Today's media control tip is when the Royal Thai Navy can't get the job done, send in the army and the Ministry of Interior. (More on the navy in a moment.)
That's what happened at Koh Tao last week.
The online newspaper Samui Times last month broke the story of the death of a 30-year-old backpacking Belgian, Elise Dallemagne. Her body was found hanged from a tree in the Koh Tao woods, gruesomely half-consumed by lizards. (More on the Times below.)
Triple B (Best Budget Bungalows) Guesthouse, Koh Tao: The last time Elise Dallemagne was seen alive, her room was on fire and she was running towards the woods. Police say it was an obvious suicide and sued the 'Samui Times' online newspaper for reporting that outsiders call the resort 'Death Island'. (Photo by Supapong Chaolan)
Koh Tao being Koh Tao, the local constabulary quickly ruled Dallemagne's death a suicide. Elise's mother issued one of those "my daughter wouldn't commit suicide" statements and touched off yet another bout of Koh Tao scepticism.
- Clinic upgraded: Koh Tao gets a hospital
The Times reported -- let's repeat and emphasise that word -- reported -- factually that the blue-water resort was known in the outside world as "Death Island". This is chiefly because of the September 2014 murders of two young British tourists, followed by the arrests, trial and death sentences on two young Myanmar men.
But Death Island earned its tabloid-ish name in other ways, chiefly the notable coincidences of so many "suicides".
The mayor of Koh Tao, patriarchal Chaiyant Turasakul, spoke with a top government official in the province as well as the army. He says credibly that he told the governor and military: "The [Samui Times'] coverage damages the island's reputation and we have to take decisive action".
And they snapped to it. The army came along as support when Surat Thani's junta-appointed governor Auaychai Inthanak announced he had assigned Phangan district official Krerkkrai Songthani to file charges -- the infamous and rightly criticised "criminal defamation" meaning libel punished by prison.
Thai and world headlines read: "Samui Times to be sued after Koh Tao 'Death Island' story". The lawsuit is officially pending.
Now, as promised, a note about that news site, which exists and can be read on the internet. As of press time, no one at Samui Times had heard from the government.
It seems police, the Surat Thani governor and the army researched the location of the Samui Times at least as carefully as they investigated fatal events on Koh Tao.
JUSTICE?: Buddhist monks in Yangon protest against the death sentences handed to two migrant workers for the September, 2014, murders of two British visitors to Koh Tao. (Photo by EPA)
Police made a choice. Their only designated job was to solve the Elise Dallemagne case with care and compassion. Instead ... well, we also promised we'd return to the navy and to deja vu.
In December 2013, the commander of the Royal Thai Navy detachment at Phuket claimed to be humiliated, the target of jibes and suspicion. A story by international news agency Reuters mentioned that some military men in blue could be profiting from exploiting Rohingya boat people. So the commander sued the two-person website Phuketwan for criminal defamation.
On Sept 1, 2015, the court read its judgement.
The prosecutor didn't even bother showing up. The inevitable court decision was to dismiss the case outright and admonish the sheepish Royal Thai Navy subordinate officers who were forced to attend the final day. The judgement summarily described Phuketwan as not only factual but truthful; not just right but righteous; not just honest but sincere.
For all that winning, though, there was quite a price. "Pyrrhic" doesn't even begin to describe that legal victory by Chutima Sidasathian and editor Alan Morison. They stuck to their principles but by the end were physically exhausted, totally disgusted. They shut down Phuketwan and went away.
The navy was rebuked for 10 minutes but the laugh is on the thousands of Phuketwan readers. They no longer have objective and credible news about Phuket -- only the one-sided news oozing from local navy headquarters.
So. Elise's mother, Michele van Egten, will meet police Monday in Bangkok after rejecting every single police statement on her daughter's case -- suicide, attempted suicide, the dead woman's mood, even the shape of Elise's body. The Belgian embassy will referee the meeting.
We can't comment on an ongoing investigation. But we can say they are all missing a huge opportunity. Ticket sales to that Sathorn Square meeting would be enormous.
So perhaps the lesson here is that if you don't want the army banging on your door accompanied by authorities bearing lawsuits, do not live in Thailand. Or do not call Koh Tao "Death Island". One or the other.
Calling it "murder island" might also be a bad idea.
