Midweek rant: Thai news – all we get is tumbleweed

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Midweek rant: Thai news – all we get is tumbleweed

 

File photo

 

Following the Thai news is like going to the movies and suffering a power cut before the final scene.

 

So often we are left in the dark.

 

With no idea how it ended.

 

Time and time again we follow the news faithfully only to be left high and dry at the crucial moment.

 

The Thai news media fall over themselves in the early stage of an investigation.

 

And the police come up with all sorts of theories as an arrest is imminent and the case is all but solved.

 

Later today, Friday at the latest, Tuesday for sure…

 

Then days become weeks and weeks become months before a year has passed.

 

Has the case gone cold?

 

Has the matter been shuffled under the carpet?

 

Or have the perps been arrested tried and forgiven?!

 

Or has the key been thrown away?

 

Thai media seems great when a case is in the public eye. They love a soap opera. But it is like their attention span is five minutes. They move on before it’s over.

 

And following up is a bit like Thai maintenance – virtually non-existent!

 

Unless someone forces the issue that is. And who is around to do that – what pressure groups exist apart from the lowly victims of the crimes.

 

Sure, there are many cases where arrests are made early and confessions extracted.

 

Fine – but what happened next? Did the matter go to court – and if so what were the sentences?

 

At the very least I want those tedious posters who talk about “brown envelopes” and “500 baht slaps on the wrist” as though they have some kind of advanced cultural knowledge of Thailand to be stopped in their tracks.

 

But no…..all we get is tumbleweed.

 

Everyone can think of many cases in the last year or so – cases of such public interest that it should be the duty of the press to follow up and let us know.

 

There are the six police children and accomplices who murdered the handicapped bread seller in Lat Prao. They were initially held but where are they now?

 

What became of Shimon the Israeli and his son who put a friend under the stairs?

 

What of the US citizens who cut up their mate and put him in a Sukhumvit freezer?

 

How about the Suan Kularb teacher in the case of sex with students? It started as scandal and ended in silence.

 

Are the murderers of Tony Kenway in Pattaya just teaching English in Cambodia without a care in the world?

 

The list goes on and on. It is not just crime but cases of all kinds.

 

And the silence is deafening.

 

Come on Thai press. Don’t let your police get away with inaction. Don’t let the authorities whitewash you.

 

Roust them up, demand some answers – think about the public and their needs. Think about the victims.

 

And do your bloody job and report!

 

I’ll read it.

 

-- © Copyright Thai Visa News 2017-06-07

[Black arab]

Fair enough ,follow up is needed

[KIWIBATCH]

Well said...bravo...

[Get Real]

Who had any other hopes? Who had expected something else?

[Marley01]

What about the police that were extorting from the Pattaya karaoke, that went quiet after all the chest beating from the head copper? 

Where did the 50k come from in regards to that policeman that reported it in his financial interests supposedly from ThaiBev until the public were outraged then it wasn't from thaibev?? Where from then?

That goose in Chiang Mai that had the generals son belted up by bouncers in the nightclub?? Haven't heard the result.

Maybe too much work for reporters to actually ask questions?

[timendres]

Actually, I believe the Thai's don't want the conclusions.

They are rarely interesting and often face threatening.

Better just to have the juicy details and speculation.

[darksidedog]

The Thai media are always happy to go to a police press conference, pick up some juicy allegations and write a story based on the polices version of events.

I never, ever see them in court. Occasionally on a big case they will take some photos outside, but they have no interest in the proceedings inside.

My theory for this is based on two things. Firstly Thai court proceedings take forever to reach conclusions. In a recent murder case in Pattaya there were 80 or so witnesses. Only a single witness could give testimony on any given day, The trial took nearly four years and over 100 court days. Too much time.

Secondly, the conclusion of the court is often completely different from the original story they posted and they don't want to admit they got it wrong.

As a result many people who have been found innocent by the courts still have the original allegations against them on line.

Sensational stories sell newspapers. Boring ones where the person is found innocent do not, and that sadly, is also why they don't bother following up.

 

[rickudon]

Goldfish syndrome. Last week is ancient history. Next.

[Stargeezr]

Good rant, keep them coming. I do find it frustrating that the Thia media does not follow up on so many

of the news stories.  Will that ever change?

Geezer