Every morning I spend a few minutes going through Twitter and checking overnight updates. Without fail there is always at least one article from an international news site about Thailand.
Sometimes these stories paint Thailand in a positive light and other times not so much. Those of us who live here may be immune from the hype but it seems that certain types of news stories from Thailand will always make the news in the west.
Exotic Thailand
Living in Thailand can numb you from the fact that for many people this country is exotic. It’s very far from home and just the name conjures images of tropical rain forests, desert islands and adventure.
As such when anything happens here it will sell as the media can take the line that people who come here are in a totally different environment. The word Thailand will encourage people to click on links compared to the same story happening in Spain or Canada.
Tourist Numbers = Tourist Problems
With the sheer number of tourists arriving in Thailand there will always be problems and these make good news stories.
Barely a week goes by without someone reporting a GoFundMe page has been set up for someone who crashed a motorbike and didn’t have insurance to cover them.
With so many tourists here there will be a number who die. Some die of natural causes whereas there have been suicides and murders. The fact that some of these deaths involve young people on the “trip of a lifetime” makes it another angle the media can utilize Thailand to increase interest in a story.
Interestingly there was only limited coverage in the UK of the Chinese tourists who died in Phuket according to my family. Perhaps tourists from certain countries are more interesting to report about than others?
New Week New Angle
Thailand is the gift that keeps giving to news organizations.
Every week there seems to be a new topic on Thailand which is used as the basis for a series of articles. Recently it is the stories of foreigners in Thai prisons. I can’t seem to spend more than 20 minutes online without seeing a story about someone who did something wrong and talks about their experience in jail.
Previously topics have included criminals hiding in Thailand and street food crazes.
Easy Targets
There are a couple of easy targets here in Thailand which are goldmines for foreign websites and news agencies.
Ladyboys make the news around the world especially if they are involved in a crime against a tourist or at the annual military exemption day.
Prostitutes are easy prey for foreign media too. Prostitutes stealing from tourists, prostitutes “brazenly” going about their business, prostitutes hanging out with foreign men. In the same category add ping pong shows and whatever else happens behind closed doors in the adult entertainment venues.
Animal rights is another issue which pops up pretty much every month. This month the story of an elephant doing a swimming show caused TripAvisor to remove the “zoo” from their site. Previously the Tiger Temple scandal got international media attention. Something else will happen soon.
Jealous of / Pitty Retirees
I get the sense that some media are jealous of people who retire in Thailand and others feel pitty for retirees here. Either way both angles lend themselves to stories about Thailand.
Suicides and stories of expats running out of money are common news stories for international sites. There are also plenty of articles written about the cheap cost of living here and how people are escapigng atough retirement in their home country for “fun in the sun” here in Thailand.
The Stories Which Don't Make It
For those of us living here we hear more of the local stories and daily goings on which don’t seem to make it into international news.
From politics to environmental issues most things don’t make it into the international press.
It seems for a story about Thailand to make it there needs to be special link behind it (boys stuck in the cave) or a link to exotic Thailand (gap year student in intensive care).
For those of us here in Thailand the news will be the news. For those outside Thailand, news about this country will always be something exotic and rarely the mundane. Exotic sells, gap year student accidents sell, tourist disasters sell, Thai prostitute and ladyboy stories sell, the wrongs of elephant tourism sells but most of what we read in local media isn’t interesting for international media.
Must be the website you read, Thailand is never in the International news section outside of Thailand. Last story in America that was in the news was the boys in the cave. Prior to that, the death of the King. Other than the usual political instability stories, I can’t remember any Thai news stories that made American news
So…. On the real world stage outside of where you are, Thailand is rarely in the news. Just wanted to offer another perspective from the outside….
Thanks for your blog postings, I enjoy reading them
Thanks Bob
I see a lot from the UK but mainly linked to the craziness of tourists or extreme situations but these aren’t in mainstream media.