The Nation (Thailand)

The Nation is an English-language daily digital newspaper founded in 1971, published in Bangkok, Thailand. It is one of two English-language dailies in Bangkok, the other being the Bangkok Post. On June 28, 2019, it published its final broadsheet edition leaving only its online edition.[1]

The Nation
Insightful In Trend Independent
TypeDaily
FormatDigital newspaper
Owner(s)Nation Multimedia Group
PublisherSuthichai Yoon
Thepchai Yong
EditorJintana Panyaarvudh
Founded1 July 1971
LanguageEnglish
Ceased publication28 June 2019 (as broadsheet)
HeadquartersBang Na, Bangkok

The Nation is Thailand's only Thai-owned English language newspaper,[1] It is owned by the Nation Multimedia Group (NMG) and is a member of the Asia News Network.

History

The Nation was founded by Suthichai Yoon on 1 July 1971[1] as The Voice of the Nation. The name was eventually shortened to The Nation.

The paper changed considerably in 1991, when several Thai journalists from the Bangkok Post defected to The Nation.

In 2008, The Nation laid off substantial numbers of staff and under the new editorship of former business editor Thanong Khanthong recast itself as a business newspaper, moving international wire copy to a free tabloid insert, the Daily Xpress.[2]

As of January 2018 the Nation Multimedia Group consisted of two digital TV stations, the English-language Nation newspaper, two Thai papers, and a publishing house. Its acquisition by T News is the result of a three-year effort to acquire controlling stock interests in Nation Multimedia properties. The Nation conglomerate has had financial difficulties for years.[3]

The two brothers who head The Nation, Suthichai Yoon and Thepchai Yong, will no longer be at the paper's helm. Suthichai retired on 12 January 2018, Thepchai to follow in April 2018.[3]

In 2019, print issues of The Nation were discontinued, replaced by an online edition solely.[4] The last paper copy will be the 28 June edition.[5] The Nation over the five preceding years has lost 30 million baht per year. The move was taken to halt the newspaper's losses and to expand its market. According to the NMG, only 36% of The Nation's readers are in Thailand. The balance live overseas, 25% in the US. The typical reader is between 25–40 years of age and prefers to read newspapers via smartphone. The newspaper will go fully online on 1 July 2019, the 48th anniversary of its founding. Management plans to issue an audible version of the newspaper as well as an edition in Mandarin Chinese.[4]

Editorial line

The Nation and the Bangkok Post are similar in their coverage of international news. Their target audience is English-speaking Thai upper and upper-middle classes.

After Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra was elected in 2001, several companies associated with him ceased to advertise in The Nation. The newspaper reported the advertising cuts and adopted an anti-Thaksin editorial line.[6]

Though The Nation has a right-of-center opinion page, which welcomed the 2014 coup and military rule, its daily news coverage is more center-left, criticizing, for example, Thailand's lèse-majesté law.[3] According to acclaimed, left-of-center journalist, Pravit Rojanaphruk, who worked at Nation for 23 years, in its heyday, Nation "...was a bastion of committed journalism and tolerance." But over the past decade, it "morphed from a progressive newspapers into a coup-apologist cheerleader for military intervention,..." Pravit was fired from The Nation in 2015 after release from a three-day junta detention without charge for "attitude adjustment", his second such detention.[7]

At the demise of the print version, some Nation staffers moved to defend the publication's integrity and commitment to truthful journalism.[8] Bangkok Post columnist Andrew Biggs, who previously worked at The Nation remembers it as "...a champion of democracy, standing up to despots, juntas, the elite and anybody else who eschewed democracy."[1]

The acquisition by T News portends a further move to the right by the Nation group. T News is ultra-royalist and pro-junta both editorially and in its daily coverage.[3]

Satirical reaction

In December 2007 an unknown person started a satirical website called Not The Nation, a send-up of The Nation's website and coverage of Thai affairs. For a while the website was non-functioning, for unknown reasons. Its pages once featured an image of Abhisit with the quotation: "A perfectly legal site. but we're working on that" and another of Thaksin with the legend, "didn't I sue them out of existence in 2004?"[9] The site later satirized itself with a link to Who Do We Wrongly Think Is Behind NTN?[10]

Linking directly to the site post-2014 Thai coup d'état redirects to a site-suspension notice modified Thursday, 30 September 2010 at 22:59:26 UTC with an image of a hat-rack, hat, and orange beach shirt, and the legend: This site has stepped out for a bit.[11] On 3 March 2015, the site restarted "with a new executive staff appointed by Thailand's military government."[12]

See also

References
  1. Biggs, Andrew (7 July 2019). "Another one bites the dust" (Opinion). Bangkok Post. Retrieved 7 July 2019.
  2. "The Nation creates history". The Nation. February 27, 2008. Archived from the original on December 4, 2009.
  3. Thaitrakulpanich, Asaree (22 January 2018). "NATION MULTIMEDIA TAKEN OVER BY FAR-RIGHT NEWS CORP". Khaosod English. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
  4. "The Nation to cease print edition and focus on digital market". The Nation. 2019-05-17. Retrieved 2019-05-17.
  5. "The Nation to ditch paper edition: source". Khaosod English. 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2019-05-16.
  6. The Asia Sentinel, "Gunpoint Democracy", 27 October 2006
  7. Rojanaphruk, Pravit (27 January 2018). "Death of 'The Nation' as we knew it". Khaosod English. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
  8. Taptim, Tulsathit (29 May 2019). "And the countdown begins..." (Opinion). The Nation. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  9. Anonymous (28 September 2011). "About". Not The Nation. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. Retrieved 28 September 2011. Not The Nation is for entertainment purposes only. Redistribution of Not The Nation content with attribution is permitted. Some photos and images used on Not The Nation are taken from the Internet. If one of them is yours, we apologize and are grateful. The author(s) of Not The Nation choose(s) to remain anonymous.
  10. Anonymous (4 December 2012). "Who Do We Wrongly Think Is Behind NTN?". Not The Nation. Archived from the original on 2013-01-23. Retrieved 23 January 2012.
  11. This site has stepped out for a bit
  12. Anonymous (3 March 2015). "NTN Welcomes Glorious New Junta-Appointed Editor-in-Chief". Not The Nation. Archived from the original on 2015-05-14. Retrieved 14 May 2015. The new editor-in-chief, Brigadier General Somyut Phraemonwichitmuang, was presented at a press conference to exhibit his credentials and to announce the exciting future of the now junta-controlled news operation.
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