BANGKOK – In what observers and the Thai government alike are calling a “major breakthrough” for the kingdom’s image abroad, the FOX News network has run its first ever story about Thailand not related to pedophilia, or pedophiles molesting Thai children.
The premier non-child-raping story was aired on February 17th during World News In Depth, in a segment about Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej’s denial of involvement in the 1976 crackdown on protesters at Thammasat. The segment, entitled “Inferior Democracies of Southeast Asia” made no reference to child sex workers, Western sex tourists, known sex offenders suspected by Interpol to be living in Pattaya, or hysterical statistics suggesting that 87% of Thai children were sodomized daily by escaped American convicts while the Thai government did nothing.
Instead the story focused on Thailand’s absence of a robust constitution, and the possible connection between its political turmoil and the lack of Christian values.
FOX News, the number one news network in the United States, is owned by Rupert Murdoch’s NewsCorp and is viewed by millions of Americans daily. According to a spokesperson for the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the emergence of Thailand-based non-pedophilia stories represents a significant change in FOX News’ editorial policy as well as an opportunity to expand the tourism base.
“Research shows the average FOX viewer doesn’t read books, newspapers, or even the labels on the junk food he eats,” said TAT spokesperson Tanes Petsuwan. “Now that FOX is describing us as an inferior democracy rather than a pedophile haven, they may be more open to visiting.” Tanes admitted, however, that challenges remain. “They’ll still need to learn the difference between Thailand and Taiwan, for example,” he said. “That could take a few years.”
