Golden Triangle Digest: F*ck Off 2020 Edition, December 27th, 2020
We're dropping 2020 like a bad habit. But there's hope yet. Here's our predictions on why 2021 is gonna be a damn good year.
I know you clicked for the predictions.
And they’re coming below.
But can I ask, are you subscribed to this newsletter? If yes, then I knew you were a good one.
If not, do yourself a favor and get 2021 kicked off to a great start and get on board here:
Dear expats and readers,
I don’t know about for you, but 2020 was a hell of a year. No matter who I talk to, everybody has a story to tell about this past year and the disruption that we’ve seen the world over.
For some they lost their jobs and businesses. For others, their loved ones. And for even others still, they were separated from friends and family, stuck on the other side of the world.
This is the last newsletter that True Crime Thailand is putting out for 2020. The next one that lands in your inbox will be dated 2021.
Every rag out there is doing a retrospective on 2020, and in our opinion, it’s just not needed. We all know what happened and it’s been rehashed everywhere a million times.
Here at True Crime Thailand, we’re dropping 2020 like a bad habit and telling the past year to “f*ck off.”
So this newsletter is all about 2021 and the prospects that it brings. Specifically, I’m excited to lay out what you can expect from True Crime Thailand in the coming year.
Alright then, enough of the jibber jabber. Let’s get down to it.
First things first, that’s our new banner for the Facebook group and Facebook page we run for True Crime Thailand. If you’re not in the group, you’re missing out. It’s where over 1,100+ true crime enthusiasts get together and spitball about the Thai crime stories of the day. The group’s growing fast and it’s a lot of fun, it’s uncensored, and there’s even the occasional story that we break before any other news outlet, Thai or English, gets a hold of.
Join up here if you’re not in already:
And that brings us to the first exciting thing that True Crime Thailand is working on in 2021.
The mission for True Crime Thailand is to be the #1 place for crime in Thailand. Period.
This is how we’ll do it:
Breaking original stories.
Look, our name’s getting some recognition - and fast. We’ve been approached by about a dozen people just in the past month looking to feed us an original story that hadn’t been reported on yet by any other media, either Thai or English.
Right now, we’re working on a process of vetting stories and making sure that we cover our keisters when we put out a breaking story with original reporting.
As you read this newsletter right now, there are two major stories that we’re vetting and will likely publish in the coming days.
As the True Crime Thailand publishing brand grows, and people get familiar with the work we’re doing, we will have more access to leads and original crime stories before any other media in the country.
You can count on that.
Going where nobody else goes.
Along with cultivating sources throughout Thailand, the True Crime Thailand team will proactively get out into the field to do original research, interviews, and reporting.
What will this look like?
The team has plans to head up to Ban Hin Taek and other points of interest around the Golden Triangle to do original reports about the life and impact of Khun Sa on the region.
The team will try to get interviews with farang inside the Chiang Mai Central Prison in Mae Taeng, Chiang Mai province. We have no agenda here, but rather we just want to tell the story of what prison life is like in Thailand.
We will be traveling the country as thematic stories emerge around crime: whether that’s around narcotics, wildlife trafficking, scams, or anything else that catches our readers attention. We’ll be on the ground to get the real scoop.
Exclusive interviews.
2021 will see the launch of the True Crime Thailand podcast.
There are guests already lined up and we’re excited to partner with them to delight and inform our mutual audiences.
Our focus will be around the topics we cover on the daily: crime in Thailand and topics of interest for expats.
You can expect guests that include: Thailand expat authors (both fiction and non-fiction), attorneys, people with interesting stories to tell, and more.
Doing what works and what our audience loves.
At the end of the day, we’re in this for you. Our readers and audience.
If there’s something that you want to see, you can drop us a line. Let us know. We’ve already taken many suggestions from our readers and have built our offerings around what people said they wanted in true crime content.
Of course, we’ll continue to do what we’ve been doing: reporting on stories from the Thai press and getting them out in English before the big publications do (if at all… they ignore so much).
And doing the weekly in depth articles on crimes from the past. Speaking of which, did you read our latest piece we did on the 1950’s serial killer in Thailand called Si Ouey? You can read it here:
It’s a helluva story. Check it out if you haven’t.
Point is, we listen to our audience. If there’s something that you all want, we will do it.
More book and movie reviews.
This one is fun for us.
We did the review of Operation Mekong, the 2016 Chinese produced film that dramatized the events around the Mekong River Massacre in 2011.
This sort of stuff is fun for us. We’ll do more film and book reviews that relate to crime in Thailand and South East Asia, along with general interest crime work.
For example, we’re planning on giving a full detailed review of Crime Classification Manual: A standard system for investigating and classifying violent crime by John E. Douglas, Ann W. Burgess, Allen G Burgess, Robert K Ressler; Sexual Homicide: Patterns and Motives by Douglas; and more.
These are the gold standard in the academic field of criminology. They’re written by a top-notch crew who served in the FBI and investigated violent crime, murders, and sex crime. Douglas’s work is also the framework for the show Mindhunter, which you’ve probably already binged.
Helpful guides for expats.
The fuel behind True Crime Thailand's mission to be the #1 place for crime in Thailand is to inform our audience.
To that aim, we're working on a set of guides in conjunction with authoritative sources (think law firms, visa agencies, and the like) that will give you the info you need about legal matters in Thailand.
They'll include guides for "what to do if you're arrested," "what to do when buying property in Thailand," "what to do if you're in an auto accident," "what to do if you're assaulted," "what to do if you're a victim of theft," etc.
Along with those sorts of guides, we'll also be putting together helpful references that will educate our audience about crime and the Thai language.
One guide will be a full glossary of Thai words and terms, both official and slang, around the subjects of law, crime, and the like.
Another reference work we'll be putting out is a series that profiles the important people in Thai society. Think: police commissioners, politicians, celebrities, ministers, influencers, and more. We think it's important to stay informed in the country we live in. Of course, everybody knows the Prime Minister, and probably one or two other officials, but we're looking to develop dozens if not a hundred or more profiles of influential people in Thai society, and perhaps influential expats as well.
Maybe you'll be on the list :)
Expect the best, expect the unexpected.
Our prediction for 2021 is that as the True Crime Thailand brand grows, there will be other publications and upstarts out there looking to imitate our style or content.
And that's fine.
This is a free market.
But I'm calling it now - when you see imitators out there, they won't be a shadow of what we're doing.
For everything I've detailed above, there are 10 more ideas brewing behind the scenes here at True Crime Thailand.
We're staying 3 steps ahead of the competition.
Again, our mission is simple: True Crime Thailand is the #1 place for crime in Thailand. Period.
Alright... I've talked your ears off.
I respect the time that you've given me already.
So here's the four most popular stories from the past week. Sex and murder dominate our reader's attention yet again.
Click the buttons beneath the pictures to read the full story.
Missing Woman Found in Crematorium in Chiang Mai Province
1000’s of Young Students Victim of Peeping Tom in Bangkok
30 Year Old Government Worker Found Murdered in Car Parked for 3 Days on Surat Thani Roadside
Unnamed Man Found Dead on Rice Field Stuffed in Hemp Sack, Hands and Feet Bound with Rope
Well, that's all folks!
Say good bye to 2020… and welcome the new year.
I sincerely hope the next year rewards you and your friends, family, and loved ones with health, prosperity, and happiness.
If you've read this whole newsletter up until this point and haven't subscribed yet... wtf is wrong with you?
Fix your problem by signing up here:
We'll catch you in 2021,
True Crime Thailand