PM Yingluck 'governs via Facebook'; some abuse social media

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PM 'governs via Facebook'; some abuse social media
Kornchanok Raksaseri

For four days last week, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra's whereabouts were unknown.

BANGSome news reports said that the PM was kept in a "safe house" after the People's Democratic Reform Committee (PDRC) announced that it was hunting her. But there were rumours that she had fled abroad.

Immediately after this, last Sunday, Yingluck went to Rayong to pay her respects at the funeral of a police officer killed during the protest crackdown at Phan Fah Lilat Bridge on February 19. Her visit would not have been widely known without pictures posted on her Facebook page.

At about 8.30pm on the same day, after the grenade attack near Big C Ratchadamri, which killed two children, the prime minister posted a statement on Facebook to express condemnation and her condolences. The English version of the statement followed about 10 minutes later.

In a way, it is unusual that a country's leader uses social media to make a statement in a time of crisis. Indeed, Yingluck has been criticised for "governing the country through Facebook".

But the PM's Facebook statement did reduce the chance of mistakes and confrontation, no matter how much she was involved in it.

Yingluck's public appearances began again after she went outside Bangkok. The media followed her to Saraburi and then to the North, a Pheu Thai stronghold which includes her hometown, Chiang Mai.

On Thursday, PDRC secretary-general Suthep Thaugsuban challenged Yingluck to one-on-one talks, broadcast live on television, in a bid to end the political deadlock. The media who followed Yingluck to Chiang Mai got her reaction.

Also, the PM's secretary-general Suranand Vejjajiva posted an "unofficial translation" of PM Yingluck's reaction to Suthep's challenge on Facebook, which was shared via Twitter.

On Twitter, some people asked Suranand to clarify the post and he replied. On Facebook, there were over 2,000 "likes" for the Thai version and over 400 for the English translation.

Looking at the controversial side of social media, the spread of pictures of the child victims of grenade attacks stirred moral questions.

While some people intended to share them with the hope of letting others see the terrible results of violence, others questioned the suitability of posting the pictures and said we should think about the victims' families.

The feeling of compassion for the victims' families should be considered.

A colleague posted a piece yesterday entitled "Online Murderer", which examined the consequences of online mud-slinging and the impact it had on a law lecturer.

"Last night I talked to the lecturer, who became big news after online media users shared a message that apparently detailed his satisfaction that the two children were killed in the grenade attack.

The lecturer insisted it was not him, and filed a complaint with police. But the damage was done - the spreading of this false message hugely hurt his family," my colleague wrote.

"On the morning of the day the message was shared, his father went for an operation," my colleague wrote.

"It so happened that the two children died at the same hospital. Doctors and nurses criticised him [for posting the remark] and hundreds of phone calls stormed in.

"He then had to decide to leave his father at the hospital and went to a police station in the hope of ending the problem. He was asked not to go back to see his father because of the fear of attacks."

The lecturer said: "Do you know to what extent this one message ruined my family? The feeling of a son who cannot see his father at hospital is so painful."

This is not the first time something like this has happened. And if people had paid close attention, they would have seen the difference in the name of the lecturer in the picture and the message shared.

Social media users are so good at digging for the truth that we can call them "online detectives".

The question is, in a time of political conflict like this, do people care enough to question, or do they only want to believe what they want to believe?

-- The Nation 2014-03-01

[londonthai]

still better, than trying to govern the country through shouting and shooting on the street corners

[ChrisY1]

FB...dangerous site if used by idiots.....and many in this country are in this category!

[howzat]

Cant be that stupid as many influential people have obtained their wealth by stealing money from the people and clever enough to avoid prosecution. Example... How has Chalerm amassed his wealth when he has never been worked outside politics and formally is a lowly police captain.

[TheClog]

Yingluck is embracing the future, suthep is living in the past

[Thait Spot]

I think its time to register the www.lossoffacebook.com domain and get the site up

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[mrtoad]

Yingluck is embracing the future, suthep is living in the past

It's a bit like Big Brother in 1984.

[Scamper]

Yingluck has become an absentee prime minister. It may make things easier for her to communicate largely through facebook, but it shows a prime minister strangely removed from what her country is experiencing. To pick and choose who is worthy to meet her and who is not, who is worthy to talk to her and who is not - is not what her office was meant to express. She has fled the people. And the only ones who flock to see her are now more likely to be wearing headbands promoting secession. She needs to step down to allow the nation to heal.

[outsider]

Yingluck is embracing the future, suthep is living in the past

Really? You mean Yingluck is already celebrating her resignation? Or her being 'fired' from her position? Whatever position that is. Dang... I must've missed that piece of news.

You know what, why don't you share a little of what you've been smoking?

Or inhaling.

Or drinking.

[steveyinasia]

Facebook was designed so people can share their thoughts without actually speaking to people, perfect for Yingluck.

[bigbamboo]

Yingluck is embracing the future, suthep is living in the past

Not quite. Thaksin ... I mean Yingluck...... wants to maintain the status quo. Suthep is looking for change.

Of course, this being Thai politics, neither can be trusted.

Edited March 1, 2014 by bigbamboo

[Costas2008]

Don't kid yourselves, posters, the only reason Yingluck is posting on facebook, is because she doesn't write the messages herself.

She is incapable of speaking in public, except shedding tears, she is incapable of composing any kind of speech or statement.

That's the easy way out of the mess she is in.

Wonder, if Thaksin is using her account to post the messages.

[Baerboxer]

Wonder if 'she" will post today, explaining what happened to her "vow" that all farmers would be paid today?

The one farmers leader she did allow an audience to, a former coalition part MP, went back and led his "real protesting farmers" home again based on her sincere 'vow". How deeply moving.

Social media allows attacks to be made on opponents and their responses to be ignored. It also protects YL from having to speak and comment and most importantly not to be put in a position where she must think for herself. All can be prepared and ghost written.

This regime will be remembered for being the first to be governed via Skype, Facebook and Twitter! Well, and maybe one or two more things ...............

Who needs a parliament? Why not a virtual one. Can work from home or while shopping then,

[Melyn]

Does Facebook have a public debate function?

Maybe she can deal with Suthep that way

Sent from my Nexus 7 using Thaivisa Connect Thailand mobile app

[shiok]

Yingluck is embracing the future, suthep is living in the past

Really? You mean Yingluck is already celebrating her resignation? Or her being 'fired' from her position? Whatever position that is. Dang... I must've missed that piece of news.

You know what, why don't you share a little of what you've been smoking?

Or inhaling.

Or drinking.

[Jonmarleesco]

'... [pictures of] the child victims of grenade attacks stirred moral questions.' This is Thailand, for God's sake! It's par for the course.

Social media users as 'online detectives'? Considering the damage they often do, particularly in the guise of so-called trolls, and the amount of misinformation they spread, much of it malicious and anonymous, 'online defectives' better describes them.

[Artisi]

It's probably a fair bet that YL's facebook is part and parcel of the red boiler room typing pool of which there appears to be many here associated with it

[agent69]

Don't kid yourselves, posters, the only reason Yingluck is posting on facebook, is because she doesn't write the messages herself.

She is incapable of speaking in public, except shedding tears, she is incapable of composing any kind of speech or statement.

That's the easy way out of the mess she is in.

Wonder, if Thaksin is using her account to post the messages.

So true about not writing the messages herself. I even doubt that Thaksin wrote all his FB posts himself. There seems to be themes to this family's FB pages. Yingluck's talks about all the PM's business-as-usual. Thaksin's depicts himself as an innocent diplomat travelling around the world. Panthongthae's is overly creative with the Thai political satire cartoon. They have been using FB very effectively.

[marcusd]

Yingluck is embracing the future, suthep is living in the past

if the future is getting rich through illicit means I want to get off this planet

Marcusd. Via tapatalk