ENGLISH MEDIA IGNORES BANGKOK MURDER
A Scottish woman who suffered head wounds after being mugged in central Bangkok last week has died. The story has been reported worldwide by the likes of The Sun, the Press Association and BBC News to name a few.
Not a single mention of the August 29 incident, which is now being treated as a murder investigation, has appeared in the English language media in Thailand.
6 comments:
I am in Scotland at the moment, and when I'm in Bangkok I live only a few minutes' walk from where the poor woman died. The press over here have naturally highlighted the story.
I am curious whether the Thai language press have failed to report it as well; if so, it would be natural to wonder about pressure from above to not sully the national reputation and not discourage even more tourists at a time when hotels are hurting with very low occupancy rates and even the overseas consulates have been instructed to waive tourist visa fees until early 2010 to encourage more visitors. My daughter was very pleased to get her visa free of charge just last week.
br in Glasgow
Hi BR,
I believe the Thai language media has been equally silent in its reporting of this tragic incident. I wonder if will egt covered now it's become a murder inquiry?
I understand what you're saying about the image issue but I don't think that's the answer here. To me there's no logical reason, given the amount of reporting overseas and the resulting impact on the Kingdom's image.
The visa waiver scheme is good and shows the country is trying to do something, but would saving a few quid really sway someone's decision whether or not to visit Thailand?
Today Andrew Drummond reports that a British woman was raped on Koh Samui by a taxi driver on Saturday morning (Sept. 26). It's reported in the British press. I did a quick search and found nothing on the Nation or Bangkok Post sites. ... So I thought of this Scottish woman's case and the Thai English press's silence. Seems to be a pattern.
Doug. Let's see if this story gets picked up in the English (or Thai) print media in Thailland tomorrow.
It doesn't make sense really, because anyone in Thailand already isn't going to be influenced, wheras all the reporting is happening where te damage is and can be done.
Perhaps there really is some kind of organisation behind trying to keep farang crimes out of the English media in Thailand?
Does Andrew Drummond ever comment on anything positive about Thailand?
To add to my earlier comment, the Koh Samui story was reported by The Bangkok Post yesterday.
Andrew Drummond, whom I have never met, is a freelance journalist and, quite obviously, is only going to write stories which will get published, and for which he will get paid.
Media organisations can get the "positive" stories, as you put it, from PR companies and elsewhere but there will always be a market for the kinds of stories that Andrew, and other Thai and foreign journalists, write about Thailand.
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