Much more than news

News writers at the Bangkok Post are required to present only the facts of a story. They are not supposed to include their own opinions no matter how strong they may feel about the subject.

However, the opposite situation applies in the section immediately following the news. That is the "opinion and analysis" section and there the writers are free to tell their readers exactly what they think about subjects in the news. Here you will find some of the liveliest writing in the whole newspaper.

Our guide this week is one of the Bangkok Post’s best-known and most outspoken columnists. She is Sanitsuda Ekachai and she writes about important social issues such as Thai Buddhism, rural development and the status of women in Thai society. As you will see, she feels strongly that much is wrong in Thai society — including the attitudes of many Thai students.

Thai students, she says, are too willing to accept everything they are taught. They need to learn to question what they hear and to make informed decisions about what is right and wrong.

Failure to do so makes it difficult for Thai society to make some much-needed changes, particularly in current attitudes towards women and the poor. In the commentary featured in this lesson, Ms Sanitsuda gives an example of one of the many problems that can arise from the failure to question traditional attitudes. As you read the commentary, consider whether you are part of the problem or part of the solution.

Recently, the educational services staff spent about an hour interviewing Ms Sanitsuda and here are some of the highlights:

On her career
Ms Sanitsuda says she came to the Outlook section of the Bangkok Post about 15 years ago as a junior reporter for the social page, giving her valuable experience in interviewing influential people. After a one-year absence, she returned as a feature writer where she focused on her long-term interest in women’s issues. Later she also developed an interest in rural development. She says she is thankful to the Bangkok Post for supporting her interests and her newspaper space for serious reporting of rural issues.

On the status of Thai woman
Ms Sanitsuda says Thai society’s attitudes toward women—the idea that men are naturally dominant and that women are inferior—must change. The cultural stereotype that women are only suited for motherhood or relatively minor jobs has no basis in fact. Women are easily as capable as man in almost every area.

On the rural poor
Says Ms Sanitsuda, "I feel I can make a contribution to people’s attitudes — to their respect for the poor. What you find out when you talk with villagers is that they know how to solve the problems. They are wise — you just have to listen to them." The problem here, she says, is that government officials are seldom willing to listen. They think that only they know what is best for the rural poor.

Field reporting visits like this one to a village in Northern Thailand give Ms Sanitsuda the opportunity to listen to rural people. "They are wise -- they know how to solve the problems."

On writing her column
Ms Sanitsuda gets her ideas from radio, television and, of course, newspapers. Since she is "a slow writer" it generally takes a whole day to finish her weekly Thursday commentary. Much of her time is spent editing, cutting her column down to fit the fifteen inches (approximately 600 words) she is allotted. She also spends a lot of time choosing the most appropriate words to express her ideas, often with the help of her much-used thesaurus.

Ms Sanitsuda says that writing in English can be a big challenge for Thai journalists who have been trained locally. The first thing they need to do, she says, is to forget what they have learned about organising ideas. The Thai style is to begin with a general statement and then gradually work towards the main point — the exact opposite of the English style which requires that the writer quickly come to the main point.

You have probably never read anything like the Sanitsuda Ekachai commentary which appears on this page — certainly not in your English classes. It is not the type of reading material you will find in a textbook.

Ms Sanitsuda told us she was very angry when she wrote her commentary. Part of her anger stemmed from a terrible incident involving a young teenage girl. But what really made her furious was the fact that people seemed to be drawing the wrong lessons from the unfortunate teenager’s horrible ordeal. In other words, they were missing the point. They didn’t see what really caused the problem.

You can really divide the commentary into two parts. The first half is largely a list of injustices that happened to the young girl. According to Ms Sanitsuda, she was abused physically, mentally and legally, i.e., some of what happened to her was against the law. Here are some things to do as you read this section:

1. Make a list of all the ways the young girl was abused.
2. Decide which were physical abuses, which were mental and which were legal. Notice that it is possible for some of the abuses to fit into two or more categories.
3. Did she receive any fair treatment during her ordeal. In other words, did anyone help her?
4. Are steps now being taken to correct the situation?
5. Are these steps adequate? (You might want to finish the whole commentary before you answer this question.)

The purpose of the second section of the commentary (beginning with "But will such measures make Bangkok any safer…") is to help readers understand what really needs to be done to prevent such terrible incidents from happening in the future.

Ms Sanitsuda says the main cause of incidents like the one described in this commentary are cultural misconceptions. As you read, consider the statements that follow. Which ones are examples of the cultural misconceptions that Ms Sanitsuda says need to be changed.

1. Basically, women can be divided into two categories. Some are good and should be treated with respect and others are bad and therefore deserve to be treated badly.
2. You can tell which women are bad by the way they dress and the way they behave.
3. Foreign women tend to have low morals and are loose sexually.
4. Women who are raped often deserve much of the blame themselves. They ask for it by the way the dress and behave.
5. You really can’t blame men for becoming sexually excited and taking advantage of bad women. It is part of their nature.

It is important to remember that a commentary gives an opinion and you don’t have to agree with everything that is said. In this case, perhaps you agree with the female academic quoted in the commentary and disagree with the conclusions drawn by Ms Sanitsuda. What is your opinion?

Remember, however, that Ms Sanitsuda is looking at what she calls "the big picture". She is looking at the deep causes of problems in society. This requires asking fundamental questions like: Is rape ever justified? What are the proper roles of men and women in society? Should men naturally dominate? How can women succeed in society?

You’ll find Ms Sanitsuda’s answers to these questions and more each week in her Thursday commentary in the Bangkok Post.

Sanitsuda Ekachai, Assistant editor It’s our apathy hurting our young Commentary by Sanitsuda Ekachai It was a night of horror for the Amerasian teenager who the media has nicknamed Joy. First she was gang raped after being drugged. Then there was a molestation attempt by a taxi driver when she was heading home. Enter two traffic policemen. The 14-year-old ran towards them for help. But like some magician’s trick, they placed their hands on her body and out came an amphetamine tablet. Want police help? So asked the police of the distraught girl: Give us 50,000 baht or sleep with us. Otherwise go to jail on a drug charge. Want some sympathy? On one women’s radio programme, an established female academic went to great length to condemn the girl’s parents for not teaching her to stay home at night like any good girl should. The so-called family expert was dispensing advice on how to keep rebellious teenagers at home, such as withdrawing their daily allowance, when I turned off the radio. The girl and her parents had already been hurt enough. It was just too cruel to listen to more prejudices which only would fill me with more anger and disgust. Imagine what the two policemen could have done to the distraught girl had a crime reporter and photographer from the Daily News newspaper not intervened when they spotted their pushing and shoving. The photographer happened to be a woman. For the girl who had been abused sexually all night, the female presence was a godsend. She ran to the photographer for help. The reporter, meanwhile, smelt something fishy when the policemen said the speed pill was wrapped in a piece of tissue paper - something any drug user would never do because the moisture would ruin it. They then rescued her, helped her press charges against the rapists, and the two police officers, and then took her for a medical examination. It would have been flawless media work except for one thing. The girl’s picture appeared in the newspaper with a thin black strip covering her eyes but scarcely protecting her identity. It was the newsroom editors who were responsible for such insensitivity. By now, the police chiefs had promised to get to the rapists quickly, to suspend the two traffic police officers while an investigation was held, and to punish the entertainment outlets which allow minors as customers. But will such measures make Bangkok any safer for our daughters? Not until we understand the cultural misconceptions that subjected this teenage girl to three sexual offences in one night. Not until we stop condemning rape victims for "asking for it". And not until we scrutinise the way we raise our boys - and the way the media wields an influence - and condition them to see women as sex objects. And foreign women as loose sexually. The tragedy which befell this girl shows how strong are the misconceptions that endorse sexual violence. Her "farang" look, her "sexy" outfit - a close-fitting bodice with shoulder strings and a mini-skirt - and the night she spent partying convinced Thai sex hunters to bill her as a "bad and loose" girl who deserved being treated like dirt. Isn’t it crazy that no matter how frequent and how violent the crime of rape has become, our society continues to refuse to isolate the disease in our culture that gives birth to rapists? Isn’t it sad that many women buy this good girl/bad girl garbage? Meanwhile, the police’s poor welfare system continues to churn out legally armed extortionists. It’s an open secret that many of them routinely plant drugs to extort money and sex. What’s more shocking than the Amerasian girl’s tragedy is our own apathy. By accepting the culture that allows rapists to go on unchecked, our daughters will never be safe. Sanitsuda Ekachai is Assistant Editor, Bangkok Post. gang raped raped by more than one person molestation deliberately annoying or harming someone amphetamine an illegal drug known in Thailand as yaa baa distraught very troubled and unhappy so-called appearing to be something that you are not (note; the term is often used when making a criticism) dispensing giving (in this case it is used in a negative sense) rebellious refusing to obey or accept allowance money given at certain periods of time (e.g. weekly or monthly), often by parents to their children prejudices false or unfair beliefs disgust strong dissatisfaction godsend an unexpected help or benefit; something which unexpected solves a problem smelt something fishy suspected something was wrong press charges to make a formal accusation flawless perfect; without any mistakes insensitivity failing to consider the feelings of others misconceptions misunderstandings scrutinise to examine very carefully bill to call, name or consider buy to believe or accept (usu. something false) garbage false ideas or information churn out to produce (often something of low quality) extortionists people who illegally threaten other people to get money plant to secretly put apathy lack of interest or care unchecked uncontrolled