How to write Wikipedia's best article about Thailand

[casualposter]

Summary

I wrote Wikipedia's best article about Thailand. In this thread I'll explain why I did it and what inspired me. I'll also tell you how you can do the same.

Background

I chatted to a girl on a dating site called ThaiFriendly back in August 2011. She lived in Pattani and told me how her husband (an army captain) had been killed by a bomb while out on a routine patrol mission near the Pattani-Yala border. She asked me which Oxford University college I'd studied at; she talked about her two degrees from the Prince of Songkhla University; she joked about her days as a hair model for Schwarzkopf International. Then she said something curious: she said she was related to a Thai-Persian princess who rose to prominence during the early years of the Chakri Dynasty. She said that the ancestor she shared with the princess was a Persian sultan.

I spent the next two years researching this "Persian connection". My original intention was to write an article for the Journal of the Siam Society. But then I changed my mind. I decided to write Wikipedia's best article about Thailand.

Wikipedia: Featured Articles

The best articles on Wikipedia are called featured articles. Less than 0.1% of articles have achieved featured article status. You can recognize featured articles by the gold star icon shown at top right. This is what Wikipedia has to say:

A featured article exemplifies our very best work and is distinguished by professional standards of writing, presentation, and sourcing. In addition to meeting the policies regarding content for all Wikipedia articles, it has the following attributes.

It is—

a. well-written: its prose is engaging, even brilliant, and of a professional standard;

b. comprehensive: it neglects no major facts or details and places the subject in context;

c. well-researched: it is a thorough and representative survey of the relevant literature. Claims are verifiable against high-quality reliable sources and are supported by inline citations where appropriate;

d. neutral: it presents views fairly and without bias; and

e. stable: it is not subject to ongoing edit wars and its content does not change significantly from day to day, except in response to the featured article process.

There is currently only one featured article about Thailand. It's the article I wrote. It passed its peer review on May 17 2014 and will appear on Wikipedia's home page as Today's Featured Article on Wednesday June 4 2014.

How good are Featured Articles?

In terms of prose and comprehensiveness, featured articles are roughly on a par with articles submitted to peer-reviewed academic journals. But there is a key difference. Wikipedia is a tertiary source and relies mainly on secondary sources. It's acceptable to use primary sources as quotes, but interpretations of primary sources must come from credible secondary sources. In other words, Wikipedia prohibits original research. Academic journals differ in that they encourage (and to some extent rely on) original research.

How good are Wikipedia's reviewers?

They're good. They know what they're doing. One guy who commented on my article during its peer review is a university lecturer specializing in military history. The guy who selected my article to appear as Today's Featured Article is a fellow Oxford student. He's written featured articles about Oxford University's Laudian Professor of Arabic and the Boden Professor of Sanskrit.

Why bother?

I wrote my Wikipedia article because I'm extremely interested in Thailand. I've always considered Thailand one of the most interesting countries in the world. If you've read this far, it's likely you feel the same. But you and I are far from alone. Lots of other people out there have a genuine, academic interest in Thailand.

You too can write Wikipedia's best article about Thailand

Seriously -- you can do what I've done. There's no rocket science involved. If you have a genuine interest in Thailand, you can write Wikipedia's best article about Thailand. Take your time. Regard it as a hobby. Your research will have to be extremely comprehensive, but so what? Maybe it'll take you six months to write your article; maybe it'll take two years. There's no rush.

Wikipedia's best article about Thailand

Here it is. Wikipedia's only featured article about Thailand. It will appear on Wikipedia's home page as Today's Featured Article on Wednesday June 4 2014. I've improved it a little since it passed its peer review on May 17 and believe now it's as good as I can make it.

Sultanate of Singora

Edited June 2, 2014 by casualposter

[David48]

My dear old friend ... sometimes sparring partner, but always up for a bit of fun.

Mr 'A' ... welcome back ...

[casualposter]

My dear old friend ... sometimes sparring partner, but always up for a bit of fun.

Mr 'A' ... welcome back ...

Cool.

You know -- you too could write a Wikipedia article. Perhaps you could put together an academic piece about shrimp farming.

If it's of any interest, I got the idea from WYM / BIG JOHNNY / FUNFON.

He mentioned Wikipedians one day and it got me wondering.

I actually showed him my article a couple of months ago before he vanished. He was extremely intelligent, btw.

[Pattszero]

There's a lot of weirdos on this forum. I don't think I've seen anything as narcissistic in years, a whole OP dedicated to self-praise. It's really a disgrace and a sure sign of a deep-seated disorder; I'm prepared to bet the OP is a alcoholic with mummy issues.

[casualposter]

There's a lot of weirdos on this forum. I don't think I've seen anything as narcissistic in years, a whole OP dedicated to self-praise. It's really a disgrace and a sure sign of a deep-seated disorder; I'm prepared to bet the OP is a alcoholic with mummy issues.

OMFG

Wikipedia is one of the world's top ten websites. It is visited by millions.

Every day the English language home page shows Today's Featured Article

Not since February 2005 has Today's Featured Article been solely and exclusively about Thailand.

On Wednesday June 4 2014 my article, which is devoted to my GF's family history, will be Today's Featured Article

As per my OP, my article is currently Wikipedia's only featured article about Thailand.

If you object, kindly contact Jimmy Wales, the American entrepreneur who founded Wikipedia.

Alternatively, feel free to raise the issue with George, the founder and owner of this forum. George "liked" my OP, btw

==============

Better still -- address your jealousy.

[JusMe]

Best way to get "published" on Wikipedia is to ensure you drop your pants, bend over, and make sure you pucker up really well.

There's a good reason Wikipedia is free - you get the quality you pay for.

And articles about Thailand might just head the list for sycophancy rather than truth.

[HooHaa]

yay you.

pat pat.

its a good article, now get over yourself or i will start making edits.

[HooHaa]

i found this article quite interesting, the comments are pretty entertaining as well.

http://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/

[krisb]

yay you.

pat pat.

its a good article, now get over yourself or i will start making edits.

Exactly.

That's the issue with the site.

How long did it take to complete?...nice job btw.

Edited June 2, 2014 by krisb

[casualposter]

i found this article quite interesting, the comments are pretty entertaining as well.

http://www.salon.com/2013/05/17/revenge_ego_and_the_corruption_of_wikipedia/

That's a good reply. Thanks.

I'm actually discussing my article here in the hope and belief that some of this forum's resident schizophrenics will engage in what Wikipedia terms "vandalism".

If an article gets repeatedly vandalized (all of which can easily be undone -- and is usually automatically undone), it gets locked.

So there you have it -- I want my article to be locked.

I object strongly to the idea that anyone can come along and edit what I've written. Many other Wikipedians feel the same.

When an article is locked, it can only be edited by its author and account holders with the appropriate permissions.

[casualposter]

How long did it take to complete?...nice job btw.

Ages!

If it's of any interest, this article used to be a FEATURED ARTICLE:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isan

Do this:

1. Click the TALK link at top left

2. Where it says ARTICLE MILESTONES, click "show"

3. The ISAN article achieved FA status back in 2004 but was demoted in 2009.

It's not a bad article. The problem is that it's not properly sourced. It's just not professional. Maybe you could improve it.

If you want to give it a go, all the best to you.

PS. Please feel free to ask for advice if necessary. I'll happily help when and where possible.

Edited June 2, 2014 by casualposter

[JLCrab]

I have one article published on Wikipedia. It was at first an unpleasant experience as I got hammered. Finally, a seasoned WIkipedia guy cleaned up the article and it has stayed pretty stable for the past few years. I would not have been able to do it on my own.

[casualposter]

I have one article published on Wikipedia. It was at first an unpleasant experience as I got hammered. Finally, a seasoned WIkipedia guy cleaned up the article and it has stayed pretty stable for the past few years. I would not have been able to do it on my own.

Thanks for sharing. Wanna share a bit more?

I'm guessing your article was law related.

PS. What happened to our friend WYM? I chatted to him via PMs a couple of months back and have heard nothing since.

Edited June 2, 2014 by casualposter

[JLCrab]

I have one article published on Wikipedia. It was at first an unpleasant experience as I got hammered. Finally, a seasoned WIkipedia guy cleaned up the article and it has stayed pretty stable for the past few years. I would not have been able to do it on my own.

Thanks for sharing. Wanna share a bit more?

I'm guessing your article was law related.

PS. What happened to our friend WYM? I chatted to him via PMs a couple of months back and have heard nothing since.

Actually, it was an obituary-type for a (then) recently deceased American Buddhist scholar/author -- I did post it once on here and most of the comments were negative. So I'll consider your request but I'm not eager.

WRT your Wxx comment you maybe just have not heard from him posting as that.

Edited June 2, 2014 by JLCrab

[casualposter]

I have one article published on Wikipedia. It was at first an unpleasant experience as I got hammered. Finally, a seasoned WIkipedia guy cleaned up the article and it has stayed pretty stable for the past few years. I would not have been able to do it on my own.

Thanks for sharing. Wanna share a bit more?

I'm guessing your article was law related.

PS. What happened to our friend WYM? I chatted to him via PMs a couple of months back and have heard nothing since.

Actually, it was an obituary-type for a (then) recently deceased American Buddhist scholar/author -- I did post it once on here and most of the comments were negative. So I'll consider your request but I'm not eager.

Learn to deal with the haters on this forum by understanding their issues. When you know how pitiful they really are (eg, fat wives, tattooed GFs, childless marriages, etc), their comments carry no weight at all.

I'll leave it up to you.

By the way, WYM talked about you via PM. He described you as a very intelligent American lawyer. Are you?

[JLCrab]

No -- But I play one on TV.

[casualposter]

No -- But I play one on TV.

Ha! And you fooled someone, too.

=============================================

Here's some tedious urine which I ought to explain.

In the Wikipedia Category FA-class Thailand articles there are six featured articles.

1. Durian

2. Javan Rhinoceros

3. Sumatran Rhinoceros

4. The KIng and I

5. Typhoon Gay (1989)

6. Sultanate of Singora

These articles have all achieved FA status and are shown in the Thailand category.

However -- as ought to be obvious -- five merely pertain to Thailand; only one is about Thailand.

======================

And here's the Wikipedia page showing the calender for Today's Featured Article throughout June 2014. Please note that I did NOT write the (crappy) blurb for my article.

Edited June 2, 2014 by casualposter

[JLCrab]

I have never said I was a lawyer. I started doing legal research for the US Oil& Gas industry -- taxes, regulatory reporting, purchase contracts, etc. --in the early 1980's when there was no Internet and one had to spend long hours in law libraries to get such material.

BTW For non-Americans: Famous and much spoofed 1980's USA commercial went: I'm not a doctor -- but I play one on TV (On YouTube)

Edited June 2, 2014 by JLCrab

[krisb]

PS. What happened to our friend WYM? I chatted to him via PMs a couple of months back and have heard nothing since.

I heard he went back to the states. He went from prolific poster to nothing very suddenly.

[JLCrab]

PS. What happened to our friend WYM? I chatted to him via PMs a couple of months back and have heard nothing since.

I heard he went back to the states. He went from prolific poster to nothing very suddenly.

... or else he just became another prolific poster.

[Emilp]

Well done

[HeavyDrinker]

No one leave a mirror on this thread. You'd never get it back...

[wprime]

It's hilarious how TV members love to insult anyone who actually achieves something. Good work OP!

[marko kok prong]

Now the world is your lobster.

[StreetCowboy]

I have one article published on Wikipedia. It was at first an unpleasant experience as I got hammered. Finally, a seasoned WIkipedia guy cleaned up the article and it has stayed pretty stable for the past few years. I would not have been able to do it on my own.

Thanks for sharing. Wanna share a bit more?

I'm guessing your article was law related.

PS. What happened to our friend WYM? I chatted to him via PMs a couple of months back and have heard nothing since.

Actually, it was an obituary-type for a (then) recently deceased American Buddhist scholar/author -- I did post it once on here and most of the comments were negative. So I'll consider your request but I'm not eager.

Learn to deal with the haters on this forum by understanding their issues. When you know how pitiful they really are (eg, fat wives, tattooed GFs, childless marriages, etc), their comments carry no weight at all.

I'll leave it up to you.

By the way, WYM talked about you via PM. He described you as a very intelligent American lawyer. Are you?

How do my wife's tattoos, or lack thereof, impact on the credibility of my opinion?

I think it is poor form to judge people based on their appearance, but it is much worse to judge people based on your own fantasies about what their spouses look like.

SC

[casualposter]

It's hilarious how TV members love to insult anyone who actually achieves something. Good work OP!

"It's hilarious how TV members love to insult anyone who actually achieves something"

Yep -- there's no shortage of jealous creeps on this forum.

"Good work OP!"

Thank you.

[casualposter]

PS. What happened to our friend WYM? I chatted to him via PMs a couple of months back and have heard nothing since.

I heard he went back to the states. He went from prolific poster to nothing very suddenly.

I'll send him another PM and see what happens.

[marko kok prong]

Possibly the most self congrat's i ever read,on tv.and that's saying something,when your up against geoman and his phase 2 clean up's of lumpini park,and getting his name scratched into to the wall of some obscure us uni,or soi biker with his your all losers stance,one wonders what the op will tell us next,fusion faster than light drive<one would think he would be in contact with Wym,if only to score some mirrors to look at his magnificence.

[sdanielmcev]

Nice job! Where did you get the research from?

[casualposter]

Nice job! Where did you get the research from?

Research was mainly about tracking down the known primary sources for Siam in the 17th century. Once you've downloaded these and have them on your computer, putting together the history is quite easy.

Finding the Thai language sources was easier than digging out material in English, French or Dutch.

But it still took a long time!