Golden Triangle Digest: Midday Edition, December 20th, 2020
Sex and corruption and loan sharks, oh my! Our readers love it, and so do I. Here's my thoughts on how I choose what stories to run.
See, it works, doesn’t it?
A pretty gal and a bit of Christmas cheer gets you to click. Don’t worry, she’s relevant to one of the stories we published this week - it’s not all click bait.
By the way, if you’re reading this right now and haven’t subscribed, I’m disappointed in you. You can fix your error here:
Now, onto the newsletter…
Dear expats and readers,
I wake up every morning with a ritual:
Check to see how many people joined my Facebook group overnight. Call me vain. But I think it's the best damn group for expats in Thailand if you want to keep up with crime and breaking news. Join here if you haven't already:
Hit the john. Rinse my face. Shave. Plop my butt down and... well you can fill in the blank. Shower.
Head out the door and walk down the soi to my moobaan's cafe. It's 20 baht for a hot latte. Not the best coffee in the world, but the owner's a neighbor and it gets the job done.
Open 17 Thai online newspapers and check the headlines for what stories I want to run for that day.
This is where the rubber meets the road for True Crime Thailand and the work that we do here.
The daily crime stories that hit the Thai news are our bread and butter. We love covering the stories that the big English language publications ignore. I get a rush every time I find a story that I think will be interesting to readers and it hasn't been covered yet in English.
So, what kind of stories do I look for?
They have to meet some loose criteria first.
The story must be crime related. Murder, drugs, thievery, sex crimes, extortion, corruption. That kind of stuff.
It has to be related to Thailand in some way.
The story has to make me feel something.
Sometimes a story can make me smile - like when the guy in Udon Thani believed his wife's ghost covered the eyes of a thief so he didn't find the family's gold to steal.
Sometimes a story gets me angry - like when an 18 year old kid was stabbed to death after a fight and misunderstanding.
I like stories that invoke emotions.
I also love stories that make me think. My goal with True Crime Thailand is to gain an understanding of Thai society by looking at it through the window of crime. For me, there's something unique and true about this view. It's a raw, unfiltered look at the motivations and contradictions of the country.
I'm also obligated to report stories that inform. We all remember the blunder from November when Thai police announced a 30 billion baht ketamine bust that turned out to be calcium carbonate. The story did its round in all the expat groups and everybody chimed in with their 2 baht about how incompetent the Boys in Brown are...
But after looking at the story closer, it's my view that there is a massive smuggling operation sending ketamine from Thailand to Taiwan. That is to say, just because the "biggest bust of Thai history" was a SNAFU, it doesn't mean that major ketamine busts aren't happening in Taiwan and Thailand. Because they are. And they're likely connected with the warehouse from the story in November.
Another thing I look at when I'm choosing a story is what city or province the crime happened in. I recently ran a poll in the Facebook group where I asked everybody what province they'd like us to cover when we do stories.
It's important that we cover what matters to readers. Local news upcountry or in the provinces that don't have many farang are often ignored by the big English language press in Thailand.
So, it's my duty to cover these stories as well - even if they're not the most exciting or they won't get the most views. I do it because it matters to you, the reader.
Finally, there is a bit of a selfish motive when I choose what stories I cover. The beauty of the modern internet is that I can see very clearly what stories do best. There's a dearth of analytic data from Google Analytics and Facebook that tell me what stories people click on.
I give this serious consideration when choosing stories. Fact is, these stories attract readers to True Crime Thailand.
The most popular stories that are shared and spread through the social media ecosystem often have one of these three things in common: sex, corruption, gratuitous violence.
This speaks to the dark and curious nature of the human psyche. We might not like it. We might even deny these shadowy desires in ourselves. But the numbers don't lie - they're plain to see, and people love this stuff.
And since I am wholly averse to bullshit, and wish to be as transparent as possible about this publishing project, I will admit that I sometimes choose stories that play to these demons of our awful human nature.
Don't worry. Even though I believe that we all do have a dark side, not everything is glum in Thailand. I mean, it's called the Land of Smiles for a reason, right? 😉 🇹🇭
OK, so now you know how I choose the stories that make it to the True Crime Thailand pages.
Don't be shy. If there are any crime or breaking news stories that you want us to cover - feel free to share them. We take reader submissions often.
You can always get in touch with me directly at truecrimethailand@gmail.com. We are discreet with our publication, so you can share them anonymously, or if you prefer, with credit. Up to you.
Now, here are a few of our most popular stories from the past week.
Sex and 50,000 Baht demanded by cops to overlook petty drug charge
This story hit on a dark triad of themes - corruption, sex, drugs - and invoked an overwhelming response from readers.
I decided to cover this story even though I knew the jaded expats would chortle say "what did you expect, TiT!"
And that was one common response on social media. But others were glad that I covered the story as it shines a bit of light on the issue of police corruption, even though we all know it exists.
What I thought was novel about this story was that the cops were reassigned as volunteers to work with other government agencies in the province.
19 year old PR girl brutalized by loan shark
This is one of those stories that made us feel a lot. Mainly anger. But a bit of sadness, too.
The images that came out of the loan shark smashing the face in of the young girl were almost too hard for us to look at.
The story also illuminated the underground loan infrastructure that many rely on in Thailand. It's illegal to charge interest rates that are higher than a legal set amount. But it's still a massive shadow market in Thailand, and when you don't pay the loan, this is what can happen.
Many readers expressed their sympathy for the young girl. Many more wanted a piece of the loan shark - I mean, beating a 19 year old like that just doesn't sit right with anybody.
E-sports streamers file sexual harassment charges against famous Thai gaming company
Again, the central theme is sex here. And we must admit, some of the streamers who were associated with this case do have the looks.
This story was interesting to us for other reasons, though. It gave us a look at the burgeoning gaming industry in Thailand and how it's trying to catch up with other parts of the world like Japan, Korea, USA, and Europe.
The famous gaming company that is being scrutinized in the reports goes unnamed, of course. After all we wouldn't want to run afoul of defamation laws, now would we?
Thai press scrutinizes "Big Khaki" for extorting entertainment venues
This is another story where old hands in Thailand and South East Asia love to jump on and say, "Yeah, nothing new, TiT!"
And we agree.
There's absolutely nothing new about the police taking their cut from bars, nightlife, and adult entertainment establishments.
I don't report stories like this because I think they're particularly shocking, or think it's some sort of massive new revelation to our readers.
I report them because even when we all know the score, there's a bit of novelty to be found.
This story had a detail that was a bit of a head-scratcher. The "Big Khaki" operated out of Tourist Police Headquarters. Even the Thai press was flummoxed with that one.
Why was a big boss in the tourist police taking a cut on nightlife businesses?
We'll keep our eyes on this story as it develops, as always.
Farewell to 2020
It's been a hell of a year, hasn't it?
I don't need to pontificate about how everything has changed in 2020. We all have our own stories and opinions on the matter.
But look, I can only speak for myself here. I'm excited for what 2021 will bring.
We've got some exciting things planned for the new year:
In depth guides for farang in Thailand. Our goal is to be as informative as possible at True Crime Thailand. Some of the guides will address legal topics for farang, which we'll be working with some of the best legal minds in Thailand to develop. Other guides will be resources that readers can use to do their own research on crime. For example, a glossary of crime words and terms in Thai.
We are working on securing several guests for the podcast that will launch in 2021. They include established expat authors and others who have a unique angle on what goes on in Thailand. I am super excited to have them on - it's going to be fun, and I'm confident our audience will enjoy it!
I'm releasing a crime novel set in Thailand in 2021. The first draft is complete. It's in the revision stage now. And there is a team of beta readers who will give their feedback on it shortly. It's a mystery / suspense crime thriller that’s ripped straight from the headlines. Stay tuned for more!
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If you have any crime stories to report, feel free to reach out at truecrimethailand@gmail.com.
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Always at your service,
True Crime Thailand