Should travellers boycott Thailand...Read on!

LTO · Post by **LTO** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 8:52 am

phuketrichard wrote:propaganda. Manipulation of information to influence public opinion.

information, ideas, or rumors deliberately spread widely to help or harm a person, group, movement, institution, nation, etc. the deliberate spreading of such information, rumors, etc. the particular doctrines or principles propagated by an organization or movement...

Then it is definitely not propaganda. In fact it is a traditionally under-reported issue, even in the Cambodian press, largely ingnored by the the Cambodian opposition in favor of slamming the Vietnamese, and somewhat surprisingly never emphasized by the ruling party, which, when they want to do the nationalistic anti-siem thing, prefer border issues like Preah Vihear and odd ball stuff like the actress and Angkor Wat. This story was not propaganda, but news, and given the exceptional cruelty reported in this particular case, still quite underplayed by the Cambodian government and politicians, to the degree that the lack of attention and emphasis by the ruling party could easily become a talking point for the opposition.

And regardless if this particular story is completely accurate, the larger issue - the regular, indiscriminate, wanton killings of illegal border crossers by Thai soldiers - really needs more attention, not less.

phuketrichard · Post by **phuketrichard** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 11:16 am

Thai military officials have denied a report published Monday in the Cambodian press alleging its soldiers had “admitted” they had burned alive two Cambodian motorbike smugglers.

“We beg the Cambodian side not to speak like this. Making such comments causes damages because Thai-Cambodian relations are currently good,” the Bangkok Post newspaper reported a highly placed source within the Burapha Task Force, the military unit in charge of securing the Thai-Cambodian border, as saying.
.......
The Thai military source quoted by the Bangkok Post said that authorities from the two countries had discussed the incident and the Thai side had made it clear that their soldiers were not involved in the deaths.

The Phnom Penh Post affirmed that the “charred remains” of the victims had been sent to Bangkok for forensic examination and to “determine the identities of the victims.”

Bangkok has not confirmed the allegation.

So did it happen or not?? What do u call it when one country "claims" another did something horrendous?

Cambodian press allege Thai soldiers 'admit' burning alive two Cambodian motorbike smugglers, whilst claims that Cambodian police accused of threatening villagers, while searching for Montagnards seeking asylum from Vietnam.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/asia-pasif ... d-cambodia

John Bingham · Post by **John Bingham** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:35 pm

In one week alone in March, Thai forces shot 15 Cambodian villagers after crossing the border. The killings prompted the Cambodian government to summon the Thai ambassador and to write a letter to the Thai side demanding that they arrest rather than shoot loggers.

For its part Thailand claims they only shoot when shot at first.

Cambodian rights watchdog Adhoc said 33 Cambodian illegal loggers were shot dead across the border last year, a decrease from the 45 killed in 2012.

Phil Robertson, deputy director for Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, told AA that the killings of Cambodians across the border was a “major human rights issue.”

“What is happening in the jungle along the border remains disputed precisely because Thailand refuses to countenance any serious, independent investigations into the circumstances in which their border forces are shooting and killing scores of Cambodian loggers,” Robertson said.

http://www.worldbulletin.net/news/13799 ... ted-border

LTO · Post by **LTO** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 12:43 pm

phuketrichard wrote:What do u call it when one country "claims" another did something horrendous?

News, especially when it may be part of an established long-running pattern of abuses.

sigmoid · Post by **sigmoid** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 11:11 am

I haven't travelled in Thailand in nearly four years and haven't been to Bangkok in about five. Also, I avoid buying Thai products as much as possible, especially food products.

I do this after living there for over a decade for a wide variety of reasons, that could mostly be categorized under the general heading "ineptitude".

Friends and acquaintances seem fairly evenly split. I know some who are still there and seem to be happy but others have also left the place behind and complain about the high prices and poor attitudes of the locals. A third group simply doesn't have much interest in the place anymore or never did.

No. If you wanted to boycott every country that did bad things you'd have to shoot yourself.

That's a very good point and it's difficult to explain why a specific country should be singled out for a boycott, but for me it's just a complete reluctance to contribute a single cent to them.

These days, my whole SE Asia experience is centered around former Indochine Française countries: Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia.

snookie BRO · Post by **snookie BRO** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 5:04 pm

sigmoid wrote: These days, my whole SE Asia experience is centered around former Indochine Française countries: Viet Nam, Laos and Cambodia.

That's good reasoning!

To me, Thailand is a country that certainly does have it's attractions. It's just really bad to hear about the recent burning, as well as shooting obviously innocent Cambodians. If that news became mainstream it could put a lot of tourists off because i'm sure many aren't aware of this evil barbarity.

Samouth · Post by **Samouth** » Thu Jan 15, 2015 7:32 pm

It seemed to be okay for the majority of Cambodians hearing Cambodians were shot to death, burnt alive, and so on. In my opinion, because this kind of news is not a new news for us as we have heard a lot of Cambodians were killed by Thai border army for various reasons. However, our long serving prime minister seemed to give no shit over every cases, He should be the one to blame. He didn't create enough jobs for his people and making this country becomes poorer and poorer. Not to mention he always gave no condemn to Thailand whenever such case happened. It is really sad to see many poor Cambodians risking their lives to enter Thailand for illegal logging and some just to find something to fill their stomach while the other seek for jobs in order to get some money to send to their needy families.

i hope we will have a real leader who care the most of interest of Cambodian and really dedicate to Cambodian.

Milord · Post by **Milord** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 12:23 am

The shootings on the border bring to mind "The Great Escape" movie when the prison commander informs the inmates commander that 50 were shot dead while trying to escape, the IC asked, "How many were wounded?" "None."

If border control was the goal, wouldn't you want a survivor/prisoner to set an example or would that be too dangerous having an eyewitness expose any shakedown. It seems the Thai Army learned well from the Japanese Army. Or perhaps the shoot to kill command, came from vested interests on the Cambodian side.

John Bingham · Post by **John Bingham** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 1:00 am

Milord wrote: Or perhaps the shoot to kill command, came from vested interests on the Cambodian side.

I suggested that earlier, I believe that there are vested interests on both sides. Only those with the right connections can plunder. It's also a sure bet that any peasant who steals luxury timber from any forest is going to sell it to some of those connected people, and if those peasants get shot it's their own problem. No point in making a fuss about it.

LTO · Post by **LTO** » Fri Jan 16, 2015 3:17 am

Interesting. That would explain some things.

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