When it comes to listening to the political news from Thailand, some of the things you hear would make Joe Isuzu blush. But given the source and reputation, many would be disappointed if they actually started telling the truth.
The amount of bogus, bad or as some put it ‘toxic’ information that is finding it’s way into Thailand’s main stream media is just enough to choke a horse. Some elected officials are very well justified in demanding that the media verify the information before it is published. Instead what the media is doing is simply saying that so and so said ‘x’. In that case the news item is the person saying ‘x’ and not the truthfulness of ‘x’. Whether this is deliberate or not, it does have a negative effect on healing the divide in Thailand.
That scenario benefits only one person and coincidently the source of the toxic information comes from the same source, Thaksin Shinawatra and his cronies. There is some toxic information from other sources, but it would be like comparing a teaspoon to a liter.
Some of the bogus stories that have come out are like people changing parties, and others entering politics. Each story is designed to give the impression that there is major instability in the government. That is meant to eventually translate to be Thaksin is the only man that can. Fortunately all but the most gullible minds now see the source of the bogus information as being totally un-credible. This has the double edge effect come election day. The more bad information they spew, the lower the educational threshold gets that divides pro and anti Thaksin people. After all if they can’t believe what they are saying when there are no elections going on, how can they believe the lies when there is an election going on.
So this now brings up a debatable question, and that question is;
Is the media being lazy by not verifying the ‘said’ information is true, or are they just handing out hanging rope a meter at a time?
Considering that the bogus information is wide spread across many media outlets in both Thai and English, it does suggest the lazy scenario. But in either case the public is seeing lie after lie coming from Thaksin and his cronies, and they are developing their own conclusion.
In case you do not know who Joe Isuzu is, he is a fictional car salesman who is a pathological liar.
Let’s look at the media craze surrounding this young Thai filmmaker who claimed to have won an award at Cannes. It seems to me that the Thai media did little, if any, fact-checking before putting her on TV.
By the way, Thaksin has recently been a victim of negative rumours as well. The Manager’s notorious gossip columnist ‘Sor 7’ just made a claim that Thaksin has prostate cancer. Also, what do you expect from this government anyway? Do you think this Frankenstein coalition can continue without some infighting and bickering along the way?
Also, what’s your opinion on the notion that Thaksin and his aides are republican, anti-monarchist leftists who ultimately wish to turn Thailand into a presidential republic? Would you consider it one of those “bogus stories that have come out” as well?