Perhaps, the current state of apathy – the total lack of critical coverage of the real issues that have plunged the country into the political abyss – has stemmed from the conviction in certain quarters that national reconciliation can be achieved only through glossing over embarrassing facts.
- Extracted from Suthichai Yoon, “When ‘neutrality’ means that fact and fiction get mixed up”, The Nation, 21 May 2009.
Surely if there is a lack of “critical coverage of the real issues” Suthichai and the other heavy-weights in his publishing group should take some responsibility for that state of affairs? So will we hear more of these “embarrassing facts”? Will he and his colleagues step up to meet the challenge that he has now set out?
I would be genuinely delighted to hear which, say, three or four “real issues” Suthichai feels are worthy of a “real investigative report”? Perhaps New Mandala readers can offer their own suggestions on where the energies of Thailand’s investigative journalists should be devoted.
Thanks to Nick for drawing my attention to this article.
14 responses so far ↓
1 fall // May 21, 2009 at 9:12 pm
Thailand’s investigative journalists
Now, that’s an oxymoron, right there…
2 Colum Graham // May 21, 2009 at 10:11 pm
Well I’m not aware of the influence that this Suthichai Yoon may have, but surely this is skirting around the state of liberalism in Thailand. A free, critical media would occur naturally with a politically liberal Thailand.
The whole article is full of tautology and it becomes a play on what he’s ‘attempting’ to elucidate. His idea of being critical of power, reporting on the truth etc is all very amusing because it glosses over any articulation of the power which needs to be questioned toothlessly. He doesn’t provide examples of articles that have been influenced, he doesn’t provide any critique of journalists at all – just refers to apathetic journalism at large as though this is a uniquely Thai sociological impairment. He’s obviously never seen the Advertiser in Adelaide.
Issues to write about in Thailand are seemingly like a hot potatoes, nobody wants to catch one. Maybe Suthichai Yoon caught the free press one for a little too long and this is the result.
Presumably people who are angered by what journalistic apathy will become anonymous V for Vendetta bloggers. It’s the new heroin chic.
Can you imagine a Thai Tony Jones?
3 dantampa // May 22, 2009 at 12:29 am
I find the whole article absurd, a strawman argument coming as it does from someone associated with the Nation, a newspaper which, far from being “neutral” in its coverage, has prostituted itsself as a propaganda outlet for the current government and its political allies. I can only assume that Khun Suthichai hasn’t been reading his own newspaper if he thinks its been blurring facts and fiction for the sake of neutrality. I have seen more objective new reporting in the Burma Times.
4 Somsak Jeamteerasakul // May 22, 2009 at 12:39 am
In its pushing of reactionary political agendas (in favour of the Royal Power and the coup), the role of newspapers and TVs in the Nation ‘family’ with Sutthichai Yoon as General-Editor-in-Chief during these past few years has been an absolute disgrace to journalism, perhaps second only to the Manager group. In fact, one could argue that it’s even worse than the Manager group. The latter has, for all intent and purpose, been an organ of a political movement, but the Nation still pretenteously professes to be ‘news organization’, as is shown in this unconsciously self-denouncing piece of Sutthichai.
5 Les Abbey // May 22, 2009 at 12:24 pm
Somsak Jeamteerasakul, what a short memory. Wasn’t the Nation Group one of the few news organizations that stood up against Thaksin before the coup as he attempted to consolidate total power in his and his family’s hands.
I would love to see the bills that Thaksin’s two US PR companies put in. Would writing to New Mandala be an item on them?
6 hclau // May 22, 2009 at 2:37 pm
Oh! its back to Thaksin again! That’s about the intellectual height that Les and Yoon, defenders of the Nation can get to.
Why bother….
7 Srithanonchai // May 22, 2009 at 3:40 pm
Somsak # 4
EXACTLY!
8 amberwaves // May 22, 2009 at 4:28 pm
Ajarn Somsak doesn’t have a short memory – as regular readers of this blog certainly know — but Les Abbey isn’t a careful reader. Somsak clearly was referring to, right there in black and white, The Nation’s agenda “…during these past few years…”
The comment: ‘the bills that Thaksin’s two US PR companies put in. Would writing to New Mandala be an item on them?” is silly and reductionist.
It’s also slimy, leaving open the implication that Ajarn Somsak is on the Thaksin PR payroll. Please clarify, Les Abbey. Or at least think a bit more next time you write.
9 Sidh S // May 23, 2009 at 2:49 pm
A good point to kick start Thai investigative journalism – The War on Drugs now that the DSI has finally made some headway after 5 very long years.
“Police charged over drug war: DSI starts fresh probe of deaths of 21 other teens”
in
http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/local/17168/police-charged-over-drug-war
(The Nation should not let Bangkok Post get too far ahead here!)
I’d love to read this as a positive development for a Thai rule of law and justice and I hope Thai society, as a whole, are willing to face these popular injustices instead of sweeping it aside as an embarrassing episode, really learn from it, and not let it happen again.
Let’s publicly open up the Southern unrest too and it’s time a great Thai investigative documentary like “Citizen Juling” gets aired on public TV.
This will not only set new precedents for Thai society – but also for aspiring and un-aspiring neighboring ‘democracies’ it is hoped.
10 amberwaves // May 26, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Sidh S: And let the chips fall where they may, vis-a-vis the drug war?
I’d like to see that. I’m sure many people would. Thaksin’s critics talk a big game about the drug war but instead pursue rather marginal and subjective economic crime cases against him.
Political Prisoners in Thailand’s website makes clear why, in an item relating to this same Bangkok Post article.
It includes a very interesting link to something by Ajarn Somsak — not news to people who actually follow events and care about the truth, but a very good reminder:
http://prachachon.thaingo.org/webboard/view.php?id=1531
11 Sidh S // May 26, 2009 at 4:34 pm
And an editorial from Bangkok Post on the War on Drugs:
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/17231/investigations-are-important-step
I haven’t thoroughly checked if The Nation carried the story yet (but from a quick perusal, they haven’t) although they are doing a fine job with Myanmar and the Democrat’s tendency to quickly make enemies all round (PAD looks increasingly likely to compete with them in the next election for the same voting demographic; their coalition partners don’t like their standards/principles; Myanmar and Cambodia dislike their interference – everyone seems to desire “BUSINESS as usual” good old days under PMThaksin)
Yes, Amberwaves, let the chips fall where they may. It will be beneficial for Thai society to be able to at least get to the truth of state abuses against its own population. At least the most recent ones, still fresh in peoples minds, must be investigated.
Yes, the War on Drugs may be highly popular amongst Thais (and hence PMThaksin claims credit for it and still markets it as recently as the Songkran Red Riots as his premiership’s ’success’) at all social strata – my middleclass friends and family overwhelmingly supported it then. This may also have something to do with what they see in the Thai media then. Exposed to Australian investigative journalism (I think it was SBS), I was very, very uncomfortable. But as with democracy in general, even if it is popular doesn’t mean that it is right (one of the crux of the current conflicts in Thai Democracy)…
The challenge is if any of these events gets politicized, it will be very hard to get to the truths amongst blatant lies and half-truths. Look at what is happening in the parliaments Reconciliation Committee to investigate the most recent Songkran state and citizen conflicts. Our Thai Mandela, PMThaksin and the Red Elites now claim that the government had ingeniously and masterfully orchestrated all the violence from Pattaya to Bangkok!
What hope do we have going back to Oct 7 Crackdown on PAD, Southern Unrests, War on Drugs, Black May 1992, Oct 1976 (that AjarnSomsak is very passionate about) etc…etc…
12 Nobody // May 26, 2009 at 6:51 pm
You would have to be incredibly brave to be a real investigative journalist in Thailand, and your life expectancy would probably be very short.
How about human trafficking up North?
13 Sidh S // May 27, 2009 at 8:23 pm
Nobody #12. I dare say that the early days of ITV before PMThaksin took over held a lot of promise in heading towards investigative journalism. However it wasn’t doing good business and after ShinCorp bought the station, the entertainment content was increased while the subject matter investigated in the news became ’safe topics’. In other words, it became commercialized – much like our channels 7, 9 and 10 in Australia. A publicly funded model like SBS and ABC is needed – with editoria/programming independence from the government unlike Thailand’s former channel 11 (on that note the Democrats may be taking the channel to a better direction offering the leader of the opposition a half hour slot to follow the prime minister’s one hour each week – just that Pheu Thai interestingly has no leader. Might as well just let PMThaksin have that half hour! It is certainly better than having Red TV and Yellow TV in terms of exposing audiences to diverse views).
14 Media and images in Thailand // Oct 29, 2009 at 9:29 am
[...] machinations of journalists, and their newspaper and tabloid bosses (see earlier posting on NM, “Suthichai Yoon on the state of Thai journalism”, 21 May 2009 by Nicholas Farrelly, in a case where a perpetrator himself cries foul). It is not [...]
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