sort of nice about something else about the restaurant. You can't say the meat was rotten and there were rats hanging from the ceiling ... even if true. Usually in Thailand though in published media they won't even go so far as to say the salad was too salty. A major hint for poor food is when they focus on the decor and atmosphere rather than the food. Also keep in mind, and this is not only Thailand, my understanding is that it is common in other Asian countries like China, MONEY compensation for favorable reviews is widespread.

I think hard core reviewing culture like in big US cities can really help a restaurant scene. Competition and all that. Crummy places WILL close. In a city like Pattaya dominated by not the most sophisticated tourists in the world and locals fresh in from Isaan, MOST restaurants are mediocre at best, and there is no commercial need to be better.

I like to focus on the better choices myself because there are relatively so few of them and I don't like to waste money or meals eating poor food. I'm not a reviewer. I'm a food lover (on a budget).

Edited July 11, 2012 by Jingthing

[phl]

You can say stuff like the salad was too salty for your taste. You can't say the meat was rotten and there were rats hanging from the ceiling ... even if true. Usually in Thailand though in published media they won't even go so far as to say the salad was too salty. A major hint for poor food is when they focus on the decor and atmosphere rather than the food. Also keep in mind, and this is not only Thailand, my understanding is that it is common in other Asian countries like China, MONEY compensation for favorable reviews is widespread.

I think hard core reviewers can really help a restaurant scene. Competition and all that. In a city like Pattaya dominated by not the most sophisticated tourists in the world and locals fresh in from Isaan, MOST restaurants are mediocre at best, and there is no commercial need to be better.

Now i know how you make your living

[Jingthing]

You can say stuff like the salad was too salty for your taste. You can't say the meat was rotten and there were rats hanging from the ceiling ... even if true. Usually in Thailand though in published media they won't even go so far as to say the salad was too salty. A major hint for poor food is when they focus on the decor and atmosphere rather than the food. Also keep in mind, and this is not only Thailand, my understanding is that it is common in other Asian countries like China, MONEY compensation for favorable reviews is widespread.

I think hard core reviewers can really help a restaurant scene. Competition and all that. In a city like Pattaya dominated by not the most sophisticated tourists in the world and locals fresh in from Isaan, MOST restaurants are mediocre at best, and there is no commercial need to be better.

Now i know how you make your living

I should be so lucky. (I'm not.) I was actually offered a reviewing column at a local media outlet but I didn't even respond. Not interested in publishing in a culture where you can't be honest and you are required to write PUFF pieces. On top of that I don't want to do paid work on retirement extensions, etc. When I say I like a place here on this forum, believe me, I mean it. Edited July 11, 2012 by Jingthing

[phl]

You can say stuff like the salad was too salty for your taste. You can't say the meat was rotten and there were rats hanging from the ceiling ... even if true. Usually in Thailand though in published media they won't even go so far as to say the salad was too salty. A major hint for poor food is when they focus on the decor and atmosphere rather than the food. Also keep in mind, and this is not only Thailand, my understanding is that it is common in other Asian countries like China, MONEY compensation for favorable reviews is widespread.

I think hard core reviewers can really help a restaurant scene. Competition and all that. In a city like Pattaya dominated by not the most sophisticated tourists in the world and locals fresh in from Isaan, MOST restaurants are mediocre at best, and there is no commercial need to be better.

Now i know how you make your living

I should be so lucky. (I'm not.) I was actually offered a reviewing position at a local media outlet but I didn't even respond. Not interested in publishing in a culture where you can't be honest.

so................ they did not pay enough?

[Jingthing]

Like I said, I didn't even respond, but now that you mention it, I'm sure the pay would be peanuts. The expected low pay wasn't the reason for my lack of interest.

[smokie36]

Like I said, I didn't even respond, but now that you mention it, I'm sure the pay would be peanuts. The expected low pay wasn't the reason for my lack of interest.

Whatever else I enjoy your food reviews....I just wish you would do more in Bangkok....

[bkkjames]

Like I said, I didn't even respond, but now that you mention it, I'm sure the pay would be peanuts. The expected low pay wasn't the reason for my lack of interest.

Whatever else I enjoy your food reviews....I just wish you would do more in Bangkok....

Smokes, tall guy john aka self proclaimed food expert via california oft does reviews on here about Bangkok restaurants. As for the paid crowd, only the guys from that weekly lifestyle bk magazine seem to have a proper go at restaurants. The rest it seems dont want to bite the hands that feed them, for free.

Edited July 11, 2012 by bkkjames

[smokie36]

Like I said, I didn't even respond, but now that you mention it, I'm sure the pay would be peanuts. The expected low pay wasn't the reason for my lack of interest.

Whatever else I enjoy your food reviews....I just wish you would do more in Bangkok....

Smokes, tall guy john aka self proclaimed food expert via california oft does reviews on here about Bangkok restaurants. As for the paid crowd, only the guys from that weekly lifestyle bk magazine seem to have a proper go at restaurants. The rest it seems dont want to bite the hands that feed them, for free.

Hi James! Good to see you back....I hope you are keeping up with the runs around Lumpini?

You'll need to if you are dining with John regularly!

[bkkjames]

Like I said, I didn't even respond, but now that you mention it, I'm sure the pay would be peanuts. The expected low pay wasn't the reason for my lack of interest.

Whatever else I enjoy your food reviews....I just wish you would do more in Bangkok....

Smokes, tall guy john aka self proclaimed food expert via california oft does reviews on here about Bangkok restaurants. As for the paid crowd, only the guys from that weekly lifestyle bk magazine seem to have a proper go at restaurants. The rest it seems dont want to bite the hands that feed them, for free.

Hi James! Good to see you back....I hope you are keeping up with the runs around Lumpini?

You'll need to if you are dining with John regularly!

Hi Smokes, sorry didnt catch the joke about John, do enlighten me.

Been busy with work and family...speaking of which my 2nd son was born today!

[smokie36]

Hi Smokes, sorry didnt catch the joke about John, do enlighten me.

Been busy with work and family...speaking of which my 2nd son was born today!

Just a reference to his love of buffet lunches.

Huge congratulations to you! And the best of luck re sleepless nights....

[JakeBKK]

Like I said, I didn't even respond, but now that you mention it, I'm sure the pay would be peanuts. The expected low pay wasn't the reason for my lack of interest.

Heard once something like: we pay you 50 satang per word

[kiwiinasia]

I am a professional critic... Its just bloody hard to get paid for it here!

[FarangTalk]

Not allowed to give a restaurant a negative review? How utterly pathetic!

Sent from my GT-I9100T using Thaivisa Connect App

[ricku]

But why can't we do it here on Thaivisa?

Thaivisa is not "Thailand". I think that freedom of speech should be number 1 on here.

There are so many ridiculous regulations that we must follow, even though this a international forum, mainly visited by western people.

I made a thread not long ago where I asked on how to get around thai Internet censorship. My question was instantly deleted because "It is illegal to talk about such things." I do like Thaivisa, but some times it feels like the moderators are working for the thai police force.

Edited November 4, 2012 by ricku

[besth]

Thaivisa is not "Thailand". I think that freedom of speech should be number 1 on here.

[carlspencer]

Hi guys I have recently started working with Bangkok best dining, a fine dining and entertainment magazine publication. We are about to go online with a website and will be giving people who are willing to post good, honest reviews of restaurants in Bangkok a free dinner at a quality joint after they have posted a set number of reviews. If anyone is interested just PM me and I will bring you up to speed on this.

[TallGuyJohninBKK]

I see some of you bad boys have been talking behind my back.... tsk tsk...

First off, I'm no "self proclaimed food expert" as James put it above. Never claimed to be, and certainly don't have the credentials to be. Now if you wanted to say "acclaimed", that might be a different discussion.

But I do enjoy eating good and quality food for a fair price, and I have a background as a professional writer, so sometimes those two things end up coming together.

That said, as for restaurant criticism here, I think it's a pretty precarious thing for several reasons.

1. The criminal libel laws here. It doesn't take much effort for any businessman to go down to their local police station and file a criminal complaint against you -- even if everything you wrote or recounted was 100% accurate. And especially for a farang in this country, that's not the kind of grief, trouble, expense and potential consequences that most of us would want or need.

In my earlier times here, I probably wrote some things here on ThaiVisa about some eateries I'd visited that I just wouldn't say today -- having seen the way political and even business interests here can use the legal system to silence or muffle their critics. They certainly do and have done that on various issues with the "major" Thai and English media outlets here, which are in their own realm large companies with resources and lawyers available to them. So if those big guys can be gagged or intimidated, how about ordinary sods like us?

2. Probably moreso here than in traditional journalism outlets in the West, there's certainly an intertwining of the restaurant reviewing process with the advertising/promotion/revenues process of the media outlets.

Dunno if it's true or not, but one of the local English language magazines just came out with their annual compiling of the "best" restaurants in BKK (almost all of them not surprisingly quite expensive), and the publication made quite a big deal of pointing out to their readers that they were pretty much the only ones reviewing restaurants here (they claimed) who were paying for their own meals, reviewing anonymously, not coordinating with the restaurant owners/chefs/PR people, etc etc.

And 3... for folks who are staying here on retirement visas/extensions, there's that pesky legal/enforcement issue about being forbidden to work, and also technically being forbidden to volunteer, even without pay.

So these days, if I think something is worth mentioning or of interest to folks here on TV, I'll make some brief mention of it. And I'll toss in my general opinion about my experiences at different places and which ones I prefer above others within a certain category of eating. But even here on ThaiVisa, I'd be pretty hesitant to formally rip some lousy place in a detailed written review even if the place deserved it. In that event, I'd just say/write nothing.

Edited April 5, 2013 by TallGuyJohninBKK

[britgent]

TripAdvisor satisfies most my needs.

Most, not all.

Sent from my i-mobile IQ 6A using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app