Before and After: Post
editing - July 30, 2005
Here is a pre-edit (left) and post-edit (right) of the Post's
article on the joint Thaksin/Anand address Thursday night. As
usual, the article is complimentary to the Prime Minister, but
the pre-edit is even more so, calling the PM 'a real class act.'
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Untitled - Bangkok Post, July
29, 2005
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra sent the whole nation
to bed seeing light at the end of the tunnel for the southern
unrest with his pledges never to put aside peaceful means
and reconcilation principle in favour of the use of state
power and force to end the violence in the region.
Mr Thaksin was a real class act in last night's live television
appearance with Anand Panyarachun, chairman of the National
Reconciliation Commission (NRC), to calm a storm of controversy
over the enforcement of the tough emergency situations
decree in the far South feared by peace advocates to fan
the fire.
Mr Thaksin lifted the cloud of suspicions over whether
his government had abandoned peaceful means, saying the
decree was a security necessity but the government would
impose self-restraint and would always ensure a balance
between human rights and civil liberties and national
security.
The prime minister said the government could not afford
to condone mistreatments against innocent people in Muslim-dominated
Yala, Pattani and Narathiwat by state authorities now
cooperation of local people in giving information that
could lead to the arrest of those causing trouble was
what it was needing the most...
Mr Anand, also a former prime minister, argued, however,
that he did not think the three provinces wanted a split
from Thailand but held official failure to recognise cultural
and religious differences responsible...
"There are no bad feelings between us," he said.
The government had adopted several [article ends]
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PM, Anand agree to disagree
-Thaksin to keep all options open - Bangkok Post,
July 29, 2005
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last night pledged
never to put aside peaceful means and the principle of reconciliation
in favour of the use of state power and force to end the
violence in the far South.
Mr Thaksin dominated last night's live television appearance
with Anand Panyarachun, chairman of the National Reconciliation
Commission (NRC), to calm a storm of controversy over the
enforcement of the emergency decree in the region.
Mr Thaksin lifted the cloud of suspicion over whether his
government had abandoned peaceful means, saying the decree
was a security necessity but the government would exercise
self-restraint and ensure a balance between human rights,
civil liberties and national security.
He said the government could not afford to condone mistreatment
of innocent people in Muslim-dominated Yala, Pattani and
Narathiwat by state authorities now local cooperation in
giving information that could lead to the arrest of trouble-makers
was what it needed most...
Mr Anand, a former prime minister, argued, that he did not
think the three provinces wanted a split from Thailand.
He held official failure to recognise cultural and religious
differences responsible...
At the end, Mr Anand said he could not tell when the violence
would be brought to an end but believed the situation would
get better if the government avoided using violence itself.
Mr Thaksin pledged to pursue peace through respect of human
rights and education development and pleaded for people's
cooperation in restoring peace. |
A tale of two newspapers: The
Anand/Thaksin address I - July 29, 2005
Compare the Post article above that mentions Thaksin
lifted the cloud of suspicion and dominated last night's
live television appearance with Anand with The Nation
article below. The Nation article certainly does not imply
the PM dominated the talk and adds many of the most pointed comments
from Anand that the Post omitted. As expected, The Nation
gives Anand the last word while the Post leaves the last
word for the PM.
SOUTHERN CONFLICT: Irreconcilable? - The Nation, July
29, 2005
..."The local community sees this decree as a licence
to kill," said Anand, which drew a quick interruption from
Thaksin to insist that the highly disputed decree was not as bad
as it seemed.
...He also blamed the underground world with interests in drugs,
smuggling and illegal activities, saying they were part of what
he called a volcano that blew up during his term in office.
Anand, on the other hand, made no mention of historical distortion
and instead blamed state mechanisms for creating the conditions
that led to violence in the region.
In one of his most subtle and probably strongest messages to the
government, Anand pointed out that a relatively high 74 per cent
of eligible voters in the South had turned out in the last general
election because they still had faith in the country's system
of governance. Yet not one of the 14 candidates from the ruling
Thai Rak Thai Party was elected.
Thaksin defended the decree on the grounds that law and order
must be upheld, and blasted its critics.
"Many people have been too quick to make a judgement without
first reading the decree," the prime minister said.
...The former prime minister pointed to the abduction of suspects
by government officials, the disappearance of hundreds of people
from the region and the slow workings of the legal system as the
causes for the mistrust among the local community.
...Anand suggested that "Thai" was a loaded word and
pointed out that Kingdom is ethnically diverse and consists of
Mon like himself and Chinese like the prime minister, as well
as Malays in the deep South...
'A tale of two newspapers'
archives
A tale of two newspapers: The
Anand/Thaksin address II - July 29, 2005
TNA is even more one-sided than the Post in its reporting
of the joint Anand/Thaksin talk. It is basically all the PM's
reassuring statements including the theories that the Southern
unrest is caused by drug traffickers and influential figures and
reassurances that the government would "stick to its policy
on using peaceful tactics."
Reconciliation
in deep South is govt ultimate goal - TNA, July 29, 2005
The government will remain its peaceful approaches in tackling
the insurgency problems in Thailand's southern border region to
achieve reconciliation, which is its ultimate goal eventually.
...The southern insurgency had also been caused by drug trafficking
gangs and influential figures in the region, he noted.
The government would, however, stick to its policy on using peaceful
tactics as its main approach to ease tension and address the problems
in the region eventually...
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