Mainstream media campaigns against activists

At Thisrupt, Porntida Tanjitpiyanond observes:

The ongoing pro-democracy movements in Thailand are primarily led by young people who do not conform to the stereotypical obedient, compliant, and quiet Thai kids. As a result, the student protestors have been labeled by several traditional media outlets as angry, violent, self-righteous, and outright disrespectful.

Initially, this wasn’t the case, but it certainly seems that the regime has got the mainstream media to change its tune.

Porntida says:

This portrayal can have adverse effects. Not only does it make a large portion of the public dislike the students, but it distracts them from the actual cause of the social movement: the fight for democracy and social reform in our country.

This is the point. It is an effort to make the students appear as demons for demanding changes to a corrupt authoritarian system. To understand how that system operates, look at three op-eds that appeared in one day in the Bangkok Post, ranging from moderate rightist to throaty rightist to extremist.

The latter expresses Thai fascist views, declaring: “What we find totally unacceptable is the scornful act against the monarch…”. It is extreme to defend a misogynist, erratic and dangerous king who extracts billions each year from taxpayers to pay for his luxury lifestyle in Germany.