Welcome to 60 years ago

This new section will be devoted to lessons that tap the rich history of the Bangkok Post. It will use articles published sixty years ago when the Bangkok Post first started publishing the news.

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Times have changed

Many of the stories in published during the Bangkok Post's first month of existence in August 1946 are rather similar to present day stories. The Democrat Party, for example, had great election success in Bangkok but very little success in the North and Northeast. Corruption was still a problem and there were difficulties in the border areas. This story, however, indicates that life really was very different than what we find today.

I lived near the area mentioned in the story from 1968 to 1971 and I remember taking a boat trip on the Pak Panang River from Pak Panang to Hua Sai in Nakornsrithammarat and then on to Ranote in Songkhla at the top of the Songkhla Lake. That was before the modern highway system was built and the river area was very busy.  I remember thinking the countryside seemed extremely remote — like photos of the US a hundred years earlier.

This story will help you imagine what life was like in 1946, more than 30 years before my trip. What was Songkhla called at that time?

August 8, 1946

12 Elephants Captured But White One Escapes

A delayed dispatch from Phathalung tells of a huge elephant hunt staged in that district last month with a white elephant as quarry.

The hunt in southern province took place around Singora Lake where a large wild herd was sighted.

Twleve elephants were rounded up by the hunters but the reported white one was still at large.

dispatch – a report sent from a particular person or place
staged – organised; carried out
quarry – an animal being hunted
herd – a large group of animals of one kind that live together
rounded up – caught; gathered together
at large - free, i.e., it escaped

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Headed for the UNO

August 2, 1946

The United Nations (actually the United Nations Organisation at that time) was officially established in October 1945 with 51 members. Thailand became a member more than a year later on December 16, 1946. This story gives you a little idea of some of the reasons for the delay. First, it appears that Thailand, or "Siam" as it was known, did not officially apply for membership until late 1946. As you read, notice there appears to have been a bit of a problem with the application.

Secondly, as this story notes, there was the matter of a border dispute with France. Earlier this week, we read a story about shooting in the Nong Khai area and that is definitely related to this dispute. Did you know that Thailand actually fought a short but bitter war with France in that area a few years earlier? You can read about it here. There you will find out what Thailand had to do to become a member of the United Nations.

Now read about the situation as it was reported on August 2, 1946 in the Bangkok's second issue:

Garbled Reports Fill Air As Siam's UNO Team Packs

Action taken on first bid causes some confusion

As Siam's delegation prepare to depart on their all important mission to the United nations in New York, the press of the world has interested itself more and more in the two matters which will be presented by the delegation of the international organization.

The two matters are:

1) Siam's side of the border dispute with France over territories along the Indo-China border.
2) Siam's application for membership of the United Nations.

From reports coming into this country from abroad, it is apparent that there is a great deal of confusion regarding Siam's attitude in both these matters.

From New York, via the United Press came the following report:

Siam's declaration of intention to file an application for membership in the United Nations was rejected as a formal application by the Security Council sub-committee sitting in Hunter College, New York City August 1. Siam's membership therefore may be delayed unless the Siamese government has a formal application because the Council must send the list of recommended application to the General Assembly meeting in New York in late September.

dispute – an argument or disagreement
garbled – unclear or confused, especially about the details of something
pack – to prepare for a trip (e.g. to pack your bags)
depart – to leave
border – the line separating to countries
apparent – clear
declaration – formal statement

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The Bangkok Post is born

August 1, 1946

In honour of the Bangkok Post's 60th anniversary, we are going back in time to our very first issue to get our news today. As you will see, the news at that time wasn't all that different from the news we read today.

Price War

Page 3 of the Bangkok Post has the same reproduction of the first-edition front page that I have included here. Notice that one of the stories is circled and that is a very good place to begin. 

Note also that the story has a very modern-sounding subject: a gasoline price war. Today's business section has some background on the situation in 1946, so let's look there first:

"Back in 1946, a year after the end of World War II, Thailand's only oil refinery — which had a capacity of 1,000 barrels per day — in Chong Nonsi had been bombed and its only oil tanker, Samui, had been sunk, leaving the country with a severe oil shortage. Although the situation is not as bad today, the country is still facing oil problems, particularly from the rising price of gasoline, which is 30 baht a litre — 25 times higher than it was 60 years ago....

"Gasoline cost 22 ticals a jerrycan in 1946, or about 1.20 baht per litre. At this time a bowl of noodles or rice was 25 satang, compared with today's food costs of 25-30 baht, the same as for a litre of fuel."

Just like today, when there is a shortage of something, clever business people rush to fill the gap, even if they have use illegal methods to do so. Clearly the black market was alive and well in 1946.

You can hear the mp3 soundfiles by clicking on the headphone symbols.

Gasoline price war raging here

Black Market Gives Lawful Firms Trouble

Bangkok's gasoline supply situation has resolved into what amounts to a price war between legitimate fuel company dealers and black market operators, a survey of the fuel situation in the city shows.

At the present time the black market dealers are able to undersell their lawful competitors, according to prices quoted this week. Some of the former dealers are retailing gasoline in the neighbourhood of twenty-two ticals a jerrycan, which holds four imperial gallons. Gasoline from black market sources retails for about twenty-three ticals fifty satang.

Reasons for the difference in price include:

1. Hoarders are dumping fuel on the market because they anticipate a reduction in prices forced by expected shipments of gasoline and oil.

2. Large "bootleg" shipments of fuel are already getting into the country via junks and other coastal craft.

3. Much of the black market supply comes from stores stolen from military coastal shipments.

legitmate – lawful; acceptable according to the law
undersell – selling at a lower price
retailing – selling goods directly to the public
in the neighbourhood of – about
imperial gallon – about 4.5 litres 
hoarders – people who collect and store things, often because they are valuable and in short supply and which can be resold later at a profit
dumping – selling at less than cost
bootleg – acquired or sold illegally
junks – Chinese boats with square sails and flat bottoms
craft – boats; ships
stores – supplies of things

Inquiry

Here's a short, but very historically significant story. First, let's see how well you know your Thai history:

1. The inquiry mentioned in the story was investigating which Thai King's death?

a. King Chulalongkorn
b. King Prajadhipok
c. King Ananda Mahidol

2. Who was the Premier mentioned in the story?

a. Luang Plaek Phibunsongkhram
b. Pridi Phanomyong
c. Khuang Aphaiwong
d. Anand Panyarachun

Inquiry To Continue For Another Month

The Commission of Inquiry into the King's death will probably have to (go) on for another month, there being about 20 more witnesses to come before the Commission. Outstanding of these are the Premier and the Director General of the Police Department, Phra Ram Indra.

After the inquiry has been finished, the Commission will hand a report of its findings to the Government, copies of which will be mailed to the principal Governments all over the world.

witness - (in a court of law) a person who has information about a case and tells what he or she knows to the court

Election in Bangkok

Elections have been a regular part of newspapers ever since serious newspaper were invented. Indeed, an election in Bangkok was one of the main stories in the Bangkok Post's first issue. It was actually a by-election, incidentally The general election — Thailand's first with competing political parties — was held a few months earlier.

3. Read the story carefully, and try to figure out which two parties were members of the coalition which headed the government.

4. Which party was in the opposition?

5. Who did you think was the head of the Democrat Party at that time?

a. Apisit Vejajiva
b. Chuan Leekpai
c. Seni Pramote
d. Samak Sundaravej

It is very hard to make out all the words in the text of this story, so I probably made a mistake or two when I typed and read it. The main ideas are still clear, however.

Final Speeches Raise Election Temperature

The last week before the elections on Monday has witnessed a considerable rise in the temperature of the election campaign. The Government statement denouncing certain (??) actions of some members of the Democrat Party issued on the night of July 29 has added fuel to the fire. The Democrat meeting at the Democracy Monument on the following afternoon attracted what must have been a record crowd for any political meeting in this country. It is estimated that eight thousand people were present to listen to some of the most bitter sarcasms uttered so far.

Neither the Sahacheep Party nor the Constitutional Front are, however, letting the grass grow under their feet. Their canvassing and speech-making campaigns are going strong. 

denouncing – criticising a person or an action severely and publicly for something you believe is wrong
added fuel to the fire – made the situation more emotional, exciting, explosive, dangerous, etc.
sarcasms – words intended to insult or anger someone, usually by saying the opposite of what you mean (e.g., saying someone is good when you clearly mean someone is bad)
uttered – spoken
letting the grass grow under their feet – remaining inactive, i.e., not doing anything
canvassing – trying to find or persuade people to support you or your political party

Historical note: As you hopefully guessed earlier, Pridi Phanomyong was the premier at the time. However, later in the month, he resigned, citing ill health. He left the country shortly afterward. He returned, but left again when Luang Plaek Phibunsongkhram seized power in November 1947. 

We'll add another historical story tomorrow and a few more after that.

Answers: 1. c  2. b  3. Sahacheep and Constitutional Front parties 4. Democrat Party  5. c

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Trouble on the border

August 1, 1946 continued

Lesson by Jon Fernquest
[Introduction|Vocabulary|Article] [Reading Questions|Answers]

The headline above is from the first issue of the Bangkok Post in 1946.

It's easy to find history in the pages of the Bangkok Post since it's been published every day for 60 years.

The story of writing the first front page is an exciting story.

Alexander Macdonald, one of the founders of the Bangkok Post, tells the story in his biography "My Footloose Newspaper Life" (Post Publishing, 1990).

Stanley Swinton of the Associated Press had just arrived back to Bangkok from a dangerous assignment along the Lao border at Nong Khai in Isan.

Swinton helped Macdonald on the difficult first day of the Bangkok Post by contributing an important piece of investigative journalism.

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Reading Questions

Here are some questions to guide your reading (See answers at end):

1. What religious ceremony did the Bangkok Post have on the eve of the first issue?

2. What did MacDonald call the first day of the Bangkok Post? Why?

3. What was the difficult job that the editors faced on the first day of the Post?

4. Who saved the day? Why?

5. What was happening along the Lao border near Nong Khai that was newsworthy?

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Racing to meet a deadline

On the evening of July 31 monks chanted blessings in Pali for the newly born Bangkok Post.

Macdonald (in picture, on right) called the first day of the Bangkok Post, August 1, 1946, "P-Day", because it sounded like D-Day in World War II and they had a difficult but important task ahead of them. The editors had to fill up the front page with the important news stories of the day.

Macdonald recalls: I paced the press room, trying to round up enough front page stories to make this first edition of the Post a newsy one. Little of note had come in over the wire services, so Page One would be made up entirely of local news.

Suddenly, AP reporter Sam Swinton dashed into the room. He didn't just arrive; that would not be Swinton. He rocketed into the office like Superman dropping in from a nearby planet. Attired in a sweat-blotched khaki, he was a powerfully built young man, popping with energy.

He burst into my office. "I'm Stanley Swinton of the Associated Press," he announced. "Call me Stan. Heard you were just getting started, and I've something for you."

Just came in from the Indochina border, and all hell's breaking loose up there. French troops firing on Siamese towns. Saw it myself. How'd you like an eyewitness story?

I took him to Karl's desk, introduced him, and sat him down at Karl's typewriter. "String it out as long as you can, Stan," I told him. "We've got acres of space. You bring manna from Indochina."

He attacked the machine, typing as fast as he talked. Page after page unreeled, telling of a raid by French troops on the town of Tha Boh, on Thailand's side of the Mekong. He had spent three days there, interviewing victims and officials, inspecting the damage. No other newsman had been there.

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Stanley Swinton's career in journalism

Stanley Swinton was only 27 at the time he wrote this story. During World War II Swinton had served as a war correspondent and after the war he joined the Associated Press as a foreign correspondent.

In 1960, only 14 years after he wrote this article for the first issue of the Bangkok Post, Stanley Swinton was appointed vice president and the first director of World Services at the Associated Press.

In the early 1970s Swinton did two important interviews with Ferdinand Marcos who ruled the Phillipines from 1965 to 1989 before Corazon Aquino overthrew him with democratic "People's Power" street protests in 1989.

In 1981, Swinton was a signatory to the Declaration of Talloires an important document in the fight for Freedom of the Press and after his death in 1982 a prestigious scholarship was set up in his name at the Columbia School of journalism

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Article

Foreign Correspondent Bares Border Truth
AP Man Finds Death, Torture Along Mekong

Guns Still Popping Near Nong Khai, He Reports

The Post Publishing Co. Ltd has been granted permission by the Associated Press to use an article written by Stanley Swinton, first foreign correspondent to visit the disputed border area along the Mekhong. Following is the story of what he found two weeks ago at Nong Khai and Tha Bo. AP prohibits reproduction of this article by other newspapers.

By Stan Swinton

In the remote border towns of Nong Khai and Tha Bo July 17, 18, and 19 I saw at first hand the true situation in this tense area where the interests of two nations dangerously conflict.

To obtain my information, I flew from Bangkok to Udorn, drove by motorcar to Nong Khai and then sailed the Mekong to Tha Bo. I did not go to officials of either side to get my information. I got it form talking myself to scores of people -- not only Siamese, but Annamese, Laos, Chinese and British. And the things that they described I could usually confirm with my own eyes.

One controversial thing I did clarify on my trip: Siamese charge that they are often subject to gunfire from the French Indo-China side. French deny the charge. I found that there is gunfire. On the night before my arrival in Nong Khai, the town had been the target of gunfire from the Indo-China side of the Mekong. Major Vider Weymess, British observation officer, confirmed...Two days previously a neighboring village had been fired upon.

Approximately 14,000 Annamites, some Lacs and Chinese have evacuated to Siamese territory...

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Vocabulary

foreign correspondent - a journalist who covers stories first-hand from foreign countries where they happen.

footloose - free to do what you want and go where you want because you have no responsibilities or committments

the Associated Press (AP) - one of the most important news agencies of journalists that supply news reports to newspapers

investigative journalism - when journalists do research to determine why something happened ot is the way it is

chanted in Pali - traditional chanting of Buddhist monks on special occasions like house-warming ceremonies or funerals

a pun - an attempt to be funny by deliberately confusing two words that sound the same (See Wikipedia)

D-Day - D-Day took place on June, 1944, the day Allied forces invaded Nazi Germany during World War II

P-Day - this is a pun, P-Day sounds like D-Day which means the beginning of a military operation

paced the press room - walked back and forth nervously while thinking (like Napoleon)

round up - collect, gather

newsy - newsworthy, important information that people need and want to know about

wire services - news agencies like Reuters, AP, UPI, and Xinhua, an organization of journalists established to supply news reports to organizations in the news trade

attired in - dressed in

blotched - with large stains

khaki - a greenish brown fabric often used for military clothing (See Wikipedia)

Indochina - French Indochina, this includes Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, the countries that France once held as colonies (this word was used before World War II when there were colonies in Southeast Asia, it isn't used anymore)

all hell's breaking loose - the fighting is getting more and more violent

Siamese -  Thai (Siam was name for Thailand before World War II)

Thai people, Siam was name for Thailand before World War II

an eyewitness story - story seen by the person writing about it

typewriter - machine used to write with (before computers and printers existed)

acres of space - a lot of free space (the front page needs to be filled with newsworthy articles, an acre is a measure of land like the Thai "rai")

manna dropping from heaven - a nice thing that you get suddenly and unexpectedly (manna is a food produced by a miracle in the desert for the Israelites in the bible)

unreeled - paper coming off of a reel (as the typist types on the paper)

war correspondent - a journalist who covers stories first-hand from a war zone (See Wikipedia)

motorcar - old-fashioned word for "car"

scores of - many

Annamese - from northern Vietnam

confirm with my own eyes - check the truth of what someone says is happening by seeing it yourself

clarify - verify, confirm, check the truth of

charge that - say in a way that accuses somone of doing something bad

Lacs - hilltribe in Vietnam

evacuated - leave, flee, or run away from a dangerous area
  

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Answer Key:

1. What religious ceremony did the Bangkok Post have on the eve of the first issue?

They had Buddhist monks chanting blessings in Pali.

2. What did MacDonald call the first day of the Bangkok Post? Why?

He called it "P-Day" because World War II had just ended and the most important event of World War II was D-Day, the day the United States and the allied forces invaded Nazi Germany.

3. What was the difficult job that the editors faced on the first day of the Post?

They had to fill up the front page with the important news stories of the day.

At first, it looked like the front page was only going to have local news.

4. Who saved the day? Why?

Stanley Swinton of the Associated Press who had just arrived back from the Lao border brought an important story.

5. What was happening along the Lao border near Nong Khai that was newsworthy?

French troops were firing on Thai towns.

This is a good opportunity for a little research. If you have access to a good library you can find out why French troops were firing on Thai towns.

The news for only one day does not give you the whole story. You have to follow the news over a long period of time and read history books to get the whole story.

    

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Developments in Indonesia

August 1, 1946 continued

Let's continue a story from the Bangkok Post's first ever issue. This is a regional story and in order to understand what was happening, you need to know a little history. Here is a very brief summary of the situation at that time from the CIA's World Factbook on Indonesia:

"The Dutch began to colonise Indonesia in the early 17th century; the islands were occupied by Japan from 1942 to 1945. Indonesia declared its independence after Japan's surrender, but it required four years of intermittent negotiations, recurring hostilities, and UN mediation before the Netherlands agreed to relinquish its colony."

intermittant - starting and stopping; on and off
hostilities - fighting
relinquish - to give up

Now you should understand why the Dutch might want to buy weapons and why the United States might not want to let them. If you still want to know more, however, try this history from the Wikipedia.

Foreign Minister says claim made by Indonesians false;

No munitions sold to Dutch.

Statements being circulated in Indonesia and Malaya by Indonesian news agencies that Siam is bootlegging munitions to the Dutch were categorically denied today by Nai Direk Chaiyanam, Minister of Foreign Affairs.

According to the Indonesian news release Dutch military authorities were evading the United States ban upon the export of armaments by purchasing weapons and other war materials from Siam.

Although Siam has been allowed to buy arms from America, such purchases have been exculsively for Siamese military purposes, it was pointed out.

bootlegging: secretly and illegally selling; smuggling
munitions – military equipment, especially guns, shells and bombs; armaments
categorically – definitely and firmly
evading – avoiding
ban – not allowing something to be done; prohibition
exclusively – only

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