The Video that the Thai Tourism Ministry Doesn’t Want You to See

On 28th July 2012, an alleged assault and rape occurred in Krabi against a 19 year old Dutch tourist. According to the Bangkok Post, the suspect was identified as tour guide Chumpol Khaonual. Police arrested him on 20th September but the suspect denied the allegations. Even still, police charged him and he was taken to court. Pol Maj Gen Nantadet said Krabi police had opposed Mr Chumpol’s bail request but the Krabi provincial court gave him temporary release. As the courts around Thailand are often backed up with cases, it could mean as long as a year for this suspect to see his day in court. This is quite normal in Thailand.

Angry with this delay, the father of the rape victim came out with a music video called “Evil Man from Krabi”. It seemed his intention was to highlight the injustice of this case. I think to many his methods seemed a bit strange to put his daughter’s alleged assault and rape to verse. But, he just wanted the publicity so that the case wouldn’t get buried like so many others. Now thanks largely to the efforts of the permanent secretary of the Tourism and Sports Ministry Suwat Sitthilor, his wish for a worldwide stage is coming true. The headline in The Nation newspaper this morning declared “Blocking of Krabi video considered”.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRErWjo809g

I wasn’t originally going to blog about this subject. I had already tweeted several times about the story. But, the ways things are heading now, this has to be documented. Blocking or banning doesn’t solve anything. It’s like burying your head in the sand. It may be true that no-one in Thailand will be able to see this video, but the rest of the world will see it. And the blocking of the video, if it happens, will just lead to its popularity. And that is exactly what is happening now. Since the news came out that the Tourism Ministry was considering blocking the video, the number of views on youtube has nearly doubled.

What is happening now is that people, who have nothing at all to do with the case, are going on the offensive. They are posting angry remarks against the Krabi police and tourism ministry on social media. They have even posted links to the youtube video on the Krabi TAT Facebook Page. It is almost like an online lynching. The case hasn’t even gone to court and everyone immediately believes that the suspect is guilty. He may very well be, but that is for the courts to decide, not us. I am all for bringing publicity to this case to make sure that it isn’t swept under the carpet. But, let’s don’t have a public lynching.

News about the plan to ban the video wasn’t the only eye-opener in The Nation newspaper today. What was most shocking to me were the quotes in The Nation, purportedly to be coming out of the Tourism Ministry. Now, I have been doing this job long enough to know that quotes in newspapers are not always accurate and are often twisted out of context. I can only say that in this case that I really hope that these quotes are NOT true.

The Nation: Tourism Minister Chumphol Silapa-archa had said earlier that the incident could not be considered rape. He quoted provincial tourism police chief, Pol Maj-General Loi Ingkhaphairoj as saying: “The woman had dinner with the Thai suspect and a foreign man. Later, she told the foreign man to return to the hotel before heading off with the suspect.”

I understand that the tourism ministry are desperately trying to do damage control. Reports from some news agencies have said that “Western tourists have cancelled a large number of hotel bookings and local tourism authorities are complaining that the clip is affecting their earnings” (DPA). TAT Krabi have come out to say that this isn’t true. They said that there is no evidence of mass cancellations in Krabi due to this video. I think it is very doubtful that people are cancelling holidays just because of this video. Maybe some have, but not that many. Not yet anyway. If the politicians in the Tourism Ministry have their way, then a lot more people will hear about this case.

Best advice? Leave damage control up to the experts. You are just making it worse.

6 thoughts on “The Video that the Thai Tourism Ministry Doesn’t Want You to See

  • November 12, 2012 at 3:47 pm
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    i really hate the man rape kids and women
    go ahead

    Reply
  • November 11, 2012 at 10:57 am
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    Allegations of rape tend to be very hard to prove even in the best judicial systems. In my home country, America, “rape kits” (forensic toolkits that help police investigators establish whether or not rape occurred) generally cost over US$1000 and are not widely available. Moreover, the shame and fear of the victim, and cultural norms that lead lots of people to “blame the victim,” prevents a lot of cases from even being brought to the police in the first place. As a result, rapists often go free, and often even evade accusations in the first place. I imagine that, overall, the obstacles to justice are even higher in the Thai judicial system, especially when it’s a case of a Thai person versus a foreigner. It’s hard enough to go through the judicial system in one’s own country; the idea of being dragged across the coals in a language that one doesn’t even understand is probably too much for a victim to have to deal with in virtually all cases.

    The fact that so many rapists go unpunished is part of the reason why there’s a backlash tendency to publicly lynch those accused of rape, even before their case goes to court. So I get your point about this case being “for the courts to decide,” and mostly agree with that, and yet the fact that so many cases don’t even make it to court, and when they do many courts have decided in favor of the accused, makes this all a very sensitive issue for a lot of people. So I’m also empathetic towards the social media outcry on this case, especially in light of some of the public comments that have come out from the authorities in the wake of the incident.

    Reply
  • November 11, 2012 at 5:03 am
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    Thank you Mr. Richard Barrow for this information. People in authority should hear more of your voice, calling for real peace and order , security and safety. I am in the tourism industry and deeply concerned. God bless.

    Reply
  • November 10, 2012 at 10:18 pm
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    Dear cees and Richad, Im very sad to heard about that and accepted that Thai law so weak also even for Thai girls in similar cases.
    I have seen on Thai TV today they talking about this video on Youtube (I follow you, Richard on Twitter). Anyway wish you cees successful as well as you want.

    Reply
  • November 10, 2012 at 5:13 pm
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    Thank you Richard for your wise comments..
    I completely agree of what you wrote..
    I would like to translate this in proper Thai and submit it to the statement that I will make on monday
    greets
    Cees ( father and maker of Evil man from Krabi)

    Reply
    • November 10, 2012 at 7:18 pm
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      Thanks for your comment Cees. I’m glad that you are keeping a level head which is so important if your cause is going to be successful. Thai people can be very sensitive and so it is important that you are not seen to be attacking them. Good luck and I hope that this case does go to court and that you get the verdict that you are looking for.

      Reply

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