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Murder! in Thailand's Vernacular Press

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 February 2014

Samson W. Lim
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Abstract

A cursory examination of the Thai press reveals two things: A history of censorship, at times violently repressive, and sensational content centered on crime news. Reporters, editors, and publishers have been threatened, intimidated, and murdered in an effort to control the print media while front pages are filled with stories of violent crime and gory photographs. This paper explores both these forms of violence, censorship and crime news, to understand the relationship between the two. It argues that the prevalence of the latter—sensationalism—has resulted in part from the former, a historical process of increasingly murderous repression. So while the form and content of the print media in Thailand, as elsewhere, follow the financial imperatives of the market and reflect trends in current events, they do so within a framework of legal, professional, and informal relationships established over time with seemingly unrelated institutions, including the police.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Asian Studies , Volume 73 , Issue 2 , May 2014 , pp. 359 - 376
Copyright
Copyright © The Association for Asian Studies, Inc. 2014 

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References

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NA. 1945. SR 0201.22.4. Office of the Secretary of the Prime Minister, Committee to Consider the Economic Situation after the War.Google Scholar
Bangkok Daily MailGoogle Scholar
Bangkok PostGoogle Scholar
Khao phap rai duanGoogle Scholar
Krungthep Daily MailGoogle Scholar
Phim ThaiGoogle Scholar
Phim Thai lang khao sapadaGoogle Scholar
Sayam nikonGoogle Scholar
Sayam ratGoogle Scholar
Sayam ratsadonGoogle Scholar
Freeman, Andrew. 1997. A Journalist in Siam. Bangkok: White Lotus.Google Scholar
Thawon, Suwan. 2007. Fa thale nam muk [Crossing a sea of ink]. Bangkok: Matichon Press.Google Scholar
Anderson, Benedict, and Mendiones, Ruchira, 1985. In the Mirror: Literature and Politics in Siam in the American Era. Bangkok: Duang Kamol.Google Scholar
Anek Nawigamune. 2003. Khathakon yuk khun bu [Murderers in olden days]. Bangkok: Saeng Dao.Google Scholar
Barmé, Scot. 2002. Woman, Man, Bangkok: Love, Sex and Popular Culturein Thailand. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield.Google Scholar
Soontravanich, Chalong. 2005. “Small Arms, Romance, and Crime and Violence in Post World War II Thai Society.” Southeast Asian Studies 43(1):26–46.Google Scholar
Chiwit lae ngan khong Ari Liwira [The life and work of Ari Liwira]. 1963. Bangkok: Siam Phanithayakan.Google Scholar
Copeland, Matthew. 1993. “Contested Nationalism.” PhD diss., National University of Australia.Google Scholar
Johnston, David Bruce. 1975. “Rural Society and the Rice Economy in Thailand, 1880–1930.” PhD diss., Yale University.Google Scholar
Luhmann, Niklas. 2000. The Reality of the Mass Media. Stanford, Calif.: Stanford University Press.Google Scholar
MacDonald, Alexander. 1949. Bangkok Editor. New York: MacMillan.Google Scholar
McLuhan, Marshall. 1964. Understanding the Media. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Nai Chanthana (Malai Chumphinit). 1998. Sua fai sip thit [Fai, the bandit of ten directions]. Bangkok: Krathom Publishing.Google Scholar
Narong Phoemphun. 1989. Poet pum chiwit Kamphon Wacharaphon jao pho Thai rat [In praise of the life of Kamphon Wacharaphon: Godfather of Thai rat]. Bankgok: Black and Grey.Google Scholar
Pattana Kitiarsa. 2005. “Lives of Hunting Dogs: ‘Muai Thai’ and the Politics of Thai Masculinities.” South East Asia Research 13(1):57–90.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pasuk Phongpaichit and Chris Baker. 2002. Thailand: Economy and Politics. 2nd ed.Selangor: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Piyakanit, Hongthong. 1988. Nang su chu Sayam sanuk khao [A book called fun news of Siam]. Bangkok: Kanya Publishing.Google Scholar
Reynolds, Craig J. 2011. “Rural Male Leadership, Religion and the Environment in Thailand's Mid-South, 1920s–1960s.” Journal of Southeast Asian Studies 42(1):39–57.Google Scholar
“Ruang khong nangsuphim muang Thai pen bunthuk khwam khong phu sonjai nangsuphim khon nung” [The story of newspapers in Thailand: A record by an interested person]. 1963. In Chiwit lae ngan khong Ari Liwira [Life and work of Ari Liwira]. Bangkok: Thai Phanithayakan.Google Scholar
Sayam phimphakan: Prawatisat kan phim nai prathet Thai [Publishing in Siam: The history of publishing in Thailand]. 2006. Bangkok: Matichon.Google Scholar
Somphong, Jaengrew. 2002. “The Roles of Special Branch Police in Thai Political History, 1932–1957.” MA thesis, Kasetsart University.Google Scholar
Thak Chaloemtiarana. 2007. Thailand: The Politics of Despotic Paternalism. Ithaca, N.Y.: Southeast Asia Program.Google Scholar
Thanaphol Limaphichart. 2008. “The Prescription of Good Books.” PhD diss., University of Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Wilson, Christopher P. 2000. Cop Knowledge: Police Power and Cultural Narrative in Twentieth-Century America. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wipha Senanan Kongkanan. 1997. Kamnoet nawaniyai nai prathet Thai [The origins of the novel in Thailand]. Bangkok: Dok Ya Publishing.Google Scholar