English language news sources in Thailand
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If you want to stay informed about the news and background of the news in Thailand, there are several news sources available. If you have been to Thailand before or even stay here for a long time, you know the possibilities and you probably already have a favorite news source. This article is therefore mainly intended for newcomers, tourists and people who are otherwise interested in Thailand.
The Thaiger website recently published a Top 10 of English-language news sources in Thailand. The ten news sources mentioned are doing well, each in its own way. All are trying to find their way through the maze of modern media, some doing it better than others, publishing news on a daily basis. Creating and maintaining a news source in Thailand is a tough task due to government regulations and one can only admire this daily journalistic achievement. The 10 news sources mentioned are:
- Bangkok Post
Traditional news, still delivered as a daily newspaper, but with a comprehensive and thorough website. It has been around since 1946 and has since experienced a coup or three. When it comes to moving to digital media, Bangkok Post is doing better than most. Bangkok Post generally takes a neutral political stance, with few exceptions.
- The Nation
Is the other major daily newspaper with an equally extensive and thorough website. It is younger than the Bangkok Post, having been established in 1971. The Nation has occasionally taken a more partisan line, becoming famous for its editorial vote against PM Thaksin Shinawatra. However, sales of the daily newspaper are seriously declining, so the company was recently taken over by Sontiyan Chuenruetainaidhama, founder of the conservative media outlets T News and INN News. At this stage, there seems to be no impact on The Nation's editorial stance.
- The Thaiger
Unfettered by any modesty, the Thaiger also places itself in the Top 10. The Thaiger, which has only been operating as a national website since April 2018, is the fastest growing English-language online news and info site in the kingdom (according to the 'statistics '). “We are new in this world and will have to do everything we can to prove ourselves” De Thaiger manages the news and chooses topics that are interesting, important or newsworthy according to the makers, in English and Thai.
- Thai visa
The largest and most popular news website in Thailand (in English). The Thaiger selects the news, but ThaiVisa blasts everything on its front page. If it moves or breathes, you'll find the story on ThaiVisa. It's big, bold and an eyeful of news. It's also famous, or notorious, for its hugely popular forums where keyboard warriors spread their opinions and wisdom about everything, often in a very oversimplified manner. It is the largest English-language news website in Thailand and has been around for ten years.
- Khaosod English
Fresh, selective, well written and a rising star in Thai journalism. An offshoot of its much larger Thai sister. To the point, original stories with a modern journalistic spark. They tend to pick their stories and provide excellent insights when they do. Original and deserves to be read daily.
- Bangkok Coconuts
Most will agree that when Coconuts started it was the best and cheekiest news blog of its time. The Bangkok blog, which actually covers Southeast Asia, has been a daily log-in for most hip expats. In recent times, they have disclosed the bold "paywall" option (one has to pay for good journalism). Coconuts has lost a bit of its power because of that, but it's still a healthy and reliable everyday reading experience.
- Thailand News
As a shameless aggregator, they copy and paste headlines and a few paragraphs with a link back to the original story. The site is still in its infancy, but is designed to rank high in Google. To avoid copyright issues, the stories usually contain a "look-a-like" photo, rather than the real photo from the story. Instead of contributing to the world of Thai journalism, the site is just a parasite that uses other people's news.
- Thailand PBS World
A government news agency, but has proven its independence in recent years. As a website, it remains solid, reliable, and surprisingly (especially with the military government) unbiased. Also tends to publish stories that other news media don't.
Phuket and Pattaya are mentioned as numbers 9 and 10, but I don't think the media from those places belong in the Top 10 of Thailand. The publications/websites are very locally oriented, not up to date (perhaps with the exception of PattayaOne), but are important for local background news, event announcements and general information. This category also includes media in other larger cities, such as Hua Hin, Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Korat, Khon Kaen and possibly elsewhere. An extensive overview of the Thai media can be found at www.abyznewslinks.com/thai.htm
Source: largely used the article: thethaiger.com/news/
I miss Prachathai! Which in my eyes is more important than the Pattaya/Phuket media. Although I must say that last year there are less frequent new pieces, until last year daily fresh reading material, now it is more weekly. Too bad because the pieces that are on it often have depth. You do me a bigger favor with that than the gossip and backbiting sites that bomb every wind into news.
https://prachatai.com/english
Personally, I mainly read The Nation and Khaosod. I sometimes check the Prachatai, Bangkok Post and PBS. I visit Thaivisa regularly, but only the forum regarding visa questions, I hardly read the news there. Is largely what the Nation also has (thaivisa has been bought by the Nation) and a high proportion of expats and pensioners with a big mouth who go at each other.
Coconuts was refreshing until a year or 2, but in the past year I have only looked there a few times. Since they are behind a paywall, it is completely difficult. I don't read Thaiger, Thailandnews and the phuket-pattaya media. Can't pass judgment on that.
The problem with all English-language newspapers is that they are hardly available outside of Bangkok and outside the other major cities. I read the digital version of bangkok post. So it is different from the website mentioned in this article. You have to pay for the digital version of the Bangkok post.
I wouldn't call Thai PBS a government news agent, it is public news media. We don't call the NOS or BBS state media either (unless mockingly or you have certain political views).
“TPBS holds the status of state agency with legal personality, but is not a government agency or state enterprise”
It's a great source of news, when I'm in Thailand and turn on the TV (rarely) it's really just ThaiPBS. However, the government of the day is not always happy with them. The current junta, for example, thinks that PBS pays too little attention to the news that the generals like to broadcast on the air and that PBS spends too much time portraying problems such as poverty. If the government is not so happy with a louse in the fur, then in my opinion that is something good.
“During its short history, Thai PBS has been attacked persistently by the government of the day. ”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thai_Public_Broadcasting_Service
about thge nation it should be noted that they have a solid cooperation, so that you will encounter Nation articles but not articles from their main competitor, the Bangkok Post. But because the Nation articles in Thaivisa are mostly regular news items, I don't think that matters much. News will often be written down in a similar way.
A nice summary of the English-language press in Thailand with which I largely agree. Thai PBS is independent, has its own money source, and does not do advertising or soap operas. Very refreshing. There is a lot, a lot of censorship, especially self-censorship, so don't believe all the stories right away.
Khaosod is excellent. They also dare more. Just read an article about (the few) women in politics.
http://www.khaosodenglish.com/featured/2018/11/08/boys-only-club-halls-of-power-barred-to-thai-women/?fbclid=IwAR1HWc_-fDlXmtHytumr2W5v_eWG2ZnCp_EtDEVY5nlkd4GKeib6RuzHYY0
Especially the cartoons in the Nation ( Stepff's view ) and the section ” have your say ” , in which expats and pensionados
measuring each other…, I find it very amusing!
Moreover, the English text in the Nation is a bit more pleasant to read for me as a “not native reader/speaker”.
carl.
Google Alerts is a free service from Google and you can subscribe to the daily e-mail with a short description and a link to the international press. That is per country so you can include Thailand's neighboring countries if you want. It is in English and other languages of your choice, but the English version is the most extensive.
ThaiEnquirer and Thisrupt have now been added (since early 2020). The former is some more of the background articles and the latter some more of the video reports.
- https://www.thaienquirer.com/
- https://thisrupt.co/
Oh and the Isaan Record may also be there!
http://isaanrecord.com/
The Bangkok Post is quite disappointing to me, rather reserved in their reporting, afraid to upset someone. They often go into a mess with numbers and in political news, for example, they leave out a lot of information. Bit worthless. Only on the opinion page of that newspaper is it sometimes informative and with a bit more spice. Even the conservative The Nation has more punch. Primarily I stick to Khaosod, Prachatai and then Thai PBS, Thisrupt, Thai Enquirer and then the Isaan Record, Coconuts was still fresh and new a few years ago but has lost a lot of that to me, I rarely check them anymore.
If you only want to follow 1 news source, I would recommend Khaosod or Prachatai. But to reduce tunnel vision, more than 1 or 2 news sources is wise. E
A trip to Thai language websites - use Google Translate or the automatic translation function in your browser - can also be helpful. For example, think of a Matichon or Khaosod Thai.