Politics and the Press in Thailand : Media Machinations

An important element in the Thai success story during the boom years of the late 1980's and early 1990's, was the flourishing and politically interventionist print media.

Politics and the Press in Thailand is the first book in English, to examine the tangled web of relationships linking newspaper owners, editors, columnists and reporters, with leading politicians and power-holders.

Duncan McCargo has been granted unique access to the editorial meetings and newsrooms of Thailand's leading newspapers.

Drawing on numerous interviews and extensive observation, this book unpacks the contradictions and dichotomies which underlie political coverage in the Thai language press. This highly original book discusses in detail: the historical and conceptual background of the press in Thailand the process of political newsgathering the work of parliamentary reporters the internal politics of a newsroom the influential role of political columnists the impact of the 1997 economic crisis on the Thai press McCargo argues that Thai definitions of 'news' and 'comment' lead to a passive attitude to newsgathering and questionable emphasis, when reproducing the opinions of politicians and other senior figures.

It is suggested that only a systematic reform of the newsgathering and news production processes will lead to a substantive change in the way 'news' is presented to the Thai people.