webfact Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 EDITORIALEthics and the law play second fiddleThe NationThe media have ignored the legal rights of a teenage actress who may or may not have taken drugsBANGKOK: -- Shortly after the father of a young actress from a hit TV show held an "urgent" press conference to acknowledge that his daughter had used an illegal drug, the news media rushed to publish with no compunction about printing the 16-year-old's name.Her father had extended an apology to society, admitting his daughter "tried it once". His words were amplified first on the mainstream media and then on the social media. Images from his press conference photos were published and broadcast alongside the previously leaked photo that sparked the commotion, in which the girl was seen with equipment needed to smoke "crystal" methamphetamine.The story spread like wildfire, and few were concerned about naming the girl despite her status as a minor. At 16, her identity is protected by the law and cannot be publicly revealed amid criminal accusations. But the public was only interested in sharing a "sensational" story as quickly as possible.This can be viewed as another failure in terms of media ethics. It could also be a real setback for the child-protection law implemented two decades ago.The story reaffirms that the Thai media still have a long way to go in developing ethical standards that meet the expectations and intentions of the law. Although such infringements of rights occur less frequently than they did in the past, the media have failed again. Tempted by such a "newsworthy" story, four newspapers published photos and the name of the actress.Warnings from groups including the Press Council of Thailand seem inadequate in preventing the publication of such details when they stories are deemed lurid enough. The attitude of the media seems to be, "If we don't do it, someone else will."Few news outlets honoured the rights of the actress the first day, and on the second day things got worse when she and her father visited the Office of the Narcotics Control Board. Police General Pongsapat Pongcharoen then took them to meet Labour Minister Chalerm Yoobamrung, who "paraded" them in front of cameramen. Acting as director of the government's effort to stem the trade in illegal drugs, Chalerm told the press, "She's clean."The story was soon on almost every TV channel and in every newspaper. Some blurred her, image but everyone could see a girl sitting there sobbing. Meanwhile Chalerm managed to blow things further out of proportion by declaring illogically that she hadn't in fact taken any drugs and her father had overreacted. Either way, non-governmental groups condemned Chalerm for failing to observe the girl's rights.Chalerm and Pongsapat are just the last examples of Thais who still do not understand why children's rights need protecting. Despite being police officers themselves, they failed to uphold the law. Mind you, it's not much of a law. While promising blanket protection to children, with violators liable to six months in jail or fines up to Bt60,000 or both, the law has not once been evoked in 20 years. So figures in authority like Chalerm and Pongsapat - and the media - can continue making excuses for infringing on rights. Yet there is still no justification for doing so.It is time the public, the authorities and the media showed a greater determination in protecting the rights of youngsters, and similar restraint in exploiting them in cases such as this.This case will not be the last. It will take a supreme effort to prevent another sordid spectacle of the kind we have seen over the last few days.-- The Nation 2013-07-31 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurnell Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rkidlad Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 "Ethics and the law play second fiddle" Is this exclusively geared towards this story or is this geared towards day to day life? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ezzra Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? What is the Thai word for fair disclosure, integrity, common sense, lateral thinking, diligence, loyalty, I can go on an on.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatsujin Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? What is the Thai word for fair disclosure, integrity, common sense, lateral thinking, diligence, loyalty, I can go on an on.... Even if those words do exist in the Thai language, very few have them, or follow them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaltsc Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? The same as it is for anything that has to do with personal responsibility "mai pen rai" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OzMick Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 (edited) I can think of quite a few more worthy subjects for that headline. Edited July 31, 2013 by OzMick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigbamboo Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 You can take a masters degree in Ethics at one of those buy one, get one American universities. Imagine a course in Thai Ethics here.... a student's dream! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Skywalker69 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? ja-ri ya-ton rom (จริยธรรม) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 The public has forgotten her name in 1 week.... Better than the European way where you aren't allowed to mention the nationality or ethnic in the newspaper because it would be racist. I complete disagree with Thailands laws for narcotics. But if something brakes the law it is wrong to twist the story still the wrongdoer seems to be the victim... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hellodolly Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I wonder how the man was allowed to print that in the Nation. "The story reaffirms that the Thai media still have a long way to go in developing ethical standards that meet the expectations and intentions of the law." Ethical standards I am sure mean writing articles about the head lines not other things. They also include checking the facts before printing them. Maybe the law dosen't say that but the law is not meant to define ethics. Ethics is some thing you will have to read other papers than the Nation to find. Even there you will see ethics not always being upheld. When I first arrived in Thailand and had only been here about a week I was told that for information I would have to read the Bangkok Post (Mod if you wish you may change that to the other paper) The Nation was very unreliable. That was about 4 years before I heard of Thai Visa and got to see they were rite in their comments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kurnell Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? ja-ri ya-ton rom (จริยธรรม) Excellent. I was starting to wonder if it existed. There is no word for "plan" yes? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomerangutang Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 No matter where Chalerm is placed, he'll be sure to make an ass of himself. He can blame it on the ear medicine he needs to take, all his waking hours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winstonc Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 why are we not allowed to say......bangkok post..please..do tell.offtopic sorry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andre0720 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? What is the Thai word for fair disclosure, integrity, common sense, lateral thinking, diligence, loyalty, I can go on an on.... Even if those words do exist in the Thai language, very few have them, or follow them. Or even would know how to spell them.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drdoom6996 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Ethics in this country is kind of like Democracy, nobody knows what they really mean! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggusoil Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? What is the Thai word for fair disclosure, integrity, common sense, lateral thinking, diligence, loyalty, I can go on an on.... Do you also walk like a duck? Then when we start shooting you will know about ducking. etc etc etc Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maggusoil Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Take it easy here, the only reason it doesn't happen in all those brilliant ethical, transparent, responsible, civilised societies you angels of integrity, wisdom and justice come from, is because they would get the s..t sued out of them if they did. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h90 Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Ethics in this country is kind of like Democracy, nobody knows what they really mean! I really don't know a country where Democracy means something, currently. The western countries aren't much better, just they hide the problems better. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai at Heart Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? ja-ri ya-ton rom (จริยธรรม) Not surprising I have never learnt that one. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GentlemanJim Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 The story reaffirms that the Thai media still have a long way to go in developing ethical standards that meet the expectations and intentions of the law. Can I suggest that when the Thai media comes up with a blueprint to fix this issue it hands it on to the Government so they can implement it as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tingtongteesood Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 Ethics and the law play second fiddle - to making money ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dap Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? ja-ri ya-ton rom (จริยธรรม) Not surprising I have never learnt that one. The wife is telling me that there are two Thai words for ethics; khun-na-tam and ja-ri-ya-tam. Neither of which are used extensively (if at all) in these parts Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boomerangutang Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 I never even hear the word 'garuna' spoken in Thailand, which the Thai word for 'please'. Oddly, it's usually one of the first 20 Thai words that farang are shown to learn. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
English_M_in_Bkk Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 The public has forgotten her name in 1 week.... Better than the European way where you aren't allowed to mention the nationality or ethnic in the newspaper because it would be racist. I complete disagree with Thailands laws for narcotics. But if something brakes the law it is wrong to twist the story still the wrongdoer seems to be the victim... ahhh that anti-pc brigade, making up any old rubbish to reinforce their crazy views. Seriously? You really think newspapers aren't allowed to mention ethnicity lol have you ever read the anti-foreigner rhetoric of the UK press? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thai at Heart Posted July 31, 2013 Share Posted July 31, 2013 What is the constitutional punishment for violating someone's rights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hookedondhamma Posted August 1, 2013 Share Posted August 1, 2013 What is the Thai word for "ethics"? ja-ri ya-ton rom (จริยธรรม) ja-ri ya-tam (the two 'r' can be tricky sometimes) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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