German photojournalist attacked

[TVGerry]

They support getting rid of an ineffectual and corrupt government. And also kicking out a red shirt heckling them, hiding behind his 'journalist' badge. A fruitful day.

You will never know the truth, This mob support a dictatorship so it is hard to imagine them ever admitting thet were in the wrong

[Thaddeus]

I think Suthep could now be overstepping the mark by invading buildings.

There. I said it. Can I be viewed as neutral now please?

Too late

You have now been automatically categorized by the highly respected (some of them even respectful) Thaivisa career posters as a brainwashed supporter of the ugliest regime in the world and its poor, uneducated, criminal red thugs

He has not been categorised by this member as such..... far from it..... and I would expect many others would say the same.

[diceq]

Reading through the posts it has become very clear that the hardcore Red Shirt/PT/Thaksin lovers agree with Nick's views. The rest don't.

I am not a Thaksin supporter just because I am against fascism and pro democracy. You may not like the current government, but you should respect the will of the people.

[diceq]

They support getting rid of an ineffectual and corrupt government. And also kicking out a red shirt heckling them, hiding behind his 'journalist' badge. A fruitful day.

And how is the current government any more corrupt than the last military dictatorships Thailand has had? You have no arguments, just hypocritical baseless claims.

[Robby nz]

"Speaking to our correspondent later, Mr. Nostitz said he was arguing with the protest guards when he was spotted by former Democrat MP Chumpon Junsai, who pointed his finger to Mr. Nostitz, accused him of being a "Redshirt reporter", and urged the crowd to evict him from the protest site. The photojournalist was promptly assaulted by the crowd."

It would seem that the above is Nicks side of the story.

And as has been pointed out, there are usually 2 sides.

It was reported on facebook by someone who was there that his 'argument' included swearing and abuse.

The video which I saw and which at least one other poster on here said they saw, showed him being shoved out, and not very roughly.

Another poster said they had seen a photo of him showing off injuries to the police, which amounted to something that could not be seen on the photo.

I never saw that so cant comment.

However it does seem from reports that he was back the next day for another go.

All makes a good story though "Journalist attacked"

[Henn]

Where can I see the writings of this Nick Noztits fellow? I'm quite intersted to see how he could support the reds. I have been following thai news for a few years now and I have pretty much never seen any newspaper article, blog or forum post that didn't depicted Pheu Thai as completly clueless or borderline retarded.

http://www.stickmanbangkok.com/interview/interview6.html

[longway]

They support getting rid of an ineffectual and corrupt government. And also kicking out a red shirt heckling them, hiding behind his 'journalist' badge. A fruitful day.

And how is the current government any more corrupt than the last military dictatorships Thailand has had? You have no arguments, just hypocritical baseless claims.

TBF I think the rice scam is set to become legendary in terms of its greed and incompetence; even by thai standards.

[diceq]

TBF I think the rice scam is set to become legendary in terms of its greed and incompetence; even by thai standards.

The rice scam is nothing compared to the car subsidies. But still, you did not answer my question. How is the current government anymore corrupt than the last military dictatorships that Thailand has had? And why are you pretending that we don't have similar corruption in the U.S and Europe?

[JRSoul]

TBF I think the rice scam is set to become legendary in terms of its greed and incompetence; even by thai standards.

The rice scam is nothing compared to the car subsidies. But still, you did not answer my question. How is the current government anymore corrupt than the last military dictatorships that Thailand has had? And why are you pretending that we don't have similar corruption in the U.S and Europe?

Longway: I think the rice scam is set to become legendary in terms of its greed and incompetence; even by thai standards.

You: The rice scam is nothing compared to the car subsidies

They are both policies of the current government.

You: How is the current government anymore corrupt than the last military dictatorships that Thailand has had?

The answer is scale

[longway]

TBF I think the rice scam is set to become legendary in terms of its greed and incompetence; even by thai standards.

The rice scam is nothing compared to the car subsidies. But still, you did not answer my question. How is the current government anymore corrupt than the last military dictatorships that Thailand has had? And why are you pretending that we don't have similar corruption in the U.S and Europe?

The last military dictatorhsip was too incomptent to steal as much as this governement, they mainly just sat on their hands wishing they were at the golf course, before nodding off in the afternoons.

So thats the difference.

I am not sure where I pretended anything, I never mentioned the USA or Europe and neither did you until now.

[Somtamnication]

Well, lets see.

In 2010, a Japanese and Italian photojournalist murdered.

These mobs will turn on any falang, especially if alcohol is present. Stay away. It is their country, their circus.

And buy a telephoto lens.

[Scott]

This thread is about the German photojournalist. Please stay on topic.

There are plenty of threads about corruption, the rice scheme and the car scheme. If you wish to discuss them, then post in the right thread. Further off-topic posts will be deleted.

[Scott]

Off-topic posts removed.

[jayboy]

So because people engage in debate (or full blown arguments) with people who could be described as politically aligned, they therefore must be non-partisan? And we should forget about the 100's of posts made by NN, on NM, here and elsewhere suggesting otherwise...?

You know as well as I do that Andrew Spoooooner could well be described as "paranoid" (to put it very mildly), and is prepared to fire off any accusation - maybe it's just for the attention. Only yesterday he was accusing BP of having a hidden agenda with the Dems. For real.

He is completely wrong.The BP agenda for the Democrat Party not hidden at all.

Meanwhile I see the appalling comments and threats (mostly deleted by mods - many thanks by the way) on this thread about the assault, including some from a few who should have known better, have caught the attention of others.

Anyway as a nod to the crazies and the haters, here is a piece fron Tony Cartalucci on the subject.To say it is nuttier than a fruit cake is doing a disservice to fruit cakes.

http://altthainews.blogspot.com/2013/11/german-journalist-attacked-at-thai.html

[Dogmatix]

*Deleted posts edited out*

DrDweeb has hit the nail on the head IMHO. Von Nostitz's well developed ego must have got the better of him and caused him to start believing his own protestations of impartiality, so that he thought he was invisible. He took his own risk going where he did and doing what he did and thankfully wasn't seriously injured.

Now his name and picture have been posted liberally around Facebook and Thai websites with copious hateful comments referring to him, for example, as an f***ing redshirt farang phoney journalist and nasty threats to sew up his eyes and lips and cut off his ears, or report him to Immigration for visa offences with the most outrageous comments scoring copious "likes". This and the violence at the rally site shouldn't happen to anyone. I feel really sorry for him and hope he will take more care of his own safety in future.

[Chao Lao Beach]

I agree. Let's wait for Nick's side of the story. After our self proclaimed street politics expert has recovered from his injuries he might kindly share his experience here on TV.

Just Curious, who is he here ?

[mca]

He goes under his own name

[Scott]

Off-topic posts and replies have been deleted as well as posts which have no content.

[Artisi]

Quite easy to sum up, Nick, if you are a red supporter, to venture into camp of the side and do anything other than blend in is being stupid.

[Emptyset]

Quite easy to sum up, Nick, if you are a red supporter, to venture into camp of the side and do anything other than blend in is being stupid.

There's no evidence that he did anything to provoke protesters or Democrat MP into naming him from the stage. The only people who've claimed he was insulting protesters etc are those with clearly partisan interests. If there was an argument it seems to have stemmed from protest guards trying to prevent him taking pictures. Even if Nick was in the business of providing clearly partisan coverage to support a cause - which I don't believe he is - I still don't see why that should preclude him covering the protest. Would you support the red shirts if they decided coverage by one particular journalist (Thai or foreign, it's really irrelevant) was biased and decided to single him out from the stage in order to have him chased out? Don't want to answer for you, but I'm guessing you probably wouldn't be defending that.

Anyway, here's another article on this, with an interview with Nick:

“I know many of the leaders,” says Nostitz, “I know Abhisit too,” but as yet there has been no response to the incident, he adds. The only condemnation has come from FCCT, Thailand’s Voice TV, Pratachai. Thailand’s Journalist’s Association whose green arm band – that should protect journalists against violence – he was wearing at the time of the attack have also yet to condemn the attack Nostitz said.

“They all know me,” he says, referring to various politicians, “I just don’t understand the silence. On a human level this is very disappointing. These smear campaigns are damaging. What’s done has been done, but something also needs to be done to rectify it, if only for the safety of me and my family…the protest leadership has to do something.”

http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=2730

[Emptyset]

*Deleted posts edited out*

DrDweeb has hit the nail on the head IMHO. Von Nostitz's well developed ego must have got the better of him and caused him to start believing his own protestations of impartiality, so that he thought he was invisible. He took his own risk going where he did and doing what he did and thankfully wasn't seriously injured.

Now his name and picture have been posted liberally around Facebook and Thai websites with copious hateful comments referring to him, for example, as an f***ing redshirt farang phoney journalist and nasty threats to sew up his eyes and lips and cut off his ears, or report him to Immigration for visa offences with the most outrageous comments scoring copious "likes". This and the violence at the rally site shouldn't happen to anyone. I feel really sorry for him and hope he will take more care of his own safety in future.

Journalists are always taking a risk going to cover any potentially hostitle situation. Does that mean they shouldn't do it? Also, whilst they might claim to be neutral, most reporters have their sympathies. They are human, after all. We're all prone to bias and prejudice, often to the point of delusion. And some of the worst are those who refuse to recognize their own bias and believe they see things from a clear eyed neutral position. But obviously journalists shouldn't let that interfere with their reporting of the facts.

There's no evidence that Nick has fabricated or left anything out of his account in order to sway readers to his political position. On the contrary, he's done the opposite, adding a lot detail other reporters have missed (perhaps because of their political sympathies, i.e. during Oct 2008). Anyway, that's by the by. I know I'm repeating myself once again, but fact is, even if Nick was partisan in his reporting, he still shouldn't be subjected to violence or a hate campaign.

I guess you agree with that, given your second paragraph, but you still seem to be intimating that the behaviour of those that are part of this campaign is somehow his responsibility. Anyway, I haven't seen these specific comments because I recently decided to take a break from Facebook. But none of this will shock those familiar with the yellow shirt FB group 'Social Sanction' which has been carrying out online hate campaigns against academic Somsak Jeamteerasakun, amongst others, for years now.

Even a few months back I was browsing an anti-government FB page (think it was "dislike yingluck for concentration citizen") and there was a thread about Aum Neko, the Thammasat student responsible for the anti-uniform campaign. I couldn't believe some of the nonsense some people were writing, much of it unbelievably hateful and vitriolic. I mean, I do accept that the internet can bring the worst out of people (especially when they're in group think mode), and some of those who write these comments might be perfectly decent, 'educated' people if you were to encounter them in real life. But that doesn't make it any better for those on the receiving end of their unnecessarily spiteful and threatening comments.

[TVGerry]

There's no evidence that he didn't do anything to provoke the protestors to get himself beaten up either. Those who claim he was 'innocently' doing his non partisan reporter duties are those with clearly partisan interests.

And who cares what Nick Nostitz said in an interview? Everyone will always say something after the fact to make them look nicer and be all innocent. He seems to be the only reporter to have been beaten up. He must be special.

Quite easy to sum up, Nick, if you are a red supporter, to venture into camp of the side and do anything other than blend in is being stupid.

There's no evidence that he did anything to provoke protesters or Democrat MP into naming him from the stage. The only people who've claimed he was insulting protesters etc are those with clearly partisan interests. If there was an argument it seems to have stemmed from protest guards trying to prevent him taking pictures. Even if Nick was in the business of providing clearly partisan coverage to support a cause - which I don't believe he is - I still don't see why that should preclude him covering the protest. Would you support the red shirts if they decided coverage by one particular journalist (Thai or foreign, it's really irrelevant) was biased and decided to single him out from the stage in order to have him chased out? Don't want to answer for you, but I'm guessing you probably wouldn't be defending that.

Anyway, here's another article on this, with an interview with Nick:

“I know many of the leaders,” says Nostitz, “I know Abhisit too,” but as yet there has been no response to the incident, he adds. The only condemnation has come from FCCT, Thailand’s Voice TV, Pratachai. Thailand’s Journalist’s Association whose green arm band – that should protect journalists against violence – he was wearing at the time of the attack have also yet to condemn the attack Nostitz said.

“They all know me,” he says, referring to various politicians, “I just don’t understand the silence. On a human level this is very disappointing. These smear campaigns are damaging. What’s done has been done, but something also needs to be done to rectify it, if only for the safety of me and my family…the protest leadership has to do something.”

http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=2730

Edited November 27, 2013 by TVGerry

[waza]

Quite easy to sum up, Nick, if you are a red supporter, to venture into camp of the side and do anything other than blend in is being stupid.

There's no evidence that he did anything to provoke protesters or Democrat MP into naming him from the stage. The only people who've claimed he was insulting protesters etc are those with clearly partisan interests. If there was an argument it seems to have stemmed from protest guards trying to prevent him taking pictures. Even if Nick was in the business of providing clearly partisan coverage to support a cause - which I don't believe he is - I still don't see why that should preclude him covering the protest. Would you support the red shirts if they decided coverage by one particular journalist (Thai or foreign, it's really irrelevant) was biased and decided to single him out from the stage in order to have him chased out? Don't want to answer for you, but I'm guessing you probably wouldn't be defending that.

Anyway, here's another article on this, with an interview with Nick:

“I know many of the leaders,” says Nostitz, “I know Abhisit too,” but as yet there has been no response to the incident, he adds. The only condemnation has come from FCCT, Thailand’s Voice TV, Pratachai. Thailand’s Journalist’s Association whose green arm band – that should protect journalists against violence – he was wearing at the time of the attack have also yet to condemn the attack Nostitz said.

“They all know me,” he says, referring to various politicians, “I just don’t understand the silence. On a human level this is very disappointing. These smear campaigns are damaging. What’s done has been done, but something also needs to be done to rectify it, if only for the safety of me and my family…the protest leadership has to do something.”

http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=2730

I cant believe the arrogance of this guy, he honestly believes the Abihist or any other Dem MP should take pause during a censure debate in parliament to smooth Nicks ruffled ego is ludicrous. Get over it Nick its not that big a deal and your not that important.

"There's no evidence that he did anything to provoke protesters or Democrat MP into naming him from the stage."

Well yes there is evidence that Nick drew attention to himself and inflamed the situation, Emptyset, and the evidence come from an eye witness, Nick himself...........

"Mr. Nostitz said he was arguing with the protest guards when he was spotted by former Democrat MP Chumpon Junsai, who pointed his finger to Mr. Nostitz, accused him of being a "Redshirt reporter", and urged the crowd to evict him from the protest site."

Obviously he was creating enough of a commotion to draw the attention of protests organisers and they had every right to eject an unruly observer and individuals have the right not to have their image used for profit by a partisan photographer.

Edited November 27, 2013 by waza

[Thai at Heart]

Problem is that the sides don't fit into a western description.

It is not a case of one side good one side bad.

It is a trade off of the lesser of two evils on various issues.

[DocN]

Quite easy to sum up, Nick, if you are a red supporter, to venture into camp of the side and do anything other than blend in is being stupid.

There's no evidence that he did anything to provoke protesters or Democrat MP into naming him from the stage. The only people who've claimed he was insulting protesters etc are those with clearly partisan interests. If there was an argument it seems to have stemmed from protest guards trying to prevent him taking pictures. Even if Nick was in the business of providing clearly partisan coverage to support a cause - which I don't believe he is - I still don't see why that should preclude him covering the protest. Would you support the red shirts if they decided coverage by one particular journalist (Thai or foreign, it's really irrelevant) was biased and decided to single him out from the stage in order to have him chased out? Don't want to answer for you, but I'm guessing you probably wouldn't be defending that.

Anyway, here's another article on this, with an interview with Nick:

“I know many of the leaders,” says Nostitz, “I know Abhisit too,” but as yet there has been no response to the incident, he adds. The only condemnation has come from FCCT, Thailand’s Voice TV, Pratachai. Thailand’s Journalist’s Association whose green arm band – that should protect journalists against violence – he was wearing at the time of the attack have also yet to condemn the attack Nostitz said.

“They all know me,” he says, referring to various politicians, “I just don’t understand the silence. On a human level this is very disappointing. These smear campaigns are damaging. What’s done has been done, but something also needs to be done to rectify it, if only for the safety of me and my family…the protest leadership has to do something.”

http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=2730

I cant believe the arrogance of this guy, he honestly believes the Abihist or any other Dem MP should take pause during a censure debate in parliament to smooth Nicks ruffled ego is ludicrous. Get over it Nick its not that big a deal and your not that important.

"There's no evidence that he did anything to provoke protesters or Democrat MP into naming him from the stage."

Well yes there is evidence that Nick drew attention to himself and inflamed the situation, Emptyset, and the evidence come from an eye witness, Nick himself...........

"Mr. Nostitz said he was arguing with the protest guards when he was spotted by former Democrat MP Chumpon Junsai, who pointed his finger to Mr. Nostitz, accused him of being a "Redshirt reporter", and urged the crowd to evict him from the protest site."

Obviously he was creating enough of a commotion to draw the attention of protests organisers and they had every right to eject an unruly observer and individuals have the right not to have their image used for profit by a partisan photographer.

So he was argueing!

Do you know about what, in particular, he was argueing with them?

I don't know, but there are almost endless possibilities: he stepped on his foot and didn't apologize, they had a heated discussion about football, he heckled the speaker, he was pushing the guard, the guard was pushing him....

[waza]

Quite easy to sum up, Nick, if you are a red supporter, to venture into camp of the side and do anything other than blend in is being stupid.

There's no evidence that he did anything to provoke protesters or Democrat MP into naming him from the stage. The only people who've claimed he was insulting protesters etc are those with clearly partisan interests. If there was an argument it seems to have stemmed from protest guards trying to prevent him taking pictures. Even if Nick was in the business of providing clearly partisan coverage to support a cause - which I don't believe he is - I still don't see why that should preclude him covering the protest. Would you support the red shirts if they decided coverage by one particular journalist (Thai or foreign, it's really irrelevant) was biased and decided to single him out from the stage in order to have him chased out? Don't want to answer for you, but I'm guessing you probably wouldn't be defending that.

Anyway, here's another article on this, with an interview with Nick:

“I know many of the leaders,” says Nostitz, “I know Abhisit too,” but as yet there has been no response to the incident, he adds. The only condemnation has come from FCCT, Thailand’s Voice TV, Pratachai. Thailand’s Journalist’s Association whose green arm band – that should protect journalists against violence – he was wearing at the time of the attack have also yet to condemn the attack Nostitz said.

“They all know me,” he says, referring to various politicians, “I just don’t understand the silence. On a human level this is very disappointing. These smear campaigns are damaging. What’s done has been done, but something also needs to be done to rectify it, if only for the safety of me and my family…the protest leadership has to do something.”

http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=2730

I cant believe the arrogance of this guy, he honestly believes the Abihist or any other Dem MP should take pause during a censure debate in parliament to smooth Nicks ruffled ego is ludicrous. Get over it Nick its not that big a deal and your not that important.

"There's no evidence that he did anything to provoke protesters or Democrat MP into naming him from the stage."

Well yes there is evidence that Nick drew attention to himself and inflamed the situation, Emptyset, and the evidence come from an eye witness, Nick himself...........

"Mr. Nostitz said he was arguing with the protest guards when he was spotted by former Democrat MP Chumpon Junsai, who pointed his finger to Mr. Nostitz, accused him of being a "Redshirt reporter", and urged the crowd to evict him from the protest site."

Obviously he was creating enough of a commotion to draw the attention of protests organisers and they had every right to eject an unruly observer and individuals have the right not to have their image used for profit by a partisan photographer.

So he was argueing!

Do you know about what, in particular, he was argueing with them?

I don't know, but there are almost endless possibilities: he stepped on his foot and didn't apologize, they had a heated discussion about football, he heckled the speaker, he was pushing the guard, the guard was pushing him....

I heard it was because they didn't want him taking pictures of the protestors and he was arguing that he has a right because he is a famous journalist.

[Artisi]

Quite easy to sum up, Nick, if you are a red supporter, to venture into camp of the side and do anything other than blend in is being stupid.

There's no evidence that he did anything to provoke protesters or Democrat MP into naming him from the stage. The only people who've claimed he was insulting protesters etc are those with clearly partisan interests. If there was an argument it seems to have stemmed from protest guards trying to prevent him taking pictures. Even if Nick was in the business of providing clearly partisan coverage to support a cause - which I don't believe he is - I still don't see why that should preclude him covering the protest. Would you support the red shirts if they decided coverage by one particular journalist (Thai or foreign, it's really irrelevant) was biased and decided to single him out from the stage in order to have him chased out? Don't want to answer for you, but I'm guessing you probably wouldn't be defending that.

Anyway, here's another article on this, with an interview with Nick:

“I know many of the leaders,” says Nostitz, “I know Abhisit too,” but as yet there has been no response to the incident, he adds. The only condemnation has come from FCCT, Thailand’s Voice TV, Pratachai. Thailand’s Journalist’s Association whose green arm band – that should protect journalists against violence – he was wearing at the time of the attack have also yet to condemn the attack Nostitz said.

“They all know me,” he says, referring to various politicians, “I just don’t understand the silence. On a human level this is very disappointing. These smear campaigns are damaging. What’s done has been done, but something also needs to be done to rectify it, if only for the safety of me and my family…the protest leadership has to do something.”

http://www.chiangmaicitynews.com/news.php?id=2730

I cant believe the arrogance of this guy, he honestly believes the Abihist or any other Dem MP should take pause during a censure debate in parliament to smooth Nicks ruffled ego is ludicrous. Get over it Nick its not that big a deal and your not that important.

"There's no evidence that he did anything to provoke protesters or Democrat MP into naming him from the stage."

Well yes there is evidence that Nick drew attention to himself and inflamed the situation, Emptyset, and the evidence come from an eye witness, Nick himself...........

"Mr. Nostitz said he was arguing with the protest guards when he was spotted by former Democrat MP Chumpon Junsai, who pointed his finger to Mr. Nostitz, accused him of being a "Redshirt reporter", and urged the crowd to evict him from the protest site."

Obviously he was creating enough of a commotion to draw the attention of protests organisers and they had every right to eject an unruly observer and individuals have the right not to have their image used for profit by a partisan photographer.

So he was argueing!

Do you know about what, in particular, he was argueing with them?

I don't know, but there are almost endless possibilities: he stepped on his foot and didn't apologize, they had a heated discussion about football, he heckled the speaker, he was pushing the guard, the guard was pushing him....

What ever the reason, still pretty stupid to argue - well out of his safety zone, and don't think he has perfected the art of walking on water as yet.

Edited November 28, 2013 by Artisi

[DocN]

It is a principle question: he is a journalist and apart from being opinionated he has done nothing wrong, as far as we know.

So why is it even remotely okay, to single him out and act against him.

It even doesn't matter if he had his face smashed to porridge or just a scratch on the chin: this is not right!

Period!

I do not even dare to imagine, what an uproar we would be having here, if the shoe was on the other foot!

I don't even care, if he was a journalist or just an Average Joe at the rally.

As long as you don't do anything...

[GrantSmith]

So, has Herr Nostitz filed libel and defamation suits against the protest organisers yet?

Wouldn't want the truth to get in the way of a good story now would we

Any photographic evidence of the next day or days following of Herr Nostitz facial injuries?

[Rob8891]

He chose to put himself potentially in harm's way, so he has to face up to the consequences of his own actions, without his pathetic whining and name-dropping. Who, with only half a functioning brain cell, does he think will give a rat's ass for his situation right now, other than those who will try to make political capital out of it?

Surely he has enough experience of photo-journalism to be able to understand that? I don't condone that he got pasted, not one little bit, but I do feel he was - shall we say unwise - to go there knowing his reputation, and then, on top of that get into an argument. Even on an ordinary day we all know the advice about not being confrontational with Thai people.

On reflection the term 'unwise' was a gross understatement.