Bangkok Post

Infobox_Newspaper
name = Bangkok Post


caption = The 60th anniversary edition of the Bangkok Post.
type = Daily newspaper
format = Broadsheet
foundation = August 1, 1946
ceased publication =
price = 25 baht
owners = Post Publishing Public Co. Ltd.
publisher = Kowit Sanandang
editor = Pichai Chuensuksawadi, editor-in-chief
Veera Prateepchaikul, deputy editor-in-chief
Pattna Chantranontwong, editor
language = English
political =
circulation = 75,000
headquarters = Khlong Toei, Bangkok
ISSN =
website = [http://www.bangkokpost.net/ www.bangkokpost.net]
The "Bangkok Post" is a broadsheet English-language daily newspaper published in Bangkok, Thailand. The first issue was sold on August 1, 1946. It had four pages and cost 1 baht.

The paper was founded by Alexander MacDonald, a former OSS officer, and his Thai associate Prasit Lulitanond. Thailand at that time was the only Southeast Asian country to have a Soviet Embassy, and the American Embassy allegedly felt it needed an independent but pro-American paper to present its views. Thus, some sources claim the financing came directly from the State Department or possibly even the OSS itself.

Nevertheless, under MacDonald's stewardship, the "Bangkok Post" was reasonably independent and employed many young newsmen, including Peter Arnett and T. D. Allman, who later became known internationally.

In a country where media censorship is common, the "Bangkok Post" portrays itself as having been comparatively free. There are notable instances where this is clearly untrue and the newspaper has often been accused of self-censorship in order to avoid controversy or conflict with powerful individuals. A ubiquitous example of this in Thailand is an unwillingness to criticise the Thai monarchy, which would constitute an illegal act and would, doubtlessly, be hugely unpopular as an act of lèse-majesté. Another example of self censorship, until recent years, was an unwillingness to point out influential and corrupt individuals. Yet another example of censorship was the newspaper's failure, during the Vietnam War, to report upon forays from U.S. Air Force bases in Thailand over North Vietnam and Cambodia. At the time none of these missions received coverage in the local press.

Alex MacDonald left Thailand after a military coup in the 1950s, and the newspaper was later led by Lord Roy Thomson. The paper has since changed hands. Major shareholders in Post Publishing include the Chirathivat family (owners of Central Group), the "South China Morning Post" of Hong Kong and GMM Grammy Pcl, Thailand's biggest media and entertainment company.

Another English newspaper of Thailand, the evening-edition "Bangkok World", was bought by the "Bangkok Post" in the late 1980s and is now defunct.

The main competition today comes from "The Nation", a Thai owned and managed newspaper that includes more campaigning journalism, is fiercely royalist and has ties to the Democrat Party and Southern Thailand. The "Bangkok Post", by contrast, employs several former student activists, the so-called October people, and portrays news from an urban, middle-class point of view, styling itself as a "family newspaper." During the tenure of prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, the "Post" largely toed the government line—at one point bowing to government pressure by firing a reporter who had exposed cracks in the runway of the prestige project Suvarnabhumi Airport along with the news editor [http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/2005-08-29-thai-journalists_x.htm] —while the "Nation" actively campaigned for regime change. This should, however, not be read as all-out support for Thaksin but has its roots in the fact that the premier drew a number of October people into his government and in concerns for advertising clients. Since the military coup that deposed Thaksin in 2006, the shoe has been on the other foot, with the "Post" more outspoken in its criticism of the old power clique that took over and urging a swift return to democracy.

The daily also campaigns in columns and features for an austere, reform version of Buddhism free of Thailand's traditional animist elements, which it views as superstitions, and against corruption in the official Buddhist establishment or Sangha.

The "Bangkok Post" was well-known for Bernard Trink's weekly "Nite Owl" column covering the seedy nightlife of Bangkok. Trink's column was published from 1966 (originally in the "Bangkok World") until 2004, when it was discontinued. It has a lively letters page where several expatriate and Thai regulars exchange opinions on local concerns.

ections

* Section 1: Local, regional and world news, as well as Opinion and Analysis pages. The Sports section starts from the back page of the front section and consists of four to six pages.
* Business: The second section (introduced in 1966) contains local, regional and world business and financial news and stock-market tables.
* Outlook: The features section, includes human-interest stories, entertainment news, a society page, advice columns, comics, puzzles, local television listings and movie ads.
* Database: A weekly information technology section, inserted on Wednesdays.
* Horizon: A weekly travel section, inserted on Thursdays.
* Motoring: A weekly automotive section, inserted on Fridays.
* Sunday Perspective: A weekly news analysis and investigative journalism section.
* Real.Time: Launched as a weekly magazine in 1997, then became a broadsheet section in 1998, inserted on Fridays. Includes reviews of movies and music as well as events listings.
* Learning Post: An English-language education section.
* The Magazine: A bimonthly glossy lifestyle magazine.
* Guru: An entertainment tabloid, inserted on Fridays and aimed at young-adult readers.
* Classified: Extensive English-language listings for jobs, housing, automobiles, entertainment, dining, travel and other services.

English language education site

A special "Bangkok Post" website [http://readbangkokpost.com/ readbangkokpost.com] helps people learn to read English using the daily newspaper. Vocabulary, reading questions, and web resources are provided for a selection of articles every day. Articles are taken from the general news, tourism, entertainment, and business sections of the newspaper. The targeted audience includes individual learners studying English by themselves as well as teachers using articles in the classroom.

ee also

*Media of Thailand

External links

* [http://www.bangkokpost.net/ "Bangkok Post" official website]
* [http://www.thailandguru.com/infra-newspapers.html Comparison of "The Nation" and "The Bangkok Post"]
* [http://www.cockatoo.com/english/thailand/thailand_media.htm Thailand Media overview]
* [http://www.bangkokpost.mobi Bangkok Post Mobile]