THAILAND: International Media Try to Fill in the Missing Puzzle Pieces

There used to be a time when the international media's grasp of Thai culture and politics was inadequate, if not downright wrong. Not anymore, writes Chang Noi in an opinion piece entitled 'The International Media and the Missing Parts of the Puzzle' in Thailand's English-language daily 'The Nation' Jan 5.

According to Chang, gone were the days when interest — and knowledge — of the international media about Thailand was almost zero. Then, coverage of Thai issues and events were rare, with journalists focusing more on neighbouring countries Burma and Cambodia. The same journalists were also observed to just fly in if anything significant occurs in the Land of Smiles.

"During the political crisis of 1992, many journalists who had last been in Thailand at the close of the Vietnam War hopped off the planes and tried to understand what was happening in a framework that was now 20 years out of date," said Chang.

Today, however, with more people around the world have a stake in Thailand, growing demand for more information has put some pressure on the international media to at least try to understand the country, its culture and its people. According to Chang, it's everybody's job to give everyone a full picture.

In the last several years, Thailand has been at the top of the stories of international news agencies like the BBC, CNN, al-Jazeera and NHK. The country has a "regular" presence as well in such international papers as 'International Herald Tribune', 'Wall Street Journal', and 'Financial Times', to name a few.

"In contrast to the fly-in/fly-out mob, many of these international correspondents stay for a long time, become proficient in the language, and get dug into the culture," wrote Chang.

In the process, the article continued, this development has also affected how the local media interpreted the news events. Clearly, this opening up somehow encouraged more political debates within Thailand, despite varying forms of self-censorships and other taboos.

"The knowledge industry, both inside and outside the country, will continue trying to fill in the missing parts of the puzzle because there is such a large audience that has so much at stake and a desire to understand what is really going on," it said.

For more about the article, click here.