Drop ‘Retard’ and Other Harmful Language, Thai-Language News Media Urged

[rooster59]

Drop ‘Retard’ and Other Harmful Language, Thai-Language News Media Urged

By Pravit Rojanaphruk, Senior Staff Writer

 

Reporter Nalutporn Krairiksh, who suffers from spinal muscular atrophy, on March 17 in the Prachatai newsroom.

 

BANGKOK — Those who only read news in English might be surprised to pick up a Thai-language newspaper and find the developmentally disabled called “retards” (panya orn, or soft-minded) and unsympathetic characters “cripple” or “lame.”

 

 

In addition to wanting things such as lifts to BTS Skytrain stations, people with disabilities in Thailand are also pushing for something more abstract, however – the use of less harmful and derogatory language by the news media.

 

At a meeting with journalists last week, a representative from The Bangkok School for The Blind said the media could improve greatly when it comes to how they word and frame stories involving the disabled.

 

Full story: http://www.khaosodenglish.com/news/2017/03/25/drop-retard-hurtful-language-thai-language-news-media-urged/

 

 

-- © Copyright Khaosod English 2017-03-25

[metisdead]

A post using ALL CAPS has been removed, please refrain from posting in ALL CAPS, there is no need to shout:

 

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[phantomfiddler]

3 minutes ago, rodney earl said:

WHY!!! I DO NOT NEED TO BE TOLD WHAT TO SAY. IF YOU FIND IT OFFENSIVE THAT IS UP TO YOU BUT AS FAR AS I AM AWARE FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS STILL

PERMITTED BUT EVEN THAT IS SLOWLY BEING ERODED.!!!!!

I do believe you are missing the entire point of the original post, which is simply pointing out that in Thailand it is not unusual for disabled people to be referred to in highly derogatory terms, which is of course totally wrong. Considering the case of Stephen Hawkins, among many others, I,m sure you must agree :)

[the guest]

This is Thailand, there is no freedom of speech in this country, its not allowed.

[oxo1947]

 

5 minutes ago, the guest said:

This is Thailand, there is no freedom of speech in this country, its not allowed.

How come you just printed that then ?....in a site that is owned by a Thai national newspaper  ---- panya orn, ...................

 

[sanemax]

8 minutes ago, the guest said:

This is Thailand, there is no freedom of speech in this country, its not allowed.

It seems that Thailand is catching up with Western Standards, where abusive terms are unacceptable 

[geriatrickid]

There  are two issues at work here;

The first is the attempt to address the improper and inappropriate use of terms and adjectives through imposed "bans" and the other is the attempt to convince Thais that people with disabilities or genetic deficiencies are not evil nor merit  poor treatment.

 

The fact is that  societies do have mentally retarded people. Their intellectual development  was retarded as in delayed or stopped. When used in the  proper sense there is nothing wrong with it. There are some who are in a state of denial and want terms such as special needs or intellectually challenged to be used instead. This is dishonest and silly. On the other hand, people toss around the terms retard, moron, and cretin such that they are inappropriately used and hurtful. Education would be a better option.

 

In respect to Thai culture and its treatment of the mentally ill, physically disabled and  developmentally deficient that's something Thailand has to address as a society. It will take time. Banning words won't change an underlying culture. There are still  westerners who believe that people are possessed by evil spirits, that exorcism works etc. Again education is more effective.

[impulse]

1 minute ago, sanemax said:

It seems that Thailand is catching up with Western Standards, where abusive terms are unacceptable 

 

I just wish some TVF posters would get with the times.  Especially when referring to our hosts.

[Jeremy50]

There is no room for this kind of offensive language in a civilised and developed society. No doubt a lot of Thais believe that a disabled person must have done something bad in a previous life. 

Also tackle the long list of racist slurs reserved for foreigners, often used between Thais as a way  to have laugh at a foreigner behind his back at his or her expense, within earshot but with little chance that they will be understood. Falang is rather obvious, but there are many others, Gluey, Paksida, etc. I have never heard a Thai criticise another Thai for using this kind of toxic language, so I doubt it will ever go away. Personally I find someone I have never met before shouting 'falang, falang' at the top of his voice[like a dog barking the presence of a stranger to other dogs] as I am walking down the street, offensive and disturbing.

[thai3]

30 minutes ago, the guest said:

This is Thailand, there is no freedom of speech in this country, its not allowed.

Not just in the country, in case you had not noticed 

[sanemax]

7 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

The fact is that  societies do have mentally retarded people. Their intellectual development  was retarded as in delayed or stopped. When used in the  proper sense there is nothing wrong with it. There are some who are in a state of denial and want terms such as special needs or intellectually challenged to be used instead. This is dishonest and silly

  Yes, but people do not use the term "retard" as a description for actual retarded people, they use it as a term of abuse for someone who disagrees with them .

    Its an abusive term, rather than a descriptive term

[Shawn0000]

38 minutes ago, the guest said:

This is Thailand, there is no freedom of speech in this country, its not allowed.

 

If you are truly concerned that which term is used by a news provider to describe disabled people will limit your freedom of speech you simply can't be suffering the problems that freedom of speech is designed to prevent.  Freedom of speech is about preventing governments from silencing their opponents and creating dictatorships, you seem to think it is about your right to be offensive.

[pipeflaw]

That's <deleted> retarded.

[darksidedog]

Given the quality of reporting we see so often here, it could be suggested that the " people with intellectual differences or challenges" are the ones writing the stories to start with.

[elgordo38]

3 hours ago, rooster59 said:

the use of less harmful and derogatory language by the news media.

Could use some of that on here as well. 

[elgordo38]

54 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

There  are two issues at work here;

The first is the attempt to address the improper and inappropriate use of terms and adjectives through imposed "bans" and the other is the attempt to convince Thais that people with disabilities or genetic deficiencies are not evil nor merit  poor treatment.

 

The fact is that  societies do have mentally retarded people. Their intellectual development  was retarded as in delayed or stopped. When used in the  proper sense there is nothing wrong with it. There are some who are in a state of denial and want terms such as special needs or intellectually challenged to be used instead. This is dishonest and silly. On the other hand, people toss around the terms retard, moron, and cretin such that they are inappropriately used and hurtful. Education would be a better option.

 

In respect to Thai culture and its treatment of the mentally ill, physically disabled and  developmentally deficient that's something Thailand has to address as a society. It will take time. Banning words won't change an underlying culture. There are still  westerners who believe that people are possessed by evil spirits, that exorcism works etc. Again education is more effective.

You got me half way convinced. As someone who hates provocative language. 

[Chris Lawrence]

57 minutes ago, geriatrickid said:

There  are two issues at work here;

The first is the attempt to address the improper and inappropriate use of terms and adjectives through imposed "bans" and the other is the attempt to convince Thais that people with disabilities or genetic deficiencies are not evil nor merit  poor treatment.

 

The fact is that  societies do have mentally retarded people. Their intellectual development  was retarded as in delayed or stopped. When used in the  proper sense there is nothing wrong with it. There are some who are in a state of denial and want terms such as special needs or intellectually challenged to be used instead. This is dishonest and silly. On the other hand, people toss around the terms retard, moron, and cretin such that they are inappropriately used and hurtful. Education would be a better option.

 

In respect to Thai culture and its treatment of the mentally ill, physically disabled and  developmentally deficient that's something Thailand has to address as a society. It will take time. Banning words won't change an underlying culture. There are still  westerners who believe that people are possessed by evil spirits, that exorcism works etc. Again education is more effective.

So what happened to your delay? My eldest son is Downs Syndrome; his younger brother would have flatten you hearing an opinion expressed he. His brother got a good citizen award in year 1 as he helped all the others on his table before he started his school work. They are now 32 and 30 having turned out beautiful young men. I took both boys to a gay wedding when they were 12 and 10; Josh the oldest asked who was getting married and I told him. He said they are both boys. I said it was OK for boys to marry. He immediately accepted it. One of his biggest disappointments was not playing in the under 10's final; he was 12 but played 2 years under his age to fit in with his development. One of the parents on the other side objected; they kept their identity from me as I would have expressed a lot to them. Your interpretation shows a delayed or retarded development in the discussion on what is appropriate to say too people with a disability. I have a disability, which is Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. I also suffer with this as it is not a widely accepted condition among the current crop of health professionals. You see it starts with you; don't try and convince people what are social norms. In fact banning inappropriate phrases will change a culture.

[Emster23]

" I DO NOT NEED TO BE TOLD WHAT TO SAY"

 Perhaps. But you could use a bit of empathy and/or sense and learn how to say it. Sounds like you have anger issues. Maybe you can use a different insult for those you deem worthy of your wrath. Being retarded, blind, etc is usually not a personal choice. Being a nasty person perhaps is.

 I taught special ed students, mostly behavior, but retarded students also. In my decades of experience, often retarded people are more kind and caring than the general public. Maybe  you could volunteer to work with such people in Thailand. That might spur you on to develop insult vocabulary. Up to you

[keep it real]

1 hour ago, thai3 said:

Not just in the country, in case you had not noticed 

not in just the country, includes the cities too darlin.

[connda]

2 hours ago, phantomfiddler said:

I do believe you are missing the entire point of the original post, which is simply pointing out that in Thailand it is not unusual for disabled people to be referred to in highly derogatory terms, which is of course totally wrong. Considering the case of Stephen Hawkins, among many others, I,m sure you must agree :)

Maybe the terms are only considered derogatory by overly sensitive people who wish the entire world would just become political correct.  But the real issue is that a lot of people simply consider the terms to be descriptor or reference terms with no inherent pejorative meaning.  Personally I think the outlawing of forms of speech is a heck of a lot slippery slope then simply growing a spine and embracing what we older folk learned in kindergarten, that is, "Sticks and stones may break my bones by names will never hurt me." 

[leeneeds]

Never have I met anyone who enjoys being criticized when they make a mistake or stuff up,

 

[uchibenkei]

You know what they; sticks and stones may break my bones but names will hurt my feelings and give me ptsd that will prevent me from ever finding happiness again in this life.

[oxo1947]

Is this really derogatory --- calling someone who is a cripple or lame...a cripple.

 

 

Thai people seem to say it as it is---if your fat---then they tell you. (unless you are a hansom paying customer). I know in the UK or America that might mean that you would go home and hang yourself from the rafters.....(maybe stop first for your 5 minutes of fame on face book) but here it seems to be a more cultural thing.Can you imagine in the west some lady taking hours to make herself look really glam---then coming to meet a friend with other strangers, & the friend introduces her as being older than her---That's the way the sentence starts in Thai--& is usually repeated many times. This is my friend Pee = older than me) Noot.

 

The first book we had to read in the UK school was a Dickens....Bob Cratchit carries crippled son home every night.

 

There are derogatory terms--- for most things, what's been printed isn't. panya orn, or soft-minded isn't....Mai Dem Bhat = not the full quid/$/Bhat) is.

 

 

I really do not want to see Thailand dragged into the PC world.......

 

 

 

 

 

[jerojero]

Sarcastically calling someone a retard means they are the ultimate stupid idiotic lame-brain, that genuine mentally ill people would come up with more common sense.

 

 

[jerojero]

The same people that call for an end to abusive terms are quite happy to use them in their rants about Trump and the like. 
The term mental retardation is a very good term for what it describes. But it has been turned into slur. So if you are going to call someone out on their lack of intelligence you have to get more creative than saying retard. I think idiot is still OK though.

Mentally retarded doesn't necessarily mean mentally ill. And when used sarcastically, is not necessarily derogatory and contains perhaps a truthful description of a person's behaviour.

[thpitsch]

3 hours ago, metisdead said:

A post using ALL CAPS has been removed, please refrain from posting in ALL CAPS, there is no need to shout:

 

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1. Please do not post in all capital letters, bold, unusual fonts, sizes or colors. It can be difficult to read.

I agree, it's difficult to read. But why do you don't care about this in your news mail? You should rather avoid the underline of the links, then they are better readable.

[Machiavelli]

Hate to break it to you folks but changing the name of the condition does zilch to the condition.

[sanemax]

21 minutes ago, Machiavelli said:

Hate to break it to you folks but changing the name of the condition does zilch to the condition.

That isnt the issue, its the use of the word "retarded" for journalists to describe people whom they disagree with .

[USPatriot]

The pc world strikes again.   Don't expect Thailand to comply

[trainman34014]

4 hours ago, Jeremy50 said:

There is no room for this kind of offensive language in a civilised and developed society. No doubt a lot of Thais believe that a disabled person must have done something bad in a previous life. 

Also tackle the long list of racist slurs reserved for foreigners, often used between Thais as a way  to have laugh at a foreigner behind his back at his or her expense, within earshot but with little chance that they will be understood. Falang is rather obvious, but there are many others, Gluey, Paksida, etc. I have never heard a Thai criticise another Thai for using this kind of toxic language, so I doubt it will ever go away. Personally I find someone I have never met before shouting 'falang, falang' at the top of his voice[like a dog barking the presence of a stranger to other dogs] as I am walking down the street, offensive and disturbing.

You hit the nail on the head with the words..''In a civilised and developed country''.       Thailand is not one and it will be a very long time before it is !