Red Tide Over Thailand, Twittersphere

12 Apr

As you probably know by now I consider Thailand one of my homes, spending as much time as I do there, and taking an avid interest in its food, language and culture, one I now regard as my own. I spent the last 10 days in Thailand, the cities/towns that were the flashpoints of the red mob, and got out just as the Royal Cliff showdown began.

Thailand has been through its fair share of coups since 1932, and most of the ones we remember have been run-of-the-mill, unremarkable, bloodless affairs that happened fairly regularly. But the last two just seem to me far more sinister than usual. I don’t know enough about the intricacies of Thai politics — my intensive study of that subject ended in 1932 with the first coup — but it doesn’t take much for someone who knows and loves Thailand to be able to make out that whatever it is, this is different.

Different, too, is our means of finding out about breaking news like this. Twitter, the service I’ve been addicted to for almost three years, has come of age — by having reached a certain critical mass from all over the world, news updates have been fierce and fast. By just following the #redshirt, #redshirts, #Thailand and #redshit (this one dominated by Thai Twitterers, to express their feelings for the political faction they have little sympathy for) hashtags, news was broken by those on the ground and by those who were watching. We already know Twitter can break news, seen in recent events like the Hudson crash, and many advanced users of Twitter already say they depend on the service to find out the latest news, which we rate as fairer, faster and at times hours and days ahead of even regular news wires, and newspapers. In addition to that I also found Twitter updates of traffic information during the traffic gridlock important — people reported their frustrations that specific roads were shut; e.g. while the TV stations were busy “breaking” news that Victory Monument was blocked by taxis and traffic had almost completely shut down, Twitter told me that HOURS before, and continued to tell me that motorcycle taxi were now the only way to get around the area, now cost 400 baht instead of 40 baht, that that Skytrain stations were swamped and not viable, that new roads were now being shut — news that TV stations and news, even ‘breaking’ online reports by mainstream news outlets, either could not obtain or could not report as quickly.

As of now (5.15pm Singapore time), I am finding out from Twitter that army tanks are rolling down Bangkok streets. I found out about three hours ago about the state of emergency and also enjoyed a blow-by-blow account of armed #redshirts going from room to room of the Ministry of Interior looking for Abhisit and Pravit, about border police arresting Jatuporn and Arissaman and taking them in helicopters, things that I would be surprised if mainstream news ever found out about this. As I’m immersing myself in more #BreakingNews #Thailand #redshirt #redshit #redshirts news, people are sharing TwitPics of reds stealing ammo and smashing up cars, watching videos of the general public booing the reds away. All while the cable news stations are now BEGINNING to follow up on their newstickers with fuller reports on the state of emergency and on the mobbing of the Ministry, while Twitter has already moved on.

I don’t know if this is citizen journalism, but we’re getting close.

Pardon me while I work on trying to be less depressed about all this. *curses in Thai* I don’t care what they stand for. I care that they are tearing this country that I love apart. All in the name of Toxin Shinawatra, who really should go back to owning football clubs. I know he did that badly but at least fewer lives, hearts, economies and countries are poisoned by his selfish and destructive ideas of ‘democracy’ — the democracy he dictates.

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  • Tessa
    I agree with you about Twitter and the power of citizen journalism, especially when it's used correctly. It's a great resource for rolling, breaking news.

    Although I have to say that as a mainstream media journalist, in the MSM's defence, sometimes reports are delayed because we need to verify facts and accounts (very important), and collate them in a coherent, presentable report with context.

    We also try to present all sides of the story in one place, whereas if you just follow Twitter feeds you'd have to follow more than one in order to get a better sense of what's going on.

    For someone who's following things minute-by-minute or hour-by-hour, and who needs hyperlocal info (e.g. motorcycle taxis charging exorbitant prices), Twitter feeds would be useful. But for someone who's following the event say every four hours or so, in between doing work or other things, the mainstream media reports would be better because they present the bigger picture.
  • What would we do without Twitter? It can surely be an invaluable source when it comes to news.

    Too bad about the circumstances in Thailand, though.
  • Spot on regarding Twitter Arianna. I look at it as broadcasting the grassroots chatter that already exhisted amongst a smaller group to the world.

    I was in Bangkok during the last one, and Twitter at that time knew more than the MSM. Or at least the English language ones anyway!

    And you're right about the last 2 being different. My mum lived in Thailand for several years from I think the very late 60's to early 70's and she said it's different now too. Mum's memory of things was that the King played a role in the past coups from going downhill the way they are now with the violence etc. Personally I don't know enough to comment much more.

    Twitter has been quite powerful lately, but with increased usage I wonder how long til the noise/irrelevant info overtakes the useful as it has on some other social networks already. Yes hashtags are good, but already some are diluted with noise and only 3 or 4 out of 10 are actually useful.

    Also, in case you are wondering i'm not actually Thai (i'm Chinese) but mum spent several years living and studying there (she was born in the neighbouring country that shares much similarities with Thailand in Laos). Personally, like you I really like Thailand, it's people, culture and food! I feel sad about what is happening now in Thailand, and hope that it all gets resolved soon. But I think it would take a very strong personality to resolve things and properly this time around and re-unite the country.
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