Coss Posted January 22, 2016 Report Share Posted January 22, 2016 On reading of the plight of Andy Hall - see here http://www.theguardi...migrant-workers I am minded of a question I posed in another thread. Which was, more or less, "Haven't Thais heard of the concept of, Don't shoot the Messenger?" Now despite my and others, oft posted denigration of the mental capabilities of Thais, when relating to concepts, that most Western folk regard as a given, actually, there are many well educated and thoughtful Thais and they are no doubt well aware of the concept, Don't shoot the Messenger. So why is it that we see, over and over again, cases where someone is silenced for, or attempts are made to silence, information that casts negative light on people and companies and institutions in Thailand? I think this is less about ignorance of the concept of, Don't shoot the Messenger and more about Westerner's lack of understanding of Face. So it goes like this. 1/. Something bad is happening, i.e. slavery 2/. Someone attempts to bring the bad thing to public attention 3/. The perpetrator of the bad thing, attempts to silence the news or person providing the news This because the perpetrator feels, that the maintenance of the good public reputation of the perpetrator, is more important than whatever the bad thing is. So the blatantly obvious thing to do, is remove the news or discredit it in some way. The fact that the bad thing is happening or has happened, is a fait accompli and cannot be changed, so if no-one knows about it, problem solved. The fact that the bad thing exists, is ignored, this is because to admit that it exists, cases a huge loss of face and further, concrete evidence that the people and companies and institutions, are acting against the precepts of Buddhism. And this cannot be. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jitagawn Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Face all about FACE Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Arrogance at it's best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BelgianBoy Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Arrogance at it's best don't confuse ignorance with arrogance..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Nothing to do with shooting the messenger, loss of face or arrogance. It is simply if it is true or not ... Anyone can say and print anything they want on the internet, but there are consequences if allegations are unfounded. Just because Andy Hall who I personally have never heard of, alleges something and prints a story about abuse of workers within a Thai company, does not make it all true. The company deny the allegations made by Andy Hall and are suing him. That is why there are libel laws in Thailand and other countries to protect individuals and companies from anyone just publishing whatever they want. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jitagawn Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 IMHO truth has nothing to do with any of this. Truth ?? No chance ...any more than US news or policy is based on truth. Sorry not to be rude... I gotta get some of those rose colored glasses... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
khunsanuk Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Hi, "That is why there are libel laws in Thailand" Problem with the libel laws in Thailand is that they are too strong. If I say restaurant XYZ is crap, then restaurant XYZ can sue me even if restaurant XYZ is actually crap. Sanuk! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 Just because Andy Hall who I personally have never heard of, alleges something and prints a story about abuse of workers within a Thai company, does not make it all true. Ok education time. Burmese migrant workers are exploited in Thailand.......FACT. Because you have never heard of Andy Hall just clarifies how either out of touch you are or naive If you are as you portray a thai female you exist under a rock. If you are anything else you are, at the least a waste of oxygen. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 And you really should have heard of Andy Hall. He's been in the news quite a bit for the last couple of years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted January 23, 2016 Report Share Posted January 23, 2016 " Ok education time. Burmese migrant workers are exploited in Thailand .......FACT " You mean the estimated two million Burmese, working inside Thailand without papers and working illegally. " Because you have never heard of Andy Hall just clarifies how either out of touch you are or naive " Ok .... He is conceived to be important to some, I now know he is an active United Kingdom trade unionist, living in Thailand for ten years, and all his court costs are being funded by the European union. I can see many companies around the world abuse their employees but why is Andy Hall in Thailand ? Abuse of employees is taking place in the UK as I type this. I am not excusing bad Thai practice at all, just wondering why another foreigner has arrived to tell the Thais how bad they are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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