Since when have PG's offices been regularly raided?
phuketjames, on 2009-02-08 18:42:11, said:
Ping, on 2009-02-08 09:06:48, said:
phuketjames, on 2009-02-04 15:58:32, said:
The Gazette reports all the crime that it finds out about. All the other Thai language newspapers have police scanners and so are able to get a lot of information this way. The Phuket Gazette cannot have them on the premises because the offices are regularly raided and they are illegal.
Really? I'm curious as to why the offices of PG attract so much police interest...
I assume its because the gazette is ocassionaly critical of 'powers that be' in phuket. Ill check and get back to you on that.
Yeah, that's a weird one - off the top of my head I can't even recall a police visit to the office in the last 5 years or so.
James is new so he deserves a mulligan but I hope he doesn't get thrown under the bus before he reaches the 6 month mark
I know that there was a lot of great news in the paper with the Gazette getting regular scoops. There were some raids at the Gazette during October, there is a video of the Phuket Gazette being raided on Youtube viewable by following this link:
The Phuket Gazette ran a story about foreign child laborers working in slave like conditions on Phuket island, there are thousands of illegal laborers on Phuket and they are often the victims of extortion.
A few days after the story was printed minibus loads of officials from Phuket's labor department starting coming on a daily basis to "investigate" the reporters and editors at the Phuket Gazette's offices. Someone had filed a complaint at Sala Klang claiming amongst other things that John Magee was a danger to internal security and Worapot Ratsima signed authorisation to investigate the Gazette.
Notice the very large unzipped handbag that Janya Yingyong likes to drop on people's desks while reciting her scripts - in the video she is speaking Thai saying things like:
"I am above the Thai police."
"I go to all the police stations on Phuket island and know all the police here."
"I have everyone's personal files at my home."
"I will investigate everyone, I know that there must be something wrong"
"Are you afraid?"
The article first appeared on Monday, October 6, 2008 on the web then on the 10th in print
Child Labor in Phuket shames Junta
PHUKET: Burmese daily newspaper True News was ordered by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board of Myanmar to suspend publication for two months, following its publication on September 30 of a large image depicting a Burmese child working on a construction site in Phuket.
Mr Yeni, News Editor at The Irrawaddy, told the Gazette that, An anonymous freelancer in Rangoon told us that the censorship board has ordered True News to suspend publication for two months due to a front page photograph that ran a caption reading: A Burmese child working on a construction site in Phuket, Thailand. Apparently the editors of True News were found guilty of not sending clear draft layouts to the Press Scrutiny Board.
Another Rangoon source said that True News had submitted the layouts, but the Board failed to censor the photo. Major Tint Swe, head of the censorship board, was then reportedly scolded by Information Minister Kyaw Hsan for the oversight, said Mr Yeni.
The editors and reporters of True News are now afraid to give interviews with anyone outside Myanmar. We are unable to find out where, exactly, the construction site is in Phuket. We are very interested in covering stories about Burmese migrants in Phuket.
The Junta are paranoid and strange. The Burmese regime is not like any other government; they focus only on how to control media, especially when they work with journalists outside Myanmar. With the exploitation of child laborers, the Junta feel that they have been exposed for lacking care for their own citizens. Later this year we plan to visit Phuket ourselves, he added.
There will be a lot for them to report on here.
The plight of Burmese workers in Phuket is well known to island residents. They are commonly seen huddled into the back of trucks and at squalid workers camps across the island. The camps have mushroomed on the back of a real estate boom driven largely by foreign investment in recent years.
The situation made international headlines earlier this year when 54 unregistered workers suffocated in the back of a truck in Ranong while en route to a construction site in Phuket.
A crackdown followed, and on June 11 former Kathu policeman Decho Kaewnabon was gunned down in front of his Patong home in a murder that remains unsolved.
Decho, dismissed from the force for involvement in Burmese labor rings, allegedly continued in the business. His murder is widely seen as a silencing killing ordered by other influential traffickers.
There have also been numerous extortion attempts made against Burmese workers and those who employ them, often by people posing as government officials.
One registered Burmese worker who resisted an extortion attempt was shot in the face and killed in Kathu on March 30. Although there were many witnesses, that case also remains unsolved.
to read the original, at first it looked like the Phuket Gazette was shaming the Burmese Junta; in the end it turned out to be a double whammy with the Phuket Employment Department also being shamed for their practices. Records show that many islanders had filed complaints at Provincial Hall against the Labor Department but they were not taken seriously.
The head of Phuket labor - Nattaya in the green shirt - has since been transferred to Phang Nga and the new head Khun Decha requested that these highlights be uploaded to Youtube as a deterrent to other officials that may be led astray. Khun Decha stated that Janya Yingyong has been transferred to the airport after internal investigators from the Ministry of Labor found that Khan was a victim of relentless immoral harassment. A case is now being prepared for the National Counter Corruption Committee to pursue.
Khun Decha initially tried to argue that the Thai media make these exposes but then conceded that they were not as hard hitting, concise and deep as those in the Gazette.
Yes, that's one good piece of journalism (give credit where credit is due) but that looks like a visit from the police; when I see the word 'raid', I envision the police making a surprise appearance and hauling stuff away on the spot like documents and computers.
That was over 4 months ago and since then there's been a huge turnover and reduction of staff at the Gazette and, evidently, a change in policy (though there seems to be internal confusion about this even).
This and the other thread are about the current state and quality of the Gazette. Try to stay on topic, grasshopper, or open another thread entitled "The Glorious History of the Phuket Gazette (Pre-Crap Era)"
cyberak, on 2009-02-09 22:04:25, said:
I know that there was a lot of great news in the paper with the Gazette getting regular scoops. There were some raids at the Gazette during October, there is a video of the Phuket Gazette being raided on Youtube viewable by following this link:
The Phuket Gazette ran a story about foreign child laborers working in slave like conditions on Phuket island, there are thousands of illegal laborers on Phuket and they are often the victims of extortion.
A few days after the story was printed minibus loads of officials from Phuket's labor department starting coming on a daily basis to "investigate" the reporters and editors at the Phuket Gazette's offices. Someone had filed a complaint at Sala Klang claiming amongst other things that John Magee was a danger to internal security and Worapot Ratsima signed authorisation to investigate the Gazette.
Notice the very large unzipped handbag that Janya Yingyong likes to drop on people's desks while reciting her scripts - in the video she is speaking Thai saying things like:
"I am above the Thai police."
"I go to all the police stations on Phuket island and know all the police here."
"I have everyone's personal files at my home."
"I will investigate everyone, I know that there must be something wrong"
"Are you afraid?"
The article first appeared on Monday, October 6, 2008 on the web then on the 10th in print
Child Labor in Phuket shames Junta
PHUKET: Burmese daily newspaper True News was ordered by the Press Scrutiny and Registration Board of Myanmar to suspend publication for two months, following its publication on September 30 of a large image depicting a Burmese child working on a construction site in Phuket.
Mr Yeni, News Editor at The Irrawaddy, told the Gazette that, An anonymous freelancer in Rangoon told us that the censorship board has ordered True News to suspend publication for two months due to a front page photograph that ran a caption reading: A Burmese child working on a construction site in Phuket, Thailand. Apparently the editors of True News were found guilty of not sending clear draft layouts to the Press Scrutiny Board.
Another Rangoon source said that True News had submitted the layouts, but the Board failed to censor the photo. Major Tint Swe, head of the censorship board, was then reportedly scolded by Information Minister Kyaw Hsan for the oversight, said Mr Yeni.
The editors and reporters of True News are now afraid to give interviews with anyone outside Myanmar. We are unable to find out where, exactly, the construction site is in Phuket. We are very interested in covering stories about Burmese migrants in Phuket.
The Junta are paranoid and strange. The Burmese regime is not like any other government; they focus only on how to control media, especially when they work with journalists outside Myanmar. With the exploitation of child laborers, the Junta feel that they have been exposed for lacking care for their own citizens. Later this year we plan to visit Phuket ourselves, he added.
There will be a lot for them to report on here.
The plight of Burmese workers in Phuket is well known to island residents. They are commonly seen huddled into the back of trucks and at squalid workers camps across the island. The camps have mushroomed on the back of a real estate boom driven largely by foreign investment in recent years.
The situation made international headlines earlier this year when 54 unregistered workers suffocated in the back of a truck in Ranong while en route to a construction site in Phuket.
A crackdown followed, and on June 11 former Kathu policeman Decho Kaewnabon was gunned down in front of his Patong home in a murder that remains unsolved.
Decho, dismissed from the force for involvement in Burmese labor rings, allegedly continued in the business. His murder is widely seen as a silencing killing ordered by other influential traffickers.
There have also been numerous extortion attempts made against Burmese workers and those who employ them, often by people posing as government officials.
One registered Burmese worker who resisted an extortion attempt was shot in the face and killed in Kathu on March 30. Although there were many witnesses, that case also remains unsolved.
to read the original, at first it looked like the Phuket Gazette was shaming the Burmese Junta; in the end it turned out to be a double whammy with the Phuket Employment Department also being shamed for their practices. Records show that many islanders had filed complaints at Provincial Hall against the Labor Department but they were not taken seriously.
The head of Phuket labor - Nattaya in the green shirt - has since been transferred to Phang Nga and the new head Khun Decha requested that these highlights be uploaded to Youtube as a deterrent to other officials that may be led astray. Khun Decha stated that Janya Yingyong has been transferred to the airport after internal investigators from the Ministry of Labor found that Khan was a victim of relentless immoral harassment. A case is now being prepared for the National Counter Corruption Committee to pursue.
Khun Decha initially tried to argue that the Thai media make these exposes but then conceded that they were not as hard hitting, concise and deep as those in the Gazette.
To be fair chaps if we are to criticize then it would be good to have some examples of poor journalism, I am not in Phuket so I cannot give a fair review. I do however have the Jan 17 issue and the editorial team seems to be much bigger than when I was there and yes the stories are no where nearly as great as when I was there - Anand Singh writes a superb column IMHO but the story Saving Chalong where the writer dreams that Prince Charles is PM of Thailand is pathetic, I guess the writer must be some American with an altered mind trying to be funny - I am shocked that a British editor could approve such drivel. Stories should be written with beer drinkers in mind not potheads!
Then there is an Ad that says "PLAYGIRLS WANTED" looking for high class escorts and this suggests that perhaps the Gazette is finding it difficult to find quality advertisers - there is no way Chris Husted or myself would have allowed such an ad to run as it could tarnish the image amongst all the feminist men and women - I have read the whinges about the cartoons and I guess they do become a bit monotonous.
Sexual freedom is good up to a certain point but this seems to go against the government's policy of protecting young girls from being lured into the flesh trade which makes one wonder what kind of self censorship the Gazette is really in to?
Strange how there own web stats becomes newsworthy, this perhaps highlights part of the problem - Writers need to write for their audience's pleasure not their own.
I hope the Gazette can improve quality quickly or else it seems there would be a vacuum in the market for a new kid on the block.
So Phuket wannabe reporters, clean your quills and remember that your pen is your sword, may the hardest hitting paper win the coveted recognition of being the Island's English language newspaper. Seems like the underdogs are rising up to the challenge - may the best team of writers win!
Let us see who has the most lead in their pencil - write now or forever hold your piece
perhaps we need to set up a media monitoring blog with ratings and rankings....just a suggestion
To be fair chaps if we are to criticize then it would be good to have some examples of poor journalism, I am not in Phuket so I cannot give a fair review. I do however have the Jan 17 issue and the editorial team seems to be much bigger than when I was there and yes the stories are no where nearly as great as when I was there - Anand Singh writes a superb column IMHO but the story Saving Chalong where the writer dreams that Prince Charles is PM of Thailand is pathetic, I guess the writer must be some American with an altered mind trying to be funny - I am shocked that a British editor could approve such drivel. Stories should be written with beer drinkers in mind not potheads!
Then there is an Ad that says "PLAYGIRLS WANTED" looking for high class escorts and this suggests that perhaps the Gazette is finding it difficult to find quality advertisers - there is no way Chris Husted or myself would have allowed such an ad to run as it could tarnish the image amongst all the feminist men and women - I have read the whinges about the cartoons and I guess they do become a bit monotonous.
Sexual freedom is good up to a certain point but this seems to go against the government's policy of protecting young girls from being lured into the flesh trade which makes one wonder what kind of self censorship the Gazette is really in to?
Strange how there own web stats becomes newsworthy, this perhaps highlights part of the problem - Writers need to write for their audience's pleasure not their own.
I hope the Gazette can improve quality quickly or else it seems there would be a vacuum in the market for a new kid on the block.
So Phuket wannabe reporters, clean your quills and remember that your pen is your sword, may the hardest hitting paper win the coveted recognition of being the Island's English language newspaper. Seems like the underdogs are rising up to the challenge - may the best team of writers win!
Let us see who has the most lead in their pencil - write now or forever hold your piece
perhaps we need to set up a media monitoring blog with ratings and rankings....just a suggestion
Yeah I'm the one whining about the sexist, " All Thai women are bar, " Girls" cartoons .
The thing that bothers me about the " prostitutes wanted " ad is the term .." Girls" What is with that , doesn't anyone in Thailand want to have sex with women? It's always " Girls " I can remember when girl meant female child , now I guess woman means " Too old to have sex with...over .... what 32 33?
I got a PM from somebody stating no way Husted left because of the Burma Expose ....and to say so was BS and because the poster had a beef with the Labour Dept Do you disagree, was he forced out ?
I had a media watch radio show at one time which I miss doing very much, I'd love to ressurrect it ... ANd I'd very much like to set up another forum, one where ALL subjects can be discussed freely . There isn't one in Thailand as far as I know .
It might just be me, but a number of my female buddies in their twenties talk about "boys". Should it bother me?
HorseDoctor, on 2009-02-13 09:55:08, said:
cyberak, on 2009-02-11 22:15:47, said:
To be fair chaps if we are to criticize then it would be good to have some examples of poor journalism, I am not in Phuket so I cannot give a fair review. I do however have the Jan 17 issue and the editorial team seems to be much bigger than when I was there and yes the stories are no where nearly as great as when I was there - Anand Singh writes a superb column IMHO but the story Saving Chalong where the writer dreams that Prince Charles is PM of Thailand is pathetic, I guess the writer must be some American with an altered mind trying to be funny - I am shocked that a British editor could approve such drivel. Stories should be written with beer drinkers in mind not potheads!
Then there is an Ad that says "PLAYGIRLS WANTED" looking for high class escorts and this suggests that perhaps the Gazette is finding it difficult to find quality advertisers - there is no way Chris Husted or myself would have allowed such an ad to run as it could tarnish the image amongst all the feminist men and women - I have read the whinges about the cartoons and I guess they do become a bit monotonous.
Sexual freedom is good up to a certain point but this seems to go against the government's policy of protecting young girls from being lured into the flesh trade which makes one wonder what kind of self censorship the Gazette is really in to?
Strange how there own web stats becomes newsworthy, this perhaps highlights part of the problem - Writers need to write for their audience's pleasure not their own.
I hope the Gazette can improve quality quickly or else it seems there would be a vacuum in the market for a new kid on the block.
So Phuket wannabe reporters, clean your quills and remember that your pen is your sword, may the hardest hitting paper win the coveted recognition of being the Island's English language newspaper. Seems like the underdogs are rising up to the challenge - may the best team of writers win!
Let us see who has the most lead in their pencil - write now or forever hold your piece
perhaps we need to set up a media monitoring blog with ratings and rankings....just a suggestion
Yeah I'm the one whining about the sexist, " All Thai women are bar, " Girls" cartoons .
The thing that bothers me about the " prostitutes wanted " ad is the term .." Girls" What is with that , doesn't anyone in Thailand want to have sex with women? It's always " Girls " I can remember when girl meant female child , now I guess woman means " Too old to have sex with...over .... what 32 33?
I got a PM from somebody stating no way Husted left because of the Burma Expose ....and to say so was BS and because the poster had a beef with the Labour Dept Do you disagree, was he forced out ?
I had a media watch radio show at one time which I miss doing very much, I'd love to ressurrect it ... ANd I'd very much like to set up another forum, one where ALL subjects can be discussed freely . There isn't one in Thailand as far as I know .
Strange that the Gazette chooses not to run the story about the Britisher with all the drugs, very strange indeed as this druggie was near the beach where the floating foetus was found NBT took the lead this time as the island's number one media with a killer news video watch and enjoy Hopefully the Gazette will catch up with these intesting stories slipping through its intelligence network
//Edit: Deleted rehash of arrest of Mr. Griffin. This was already posted 11 days ago in the forum "Phuket News and Events" -- Maestro
vanalli, on 2009-02-09 09:38:39, said:
Hopefully the Gazette will catch up with these intesting stories slipping through its intelligence network
